johnjag-21-794553 The series starts out well. There are slight differences in the Law & Order formula. Some aspects of the detectives personal lives are shown. It also has a different feel. It is bloodier. Some of the characters are less likable, such as DA Hardin, Peter Coyote in an excellent performance.The series has one big problem. The producers take the audience for idiots. In episode 9, detective Winters, played by Skeet Ulrich, is murdered. And in a way that is impossible to rewrite later as corpse misidentified or some other plot trick. Also deputy DA Morales, Alfred Molina, is demoted back to being detective Morales. Yet in episode 17 Winters magically is back, no explanation! And further in episode 18 Winters is still there and Morales is now deputy DA again. Again there is no explanation. Not even a lame attempt by putting up one of those ubiquitous Law & Order text screens with "one year ago".I stopped watching the show at that point. Save yourself frustration, do not bother starting this show. If not for the good quality of the first 16 episodes I would have given this show just a 1 out of 10.

Tommy Having suffered through the first half of the first season of L&O: LA, and now watching the re-imagined second half of the same season, I'm pleasantly surprised they actually pulled it off. That is, it's becoming more like the original L&O and not some sunny disposition on life in LaLa land and rampant medical marijuana.They are also scouting out and actually using more locations as they did in N.Y. so you don't feel confined to the same old places or inside a studio's back lot. In the last episode, I counted about 15 non-studio locations which really upped the ante as far as quality of story and realism of plot.I also noticed they brought in some veteran screenwriters from the recently canceled L&O and are starting to "rip from the headlines" more. Not to mention adding the beautiful Alana De La Garza to the ADA's office (they never did explain her transplantation to L.A. but that's par for the course with this franchise). We just need the extraordinary writer Rene Balcer to pen a few scripts and we're halfway home.As for Alana, they desperately need to give her more lines. She's not just a pretty face but a very good actress. She was always one to get up in someone's face or talk back to some pushy witness or suspect (or cop!).A guest visit from Linus Roache or Lupo or Anderson or Epatha would be gimmicky but a lot of fun. Who cares? It's T.V. Does anyone really believe a murder trial starts and ends in less than a month? Real murder cases take years. But on T.V. you have to speed things up or you end up with a show like Murder One or viewers changing the channel. Too bad they can't find an L&O franchise for Lupo.The East Pasadena episode is a perfect example of "headline ripping" that actually happened to one Calif. principality, then utilizing another incident that actually happened in Florida where a man went to a city council meeting waving a gun and finally shot himself, and then tying it all together with a murder mystery.I'm especially glad to see Mr. Ulrich gone (shot! killed! never to return!) and Molina taking his place. Whilst Ulrich is an O.K. actor, half the time his eyes were bloodshot and he looked very tired and fatigued. I don't think the pace of T.V. sits well with his move schedule metabolism.Molina is a veteran actor and it shows. He is literally the anchor for the show now. Let's hope he doesn't depart prematurely. And they need a prominent out gay character other than a shrink like on SVU.And Corey Stoll looks so much better without the 'stache it's amazing. He'll be one of People magazine's hottest men of the year in no time (barring the show's cancellation). Having played second fiddle in so many shows, it's about time he was recognized for his talent.Rachel Ticotin, who still looks great since Total Recall, makes a tough but charming Lieutenant. Still haven't figured out the role of the DA played ephemerally by Peter Coyote. He's simply not memorable and not sure what his function is other than to bark at his subordinates.With all the above being said, I'm very excited about the rest of the season and hope it continues to deliver above-excellent scripts and performances to make up for the horrible first half of the year. Worst…Episodes…Ever… I doubt L&O: LA will have the staying power of the original L&O, and NBC (now owned by Kabletown), is infamous for putting garbage on T.V. or doubling-up on what they consider a good thing (read: the Today show went from 2 hours to 4 to 5 to ?). Maybe Katie Couric can do the sixth and seventh hours! I'd like to see more episodes about the intricacies of Calif. law and business practices as they've done in a few episodes and on the original L&O. I always thought New York was a nanny state but Calif. makes N.Y. look like their babysitter's dead (don't tell Mom or Bloomberg!). I can now understand why so many businesses are fleeing CA for points East, and why people are moving to other states where the cost of living isn't so crippling.So if you gave up on the show, give it another shot. I don't believe you'll be disappointed and like me will look forward to next week's episode. Who knows, maybe they'll shoot a couple of episodes during California's rainy season for a change of outdoor atmosphere. Flooding, rampage, riots, and of course, a floater.

jpb1952 How in the world did this program replace the original Law and Order. The acting is weak at best, the story lines are even weaker. The original was on all those years because it was a QUALITY program with OUTSTANDING Actors and Actresses. Even when people left and were replaced the replacement was usually very good. Please wake up and smell the coffee and bring back the Original Law and Order. I will never waste my time again watching another Law and Order LA. It really is a shame that such a long running program as LAW and ORDER was canceled for such a weak and program like this. We always looked forward to watching the weekly series, now we'll have to look for a different program to watch in that time slot

SamanthaGilbert-1 Bad, bad, bad! There was absolutely nothing "Law & Order" about this show. One reason many people love the Law & Order television shows is because of the artistic cinematography that is unique to them, but the way in which this TV show has been shot was anything but the great cinematography we are accustomed to. The theme music had been altered so much and in a annoying, techno-music fashion, that if I had not read the title or heard the iconic "doink doink" sound, I would have thought this was a TV show crated by pure amateurs. The fact that it wasn't created by amateurs makes it all the more disappointing. Even the story line made it seem as though Law & Order needed to fit in every headline in the gossip section it has missed out on in the past few months, in order to catch up, and thus leaving a mumble jumble of an episode. Sadly NBC has managed to shoot themselves in the foot by getting rid of a great show and putting in its place a big heap of steaming garbage.