By Stephan Sears
The streets of New York City will never be the same.
Besides bums, Wall Street yuppies and taxicabs, no one exhibits the Big Apple more than Detective Lennie Briscoe on “Law ‘ Order.” By the end of May, he will be gone.
The national media, citing industry sources, reported in late March that Jerry Orbach, the accomplished actor who has portrayed Detective Briscoe since 1992, might be leaving at the end of the season. The sources also indicated he might join the show’s third spin off, “Trial By Jury.”
I do not know what’s worse, Orbach leaving or Orbach joining the spin off. It would be like seeing Pedro pitch for the Yankees. Well, not that bad, but you get the idea. Nonetheless, Briscoe on any other show is basically no Briscoe at all.
This story is old, having come out in March, but it only hit me recently while watching subsequent episodes, including the early ones before Orbach joined the set. It was then I realized how much would be missing. I have watched “Law ‘ Order” longer than I have watched any other show. Characters like Adam Schiff, Clair Kincaid and Rey Curtis all came and went. They were decent characters, but I could live without them. Then Angie Harmon came along as Abbie Carmichael, assistant to Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston). I loved her character, a blunt Texan who added an attitude to the show it never had before. But this being “Law ‘ Order,” she left after only three years.
OK, so I could stomach her leaving, but now Briscoe? For a spin off? How will the show segue into the theme song? The age-old formula goes that a few unsuspecting civilians happen upon a dead body. Then Detective Briscoe and his partner will enter the crime scene and learn the basics of the homicide. Right before the theme, Orbach’s smart-alec character would bust off a one-liner. Once he found a dead body in a tuxedo and quipped, “Conveniently dressed for his funeral.”
He also shot off some one-liners during the first half hour as he chased the criminals. In one instance, he accuses a man of murder and the man denies any involvement. In response, Briscoe says, “Oh yeah? There’s someone down at the M.E.’s office doing a pretty good impression of a dead guy.” Here is another one: a police officer tells him that he called a man named Gary Silver. Briscoe replies, “I know him. Big Broadway producer. Got more Tony’s than southern Italy.”
While these one-liners might not be worthy of Conan O’Brien, they are indelible to the show.
The news about Orbach comes at a pretty low time for American television. “Friends,” one of the most popular sitcoms of the past half-century, and “Frasier,” an Emmy-hog, will both air their last episodes in May. ABC’s “The Practice” has been canceled, but a spin off is planned. The show flourished as a zany courtroom drama led by Dylan McDermott as Boston defense lawyer Bobby Donnell. James Spader took over the lead role this year as the ethically challenged Alan Shore and shined, so he will be the center of the new installment. Still, quality actors like Steve Harris and Camryn Manheim will probably be looking for work next fall. The show and the actors will be missed.
To keep piling on, “Everybody Loves Raymond” will most likely end next year. This has been CBS’s best comedy for years. Even the infallible HBO will suffer. The next season of “The Sopranos” will be its last. No more Tony Soprano, Paulie Walnuts or useless A.J. The channel already lost “Sex and the City” earlier this year.
I am even wavering on one of my old favorites that will be sticking around, but not at its best. “E.R.” has just killed off or otherwise jettisoned too many of their main characters for me to keep watching. They killed off Dr. Romano by dropping a helicopter on him, erasing yet another interesting character that made watching “E.R.” bearable. I hear that the show has undergone a rejuvenation with interesting new characters, but they lost me after Dr. Greene’s very sad but merciful death in 2002. Greene was the last remaining major character from the beginning and when he died, the show began a steep decline.
Television will survive all this turmoil, but it will be rough. Meanwhile, “Law ‘ Order” has one more recourse to retain my viewership. They must keep Cambridge’s own Sam Waterston. If he leaves, then I’m done. I stuck with “ER” after Greene, but lost my interest and the same will happen if McCoy exit’s the DA’s office.
Either way, the show will go on. I still have “24,” “Alias,” and “The Shield,” but “Law ‘ Order” without Lennie Briscoe is like watching a Celtics game without hearing Tommy Heinsohn. Something will most definitely be missing.
–Stephen Sears can be reached at
