Discussing "Law & Order" and Its Brand

Back in April, I took part in a day-long conference at UC Santa Barbara's Carsey-Wolf Center. The topic? The 20-year impact of "Law & Order." ("Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf is the namesake, along with Marcy Carsey, of the Carsey-Wolf Center, natch. So expect a future conference on Carsey-Werner.)

My topic: How "Law & Order" morphed from TV show into a full-fledged brand. (I wrote a story on this topic back in 2001, which is partly why I was asked to join in.)

This was a rare case of actually being on a panel instead of moderating it -- and wow, that's a whole lot easier. I was joined by Cliff Gilbert-Lurie, Senior Partner, Ziffren Brittenham LLP; Warren Littlefield, Founder, The Littlefield Company and former President, NBC Entertainment; Jonathan Nichols-Pethick, Program Director and Associate Professor of Film Studies, DePauw University; Betsy Scolnik, Head of Digital Strategies, Wolf Films; and Ellen Seiter, Professor of Television Studies, School for Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California.

Here's how the panel was pitched:

"Law & Order" is one of the most financially successful series in the history of television. Conceived originally as a modular hour-long drama that could be syndicated in half-hour blocs, it was from the outset a program designed to navigate the shifting sands of the TV business during cable and broadband eras. Panelists explored the distinctive features of "Law & Order" as a network franchise and off-network syndication property. Topics included: production strategies, cost containment, marketing, cross-platform synergies, brand management, target audiences, and intellectual property. Panelists also discussed "Law & Order" within the broader context of network and cable television.

And here's the video from the day:

Law and Order: Changing Television: Session 1: The Brand from Carsey-Wolf Center on Vimeo.

'Law & Order: LA' Takes on the City of Bell Scandal

They've been busy reading the Los Angeles newspapers at NBC's revamped Law & Order: LA. The show is relying on two of the year's biggest L.A.-centric news stories to fuel its narrative over the next two weeks. Tonight, Law & Order: LA will tackle local government corruption — motivated by the well-publicized mess in the City of Bell, a suburb of Los Angeles. Then, on April 25, the show airs its episode based loosely on the mysterious murder of Hollywood power publicist Ronni Chasen.

Read all about it here.

By the way, tonight's City of Bell-inspired LOLA episode comes as the L.A. Times awaits word this afternoon on a potential Pulitzer for its coverage of the scandal.

Rally in Atwater Village? Nah, It's a "Law & Order: LA" Shoot

The scene Monday in Atwater Village, above. Wait, isn't the election over? And I don't remember a "Prop. 128" marriage equality debate. (And isn't Atwater Village more Ground Zero for the marijuana debate?)

"Law & Order: Los Angeles" took its ripped-from-the-headlines formula to Atwater Village on Monday, where a fake rally was staged in front of a very real store front. Even the fake local news and the fake LAPD were a part of the scene.




"Channel 7 KPPQ." Wonder why "Law & Order" doesn't up the realism by using a real truck from KNBC/Channel 4. (And why use "Channel 7" on the fake truck, when the real L.A. Channel 7 is a rival of NBC4?)


Now here's better attention to detail: The fake rally even gets a fake Spanish TV station to cover it: "KQQW 18." Shout-out to the "Law & Order: LA" designers for putting together a realistic TV station logo here.


The crowd wide shot was filmed via a camera in the center divider. Hey, perhaps my car got in a shot.

L.A. Times Turns Front Page Over to "Law & Order: Los Angeles"

There's likely some hair pulling on Spring Street today, as the Los Angeles Times' Wednesday issue hit driveways with what's likely its most questionable front-page advertisement yet.

As Variety first reported a few weeks ago, NBC and the L.A. Times were plotting a marketing push for "Law & Order: Los Angeles" that promised to be bigger (read: more controversial) than previous campaigns for "Southland" and Universal Studios -- both of which also included mock stories and newspaper pages that left many journos and newspaper purists with a bad taste in their mouth.

This is what we wrote on Sept. 11:

Los Angeles Times staffers might also want to brace for another NBC ad that blurs the line between editorial and advertising: The Peacock has partnered with the paper for a stunt surrounding "Law and Order: Los Angeles," in a similar vein to the past controversial NBC/"Southland" and Universal Studios/"King Kong" ads in the paper.

Those ads caused a stir at the paper, where staffers said such ads undermined their credibility. But given the noise they generated, NBC U deemed the buys a success.

"Where our 'Southland' and King Kong ads left off, 'LOLA' will pick up," Stotsky says, "and hopefully surpass both of these events."

Looking at this full-blown section, which looks more like actual editorial copy than the previous ads, I'd say they probably will get their wish: This is not going to go over well with many folks on the journalism side of things.

From an NBC promo angle, however, I'd say it's a win -- it definitely got my attention, and "LOLA" already has strong awareness, so this can only help.

These editorial-style ads are becoming common; the L.A. Times also caught heat for an ad promoting Disney's theatrical release "Alice in Wonderland"; the paper's website also recently featured a mock old L.A. Times front promoting "Boardwalk Empire."

"Law & Order: Los Angeles" Tackles Los Angeles' Neighborhoods

"Law & Order" heads to Los Angeles starting tonight, with the launch of NBC's "Law & Order: Los Angeles."

"LOLA," as the show has been nicknamed, airs Wednesday at 10 p.m. (at least for now) in the slot once held by the original "Law & Order." This new edition promises to follow the traditional "Law & Order" format -- but utilizing L.A. locations and ripped-from-the-headlines stories.

"Law & Order: Los Angeles" is so taken by its surroundings that each episode of season one will be named after an L.A. neighborhood. So far, episodes have been titled "Hollywood," "Echo Park," "Sylmar" and "Harbor City" (that one takes place in San Pedro and Palos Verdes).

Former L.A. blogger LA City Nerd (come back, Nerd!) once counted as many as 180 L.A. neighborhoods, as designated by those blue signs throughout the city. That should keep "LOLA" busy for quite a while.

(I do love that whenever another cop show sets up shop in Los Angeles -- think "Southland" -- the producers think they're the first to showcase the lesser-known parts of L.A.)

Farewell, "Law & Order" -- and "Judge Michael Schneider"

Over its 20 seasons on the air, "Law & Order" would occasionally use the name of a reporter who covers TV as either a body bag or a judge. That's how the Los Angeles Times' Joe Flint wound up as "Judge Joseph Flint," and how a "Judge Michael Schneider" made several appearances on the show.

Check out "Judge Michael Schneider's" IMDB page here. My namesake was played by David Little, who appeared as Judge Schneider at least four times. (Funny enough, as happened frequently on the show, Little also played several other characters through the years on "L&O.")

Little's other credits include guest spots on "The Sopranos," "Ed" and "Lipstick Jungle." Here he is, portraying my namesake on "L&O":