Christopher Meloni Official Home Page

SVU Seminar November 28, 2000
	Beth Let's see...what don't I have to talk about. Well, I obviously don't have to go through the fashion report (leather pants, leather pants, and more leather pants...as far as the eye could see <g>). And the relevant, um, post-game reports have clearly been covered by others (Ingrid, Fruity Nut, etc.) Basically, I'm just going to give a small taste of the comments from the panel at the Museum of Television and Radio. I didn't have a tape recorder and I don't take shorthand, so this is going to be a bit hit-and-miss. Basically, the program began with a few clips from Law and Order and L&O:SVU, then the panel (from stage left to stage right: Dick Wolf, Jerry Orbach, K. Epatha Merkerson, Chris Meloni, Mariska Hargitay) were asked some questions by the moderator (Museum President: Robert M. Batscha), and for the last hour the audience had a chance to ask questions. These first responses were answers to a question about what it is each of the actors like about their characters: JO: "...Briscoe brings out a kind of humor that I have..." (EM: "...a kind of humor?" :::laughing::and gives me a chance to relect on the cops (and what he meant here was to show a side of the police that is often ignored) EM: Van Buren...her sense of right and wrong...the fact that she's a woman in a position of authority, which is still far too uncommon on television. CM: Stabler is the first guy I've played who's been the hero. He's rock solid, a family man, has a clear moral compass. Then he's put in a place with deviant characters...and his big shield of armor starts to develop little cracks. Okay, every week he can't be up there having histrionics, but it's a great learning experience. I like him. VOTE FOR ME! MH (As Mariska opens her mouth to answer, Chris says "You're a good cop!" and she immediately responds "I'm a good cop, Elliot!") Like Epatha, she likes that she's playing a strong woman on television. "There's something that drives us...Olivia, who's the product of a rape, is trying to right a wrong. Fixing it. Wanting to help people and help herself make sense of things at the same time. There's a focusedness (word? <g>)...a stillness...and a compassion to her. [It's great to...] literally have someone come up to me on the subway and say... (Epatha interjects:...What are you doing on the subway???" <g>) -Then a discussion about the fact that the cast/crew is New York based, but the writers are separated from everyone else...kept in Los Angeles. DW thinks the friction that this sort of segregation engenders (where the writers are mystified by what ends up happening to "their creations" and the actors are equally confused by the scripts they receive in the mail <g>) is actually useful and helps the creative process. There was a little subtle eye rolling by some of the actors in response to this, but I'm naming no names. -Then, an answer by DW to a question about the genesis of L&O and how it was dropped from Fox's consideration by Barry Diller, then dropped by CBS, then picked up by NBC thanks to the enthusiasm of [the late] Brandon Tartikoff, who continued to support the show in the early seasons even when it had the highest advertiser pullouts in the history of NBC (especially with highly controversial episodes, such as "Life Choice" which dealt with abortion and which has never been re-run on NBC). -DW then went on to talk about SVU initially being given what's called the "death slot" at 9:00 p.m. on Monday. He said, "You take a look at the competition: Everybody Loves Raymond, Ally McBeal, Monday Night Football...and you look at the ratings for those shows and you realize: "Oh! Nobody's left!" So, SVU moves to Friday night and this season - if you look at that oh-so-valuable 18-49 demographic - it has had the highest ratings every Friday so far. Yay. -Asked about the issue of censorship and whether there were things NBC wouldn't let them do, DW (referring to George Carlin's old comedy routine centered on Dirty Words) said that with Standards and Practices there's still the issue of the "Seven Words You Can't Say on [network] Television" (at which point Chris laughingly interjects "What are they, Dick?"...and DW says: "Ask Fontana.. " Then "...ask Chris, he gets to say them all.") -Asked about whether the disturbing nature of SVU stays with the actors, MH talked about how in the early days of the show, she was sometimes scared to be living alone, but how the mood is lightened by the cast and crew - especially Chris. Chris said, "Yeah, you need a safety valve. She (MH) takes baths. I work out." Then Mariska and Chris realize how this might sound and they both start laughing...and when DW is trying to be serious when answering the next question, and he's saying how the next spinoff of L&O -- Criminal Intent - is going to have a point of view less "locked" on the cops and prosecutors, Chris and Mariska are still giggling at the far end of the stage. (MH notes that, each day, she and Chris do a sitcom version of SVU [Editorial note: now that I'd like to see <g>]. -The next full-group question from the audience was that old standby: What are your favorite episodes: DW: He said "Chris Noth's final one" (LOL, but he was quick to point out he didn't mean it like that)..."Life Choice"...the cash machine shooting ep (which featured EM)...the pilots for L&O and L&O:SVU...and on SVU - Closure, parts I and II. JO: Orbach talked more about moments in episodes where you're really rocked back on your heels, although he did single out the ep "Monster" with Burt Young as something he particularly liked. He also talked about how this show has seen so many brilliant guest start (and DW cut in to mention that L&O has already had over 7,000 separate speaking parts during its run) EM: Focused on "Mushrooms" (an episode from season one, I think...certainly before she was a regular on the show), and the fact that the hero of the piece lost...miserably...which she thought was something very real, and something (at that time) which was rarely seen on television. She noted that while so much t.v. is "shit," at its best it can also make you think and she talked about how important that is. Finally, she mentioned that because her character on L&O doesn't have to know how things turn out, she often refrains from reading the second act of the script so that she can be surprised when she watches the show when it airs...saying: "Hey, I can't believe they did that!" CM: Looked a bit shell-shocked and said "I forgot the question" <g> Then he leans over until he's sort of lounging on Epatha and says "...well, you know...um...the first one [i.e., the pilot]...I have a bad memory. I don't remember the others <g>. [looks pointedly at Epatha] I do* read the whole script, but I have a bad memory so when I watch the episode I say, "I can't believe I said that!" [Of course, he also said: "When DW comes to the set...we kiss the ring..." so I'm pretty sure that everything he says isn't literally true <g>]. Then Chris talked about the excitement of the pilot episode, and how it was that the script had all these shades of grey. Said it's fantastic when an episode wraps up, but then at the watercooler the next day, people are still arguing: "They had no right!" warring with "They had no choice!" "Flip a coin, baby -- that's life!" MH: Also mentioned the pilot, then asked if "Baby Killers" had aired yet to which Ingrid automatically replied "Yes" (Chris and Mariska both smiled, and Mariska said: "Someone give her a gold star!" -Fruity Nut asked about crossovers (especially as they pertain to JO's character Lennie Briscoe). Dick Wolf said that there weren't going to be any this year, but next year...probably. Orbach said that after the two series are both finished, he wants to do a sitcom with Richard Belzer: Briscoe and Munch as old detectives in Miami...investigating electoral ballots <g> -Answering a question about what kind of time the actors have spent with real cops, getting a feel for the jobs, Chris said that he has been able to spen time with the Special Victims Unit in Manhattan, which has been informative...and also had a ride-along with the Los Angeles Coroner's Office years ago. -He (Chris) also talked about what it's like filming in a city like New York (given that most of the time the streets aren't blocked off to pedestrian traffic, at least not entirely). Said: "We're doing a scene...arresting a guy...and in the background we hear someone yelling 'Hey, you're guilty, ya bastard!" -Asked about who'd they cast if they were in charge of an ep of their own, MH whispered, "I want to direct!," Chris would want to do an ep with Kathy Bates, and Epatha said: "I'd give a big ol' show to Van Buren. I'd cast me in every part." <g> Oh sure - there was lots more, but every so often I got hypnotized by Chris and it's just so hard to keep writing when you're in a daze <g>.
Return to SVU Seminar