I am going to be fair and maybe give it a few more episodes.
I should say that as a Torontonian, I was looking forward to this series blending a tv staple with the city I call home. I would think that many other Canadians will watch it just because it's not another show filmed in our cities, doubling as a place in the US. There have be countless times when I've been watching a tv show or a movie where I've recognized a place in my city but it's being passed off as New York or Chicago or Philadelphia. We're finally starting to see shows like Nurses and Transplant where we're passing off a Canadian city to being an American one.
Blending a tv juggernaut like Law & Order with a different country and a different culture may seem like a slam dunk. But this is where this show doesn't ring true. Maybe it's clinging too much to its original formula, and that's ok, but it's not New York and it's definitely not American. Even in the introduction, with the guy with the world famous Law & Order voice giving his intro then saying "these are their stories" and the gavel falls, he can't even pronounce Toronto the way people from the city say "Toronto" and it sounds inauthentic.
The actors are ok and I'm not quick to judge them as they will find their rhythm in their first season. When you look at long-running shows like Friends, Will & Grace or SVU, if you go back and view pilots and the first couple of episodes, they haven't quite fully realized their full character. Rachel Green, Karen Walker, and Olivia Benson were not quite themselves in the first few episodes. So I think the actors will find their rhythm as the show moves forward and if the show moves forward.
What doesn't work in the formula? It's too American, too slick, and although there are some Canadian writers on the show, Dick Wolf has final say and that's probably why it doesn't work well. He needs to be there as an advisor and not as someone who vetoes everything just because he wants the dialogue to be a certain way. I found a lot of the conversations and banter to be very American, not very Canadian, and definitely not Torontonian. If you took out the strategically placed landmarks, and asked me if the show and actors were in Canada or the US, I would have guessed the US, This might be trivial to most people, but just because you share a border with a culture, does not mean you are the same. Scottish people are different from the Irish. And just because France and Spain share a border, does not mean that they have the same cultures and values.
Was it horrible-no. Was it great-no. Only time will tell once it shakes out it's initial jitters.
I should say that as a Torontonian, I was looking forward to this series blending a tv staple with the city I call home. I would think that many other Canadians will watch it just because it's not another show filmed in our cities, doubling as a place in the US. There have be countless times when I've been watching a tv show or a movie where I've recognized a place in my city but it's being passed off as New York or Chicago or Philadelphia. We're finally starting to see shows like Nurses and Transplant where we're passing off a Canadian city to being an American one.
Blending a tv juggernaut like Law & Order with a different country and a different culture may seem like a slam dunk. But this is where this show doesn't ring true. Maybe it's clinging too much to its original formula, and that's ok, but it's not New York and it's definitely not American. Even in the introduction, with the guy with the world famous Law & Order voice giving his intro then saying "these are their stories" and the gavel falls, he can't even pronounce Toronto the way people from the city say "Toronto" and it sounds inauthentic.
The actors are ok and I'm not quick to judge them as they will find their rhythm in their first season. When you look at long-running shows like Friends, Will & Grace or SVU, if you go back and view pilots and the first couple of episodes, they haven't quite fully realized their full character. Rachel Green, Karen Walker, and Olivia Benson were not quite themselves in the first few episodes. So I think the actors will find their rhythm as the show moves forward and if the show moves forward.
What doesn't work in the formula? It's too American, too slick, and although there are some Canadian writers on the show, Dick Wolf has final say and that's probably why it doesn't work well. He needs to be there as an advisor and not as someone who vetoes everything just because he wants the dialogue to be a certain way. I found a lot of the conversations and banter to be very American, not very Canadian, and definitely not Torontonian. If you took out the strategically placed landmarks, and asked me if the show and actors were in Canada or the US, I would have guessed the US, This might be trivial to most people, but just because you share a border with a culture, does not mean you are the same. Scottish people are different from the Irish. And just because France and Spain share a border, does not mean that they have the same cultures and values.
Was it horrible-no. Was it great-no. Only time will tell once it shakes out it's initial jitters.