As a college girlfriend was fond of saying: “Yeesh.” And what a week it’s been. 

But enough of all this doom and gloom, end of the world shit. Let’s all talk about something we all, red hats and blue shirts, have in common.  Let’s talk about, (drumroll please), let’s talk Law and Order. For the time we will omit the angry bulging tatted biceps of Stabler and his show Law and Order Organized Crime  as well as the dour sincerity of Olivia Benson of Law and Order. CRV  and concentrate on what I think is the brightest celestial body of the Dick Wolf universe.

The original Law and Order.

Not only does this show highlight good solid writing ripped from the headlines, but it also features a good weekly runner. Someone who, when confronted with possible arrest, makes a dash for freedom. There also needs to be some toppled garbage cans, scrambling civilians, and preferably a chain-link fence cutting off any possible mistake. 
Gone are the days of the witty remark at the end of the cold open. Lenny was the best at delivering these, but all of the detectives have had a spin on the catty quip. Lenny Briscoe was the undisputed king. And while still not published in any bedstand or bathroom book, here are a few of my favorites.

“Well, he wouldn’t have been a single parent, if he hadn’t of killed his wife.”
“Rock, paper, scissors, gun.”
"Grandma always said a smack in the head was the best cure for the crazies"
“There were enough drugs in there to jumpstart the '60s.”
“You've heard of the Seven Rings of Saturn? These are the Two Rings of Riker's.”
And my personal favorite:
Just like the Bates Hotel. They check in but they never check out."

And here are a few more, uttered by the great bard himself.
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When you find yourself staring at a blank page, do what I do. Dance. No. Not really. First off, I am not that good of a dancer. Second, I might damage the rusty remains of my two metallic hips. Honestly, one more hunk of metal added to my anatomy, and I will start to resemble a Cyberman from Doctor Who.

And speaking of Doctor Who. I have been in and ongoing relationship with the Doctor since Tom Baker in the 70s. It is not really what I’d call a serious relationship, more of a Netflix and chill with me having the freedom to walk away and come back when I couldn’t find something better to watch.

This all changed recently with a viewing of the excellent bio picture An Adventure in Space and Time. The film recounts the creation of the good Doctor and the person who embodied his first earthy appearance, William Hartnell. I enjoyed this production a great deal and it inspired me to revisit the later episodes (90s on) with the intention of returning to the older shows.

For the record, here are some things that I like about the show in general.

It is literate, with a dramatic foot hovering in and around history, literature, art and the sciences. In short, it does what real science fiction does well.

It is well crafted. Even in early episodes they did amazing work with very limited budgets and resources. It was very much Independent filmmaking on a grander scale. The Doctor materialized at a time where rationing was still a thing. Budgets were smaller, and imaginations tended to be larger. It was a perfect balance for a startling new character.

The actors, even in the later ones, are all top-notch!  Pick and old episode and scroll through a random star or guest star’s credits. You will see credits ranging from Shakespeare to Rasputin. 
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And, most important, Doctor Who is fun. Sometimes bordering on silly, while still be able to produce a tear. It is great television and worthy of a look.

The use of flashbacks in series broadcast by streamers and networks right now is reaching pandemic proportions faster than covid and bird flu combined. They are so popular in visual storytelling right now, that I am quite surprised that I have not seen a whole series based on the device. A lot of writers are now using them in lieu of a teaser. Why not show what happened to the hero while they were being breastfed or potty trained to show how that effects their new job protecting the President while on the Secret Service. 

Look, I enjoy a flashback as much as the next man. Michael Curtiz used it with great effect in Casablanca (Bogart losing his one great love in a Paris train station), as did the Farrelly brothers with Kingpin (Roy Munson losing the one great love, his beloved bowling hand). But, right now and much like the current administration agenda, flashbacks are coming at us Fast and Furious, Tokyo Drift.

Along with the pre show warnings for sex, smoking and blinking lights, shows like Paradise should warn of excessive use of flashbacks that may cause disorientation and perhaps even painful urination. I guess what I am trying to say here is simply this, why not reveal portions of a backstory or arc with a character’s behavior. Hey, I know Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber was the villain of Die Hard without having to see him being spanked by an uncaring disciplinarian East German father. Well, perhaps if they superimposed Rickman’s face, complete with beard, over a young boy, but I am not making any promises.