A TWIST ON 'REALITY' TV [Law & Order CI Episode Based on Terri Schiavo- on Saturday night]

Philadelphia Daily News ^ | Fri, Mar. 26, 2004 | Ellen Gray

[nickcarraway]

Ever wonder how the people whose real-life tragedies end up as "Law & Order" plot points feel?

Last month, Newsday reported that the relatives of a New York City councilman who was slain in City Hall last July had gathered outside NBC headquarters to protest the airing of an "L&O" episode in which a councilman was killed in a similar manner.

NBC's reply, of course, was that the series - which has been happily ripping its stories from the headlines for years - is "fiction."

Right. Unfortunately, it draws much of its juice from facts.

And so I'm waiting to see what, if anything, the family of Terri Schiavo will have to say about Sunday's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," in which the family of a woman in a persistent vegetative state is battling over whether she should be kept alive.

In this case, it's the parents, not the husband, who want to let the woman go, a change that's not likely to make husband Michael Schiavo feel much better. Because just as Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and others have raised questions about Michael Schiavo's suitability to be his wife's guardian and about the cause of her original heart failure, the husband in Sunday's case comes in for some scrutiny of his own.

This being "Criminal Intent," there is, of course, a dazzling, if improbable, interrogation scene featuring Vincent D'Onofrio as "CI's" resident know-it-all - I love the actor, but the character's working on my last nerve - and, of course, an actual murder.

Should anyone complain, NBC will again label all this fiction, but to quote a letter other critics and I received this week from executive producer Rene Balcer:

" 'Conscience' delves into the highly controversial 'right-to-die' issue, which has been at the forefront of the news."

Can't have it both ways, guys.

[NonValueAdded]

Wow!!! Up until the last minute, if HINO was watching he'd be having a heart attack of his own. I wonder how much liberty they took with the facts about PVS? I think on balance they showed that it is decidedly not the coma state that most people imagine. I would still like to see a respected science show like Nova or respected investigative show like Frontline give an hour-long treatment of the facts and fiction about PVS. I have great suspicions about any poll concerning Terry that doesn't also measure the respondent's knowledge of the difference between brain death and PVS.

PS interesting to see "HINO" pass the spell check :)
PPS TV screen intact

[uvular]

It was interesting, wasn't it? I too wonder how much of the research they referred to is real, but it seems so little is known about PVS, it seems within the realm of possibility.

LOL re your comments about Mr. HINO!

[tbritton]

I think they picked up some critical elements (the "cards") from the Daniel Rios case. You can read about that here:

Daniel Rios Case

Sadly, at the end of the L&O show, they made it clear that the whole "card" thing was a setup to trap the husband and that the woman, who was PVS, didn't really communicate at all. It implies that her parents' wish (to remove the feeding tube) would be carried out.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

It looks like a role for Paris Hilton.

Unless the phone rings.

[goldstategop]

Vincent D'Onofrio is outstanding as Bobby Goren. I like he solves the crime and homes in on the suspect. Kathryn Erbe's Alex Eames hasn't had much of a role this season due to the actress's pregnancy. Samantha Buck has filled in nicely as Goren's new partner Lynn Bishop. Criminal Intent is probably the best of Dick Wolf's spin-offs from the fabled Law And Order franchise. It recalls the Sherlock Holmes and John Watson detective genre made famous by Arthur Conan Doyle. And boy, this is one show that has you riveted from beginning to end cause you know the bad guy's gonna eventually get fingered and brought to justice.

[goldstategop]

Vincent D'Onofrio is outstanding as Bobby Goren. I like how he solves the crime and homes in on the suspect. Kathryn Erbe's Alex Eames hasn't had much of a role this season due to the actress's pregnancy. Samantha Buck has filled in nicely as Goren's new partner Lynn Bishop. Criminal Intent is probably the best of Dick Wolf's spin-offs from the fabled Law And Order franchise. It recalls the Sherlock Holmes and John Watson detective genre made famous by Arthur Conan Doyle. And boy, this is one show that has you riveted from beginning to end cause you know the bad guy's gonna eventually get fingered and brought to justice.

[EllaMinnow]

The episode last year "inspired" by the John Walker Lindh story was one of the best hours of television I've seen in my life.