For the In Memorium challenge at tv_universe
For this challenge we could make graphics or write meta about TV actors or characters that have passed on.
Actor Dennis Farina
Character the Huntsman/Sheriff Graham, Once Upon a Time
Character Lucy Knight, ER
Meta on the death of Det. Bobby Simone, NYPD Blue
When Jimmy Smits left NYPD Blue in 1998, the Internet landscape was much different. Thanks to today’s “always on” connections, smart phones, social media, and entertainment gossip sites, it’s virtually impossible for TV showrunners, writers, producers, and actors to keep a secret. Spoilers, sweetie.
So the fate of Det. Bobby Simone was played out much differently then. For several episodes we saw Bobby fighting off some kind of illness, which turned out to be an infection attacking his heart. We expect the worst, only to have a donor heart become available. Bobby receives the heart of a slain officer, and we expect Bobby and Diane Russell to live happily ever after.
But then Bobby’s body begins to reject the transplant. We see an entire episode of Bobby dying in his hospital bed, saying goodbye to friends and drifting in and out of delirious visions of ghostly visitors. In what I feel is the saddest moment in an already gut-wrenching episode, Bobby meets his dead child, lost through Diane’s miscarriage.
I don’t believe the same kind of story arc could be played out today because showrunners don’t want every detail of upcoming episodes divulged on Twitter. It’s very difficult to keep spoilers under wraps, so instead of having time to develop a character’s exit we see quick “executions.”
I think TV storytelling is poorer because of it.
Meta on the death of Det. Lennie Briscoe, Law & Order
My favorite Law & Order (the Mothership) character is Det. Lennie Briscoe. Lennie was funny, sarcastic, adorable, and a true blue cop. He could be anyone from your favorite uncle to that cute older guy at the coffee shop who makes you laugh and when he starts discussing literature you think, “Hmm, I just might go for that.” We know he flirted a little with Lt. Anita Van Buren, and Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers spoke of a date to the opera she had with Lennie.
Jerry Orbach spent 12 seasons playing Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order. Lennie also appeared in the Law & Order TV movie Exiled, on three episodes of Law & Order: SVU, one episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and three episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street. When Lennie retired from the NYPD, he then joined Law & Order: Trial by Jury as an investigator in the DA’s office. He only appeared in two episodes as Jerry Orbach passed away in 2004.
Trial by Jury filmed a scene with the characters at a memorial for Lennie, but for some reason it was never aired and Lennie was simply written out of the show with no explanation. In 2007, Lennie’s former partner Mike Logan (now on Criminal Intent) gives us the first confirmation of Briscoe’s death in universe when he mentions he still sees Lennie alive in his dreams. In 2008 another ex-partner Ed Green says he briefly returned to gambling after Lennie’s death. In 2009, ex-partner Rey Curtis tells Lt. Van Buren that he visited Lennie shortly before his death and he was his old wise-cracking self right up until the end.
I’m happy that these small tributes to Lennie Briscoe appeared onscreen so that fans could get closure. It didn’t seem right that Dick Wolf would ignore the death of such a long-running popular character.
Actor Dennis Farina
Character the Huntsman/Sheriff Graham, Once Upon a Time
Character Lucy Knight, ER
Meta on the death of Det. Bobby Simone, NYPD Blue
When Jimmy Smits left NYPD Blue in 1998, the Internet landscape was much different. Thanks to today’s “always on” connections, smart phones, social media, and entertainment gossip sites, it’s virtually impossible for TV showrunners, writers, producers, and actors to keep a secret. Spoilers, sweetie.
So the fate of Det. Bobby Simone was played out much differently then. For several episodes we saw Bobby fighting off some kind of illness, which turned out to be an infection attacking his heart. We expect the worst, only to have a donor heart become available. Bobby receives the heart of a slain officer, and we expect Bobby and Diane Russell to live happily ever after.
But then Bobby’s body begins to reject the transplant. We see an entire episode of Bobby dying in his hospital bed, saying goodbye to friends and drifting in and out of delirious visions of ghostly visitors. In what I feel is the saddest moment in an already gut-wrenching episode, Bobby meets his dead child, lost through Diane’s miscarriage.
I don’t believe the same kind of story arc could be played out today because showrunners don’t want every detail of upcoming episodes divulged on Twitter. It’s very difficult to keep spoilers under wraps, so instead of having time to develop a character’s exit we see quick “executions.”
I think TV storytelling is poorer because of it.
Meta on the death of Det. Lennie Briscoe, Law & Order
My favorite Law & Order (the Mothership) character is Det. Lennie Briscoe. Lennie was funny, sarcastic, adorable, and a true blue cop. He could be anyone from your favorite uncle to that cute older guy at the coffee shop who makes you laugh and when he starts discussing literature you think, “Hmm, I just might go for that.” We know he flirted a little with Lt. Anita Van Buren, and Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers spoke of a date to the opera she had with Lennie.
Jerry Orbach spent 12 seasons playing Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order. Lennie also appeared in the Law & Order TV movie Exiled, on three episodes of Law & Order: SVU, one episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and three episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street. When Lennie retired from the NYPD, he then joined Law & Order: Trial by Jury as an investigator in the DA’s office. He only appeared in two episodes as Jerry Orbach passed away in 2004.
Trial by Jury filmed a scene with the characters at a memorial for Lennie, but for some reason it was never aired and Lennie was simply written out of the show with no explanation. In 2007, Lennie’s former partner Mike Logan (now on Criminal Intent) gives us the first confirmation of Briscoe’s death in universe when he mentions he still sees Lennie alive in his dreams. In 2008 another ex-partner Ed Green says he briefly returned to gambling after Lennie’s death. In 2009, ex-partner Rey Curtis tells Lt. Van Buren that he visited Lennie shortly before his death and he was his old wise-cracking self right up until the end.
I’m happy that these small tributes to Lennie Briscoe appeared onscreen so that fans could get closure. It didn’t seem right that Dick Wolf would ignore the death of such a long-running popular character.