User Reviews

Before watching 'Law and Order's' Season 4 premiere "Sweeps", the premise didn't appeal to me. It sounded pretty far-fetched on paper and being somebody that has overtime grown to dislike confrontational talk shows in general (too much sensationalism and human bear baiting) it sounded trashy. Watched it though anyway, being somebody that loves 'Law and Order' and its spin offs in their prime, thinking that the execution perhaps may be more tasteful, and one that really liked the previous three seasons.

On first watch, "Sweeps" (thought to be based upon the Geraldo Rivera case) left me pleasantly surprised. It wasn't one of those "loved it" episodes, but actually to me there was a lot recommendable about it. On recent re-watch, my pleasantly surprised thoughts are very much the same and actually appreciated it more. It handles the premise a lot more tastefully than feared and it is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Not one of the show's best, or even one of the best of Season 4, but not a half-bad start at all.

"Sweeps" is not perfect. The case is rather too straightforward, with the anti-thesis of subtle way one character is written there was no doubt that they were either involved in some way or knew more than they let on. The truth did feel too obvious too early, and maybe if the killer and motive were revealed a little later that may have helped things.

There is though a lot to recommend with "Sweeps". It does boast a couple of firsts, with more than promising debuts for character Lieutenant Anita Van Buren (later to become one of the longest serving regular cast members, replacing Cragen) and ADA Claire Kincaid (replacing Paul Robinette). Firsts that proved actually to be a lot more settled feeling than any other previous changes in previous seasons and less thrown upon.

All the acting is great, with Jerry Orbach and Chris Noth being a great authoritative and wise-cracking duo and Michael Moriarty commands the screen effortlessly and makes his already juicy material juicier. Robert Klein is a very larger than life presence as a puppeteer of the action sort of character that one roots for his getting some kind of just desserts, doing so without over-balancing too much (his character too is not too far off from what talk show hosts are prone to be like). Am surprised though that little has been said about the moving performance of David Krumholtz. The writing is intelligent and while there is a lot of talk, as usual, it doesn't ramble and is accessible.

Direction is accomodating but also alert. The production values are slick and have a subtle grit, with an intimacy to the photography without being too claustrophobic. The music isn't used too much and doesn't get too melodramatic. While the story is not extraordinary it is still very interesting and well constructed, not being exploitative and is a lot more intelligent and easy to buy than the premise makes out. As ever, a great job is done with the interesting questions and dilemmas raised when getting a result.

In conclusion, a well executed start to Season 4 but not one of the season's best episodes. 8/10

It's a sad and curious thing about how television appeals to the lowest common denominator at times. Law And Order in this episode explores that phenomenon and the almighty pursuit of ratings with sensationalism. In real life all that came to a head when Jenny Jones had as guests on a show that never aired, a man who had a long ago gay crush on another and the object of said affection. After the taping the object shot and killed the gay man who had secretly lusted after him when he was a youth. Her career was over, but these shows remain.

Robert Klein is the host of such a show and like Jerry Springer brings together folks for sensationalism. He brings together a kid who was molested and the guy who did the molesting back in the day. And the father comes along and shoots him on camera.

Jerry Orbach and Chris Noth develop the case which is pretty straightforward. But as things move along it turns out that Klein was quite the puppetmaster. He's also shown as one of the sleaziest individuals ever portrayed on Law And Order.

Klein's character as written is over the top, but that does make the point. These folks only exist because we watch them.

This old episode of "Law and Order", starring Jerry Orbach and Mr. Big Chris Noth, really rubs me the wrong way. It's a completely cliched critique of tv sensationalism, picking on a Maury Povich type of unscrupulous tv host who exploits people involved in crimes torn from the headlines to get big ratings and big bucks.

Sounds familiar? Dick Wolf's entire tv empire centered on the "Law & Order" group of series is exactly that: concocting gimmicky scenarios based on recent crime cases without any credit, not quite what he's condemning here but close enough.

Casting Robert Klein as the tv scumbag is the show's only saving grace, along with endless name dropping in the dialog. Just like the famous "ding-ding" sound effect used every time the scene location changes, Wolf is the master of Pavlovian television: no originality, just training the loyal audience to react to the same familiar stuff they've read about in the tabloids first.