Arivaderchi, Law and Order

Well, I guess that's that. According to Michael Ausiello over at Entertainment Weekly, the original Law and Order is over and done. After twenty years of being on the air, the show that created the iconic cha-chung! sound is going off the air.

I'm kind of upset about this. Sure, Law and Order has been floundering for the past few years, but I really thought they had gotten most of their stride back this season. Lt. Van Buren's cancer plotline has been a bit off, but otherwise, I thought everything was clicking pretty well.

What's more frustrating to me is the fact that they canceled this but are developing some sort of spin-off called Law and Order Los Angeles. Now I'm all for spin-offs in general, but only if they work, and L&O spin-offs don't have the best track record. SVU did okay (although I'm getting sick of the fact that every week seems to contain some sort of activist message, usually prefaced by a statistic), but Criminal Intent got banished to basic cable. And let's not forget the abysmal Trial By Jury and Crime and Punishment.

Well, at least Sam Waterston went out with it. I'm pretty sure if he had left, the show would have died. I just wish it could have lasted one more year to dethrone Gunsmoke.