Law and Order: Network Intent

Watching a Law and Order Rerun on TNT...

I started watching at 3:21 PM

Show....
Lorraine Dillon turns herself in for the murder of Patrick Sullivan

Commercials:
Season Finale of “Raising the Bar”, another show on TNT-- very much like L&O
ad for another TV show- fantasy
Glade Fabric and Air-- family
Kirsten the Talking Cow “auditioning” for a “Real California Milk” commercial
Lysol Neutraair-- very much like the commercial two before
Direct TV-- content of commercial totally irrelevant to what is being advertised
Network Television Premire: Da Vinci Code-- playing on TNT
Coming Up Next on TNT: Charmed “TNT: We Know Drama”

Law and Order:
Characters try to prove if Lorraine was telling the truth
Interview Sullivan’s ex-lover, Ms. Dillon, in a court room (?)-- Sullivan raped her daughter April at the age of 14 and that is why she didn’t marry him. She was being attacked by him and he had a gun. “The next thing I knew Patrick was dead and I was holding his gun.”
Mr. McCoy: exposes fraud... subtle suspenseful music... evoking emotion from the spectator and Ms. Dillon

Cut to courthouse steps and McCoy and a female lawyer talk about exposing potential lies in the April story

Cut to April being interrogated on the stand by McCoy and the female lawyer. It comes out that April and Patrick were consensual lovers. Lorraine killed Patrick out of jealousy and forced her daughter to lie for her.

So one of the women is lying.

Lorraine tells a story about how she was actually protecting April with her story and April is really the murderer

Cut to Jury’s ruling: Lorraine is guilty

Commercials:
Season Premiere of “Leverage” on TNT
Florida Orange Juice-- vitamins and minerals! “pure and simple”
Vonage “get more” “first month is free”
Raisin Bran Crunch-- sports guys
IHOP-- Strudel Pancakes...
Toaster Strudel
associatedtaxrelief.com --- “real stories, real results” in green in corner of screen
“Raising the Bar” Season Finale

Law and Order:
Conned
April was sent away because she was pregnant
Facility cook drove her to the hospital, but never reached hospital. Birth in the car
They were having sex
April buried the baby-- there was something wrong with it [suspenseful music]

Commercial
“You’re watching Law and Order” sponsored by IHOP
IHOP-- same commercial as before
Binder and Binder
Netflix--Snowing Popcorn
AARP Health Care Options-- choices! free...free... easy! endorsement by AARP!
NBA on TNT

Law and Order...

3:55


Comments:
First off, my favorite little tidbit of flow was going from the IHOP commercial for strudel pancakes to a commercial for Toaster Strudel. Brilliant! (though probably just a coincidence). I was also amazed by the flow from the first segment of Law and Order I watched to the first commercial: a crime/lawyer show to another one of the same type. It took me a few moments to register that there was indeed a seam between the show and the commercial. I also never noticed before that the segments of show get shorter and shorter and the commercial breaks become more frequent, until I read it in this week’s readings (despite thinking time and time again that there are too many commercials...). I did notice it this time!

Within the show itself, what was interesting was that even though I started watching one-third through the show, I was still invested in the plot by the end and stuck it out until the end to see how the story played out. And even though I was typing away, keeping track of the plot, the soundtrack at certain times, whether it be the suspenseful music or the distress in the characters’ voices, did indeed draw me in to actually paying attention to the scene.