PILOT REVIEW: Law & Order: Los Angeles

LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES

Starring: Skeet Ulrich, Corey Stoll, Regina Hall, Wanda De Jesus, and Alfred Molina
Created by Dick Wolf
Teleplay by Blake Masters, Story by Dick Wolf, Directed by Allen Coulter

Law & Order gets a fifth installment in the franchise (of the first four, two remain on the air after NBC cancelled the mothership last spring). This really truly is Law & Order in a new setting. Against the glitzy backdrop of Los Angeles, the first half focuses on the "law" with Detectives Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich) and TJ Jaruszalski (Corey Stoll). The second half deals with the "order" featuring Deputy District Attorneys Ricardo Morales (Alfred Molina) and Evelyn Price (Regina Hall). The pilot episode focused on a very Hollywood episode featuring a young starlet and her mother.

There isn't much to review here if anyone has seen an episode of the New York version of Law & Order over the last 20 years. It is a standard procedural that will rise and fall in quality from week to week based on the "ripped from the headlines" plot. The team of detectives and attorneys is serviceable with Corey Stoll an early standout. The LA backdrop gives it a bit of a fresh look but I found myself missing the gritty streets on New York. It's a solid show and a reliable formula, but it may be a bit tired by now. What was once an incredibly innovative TV drama style has become the standby. It's fine, but it's nothing special. I'll watch it when I'm bored and nothing else is on but that's about it.