Crime & Punsihment on NBC, New Show (1 Viewer)

[Chuck C]

I guess NBC has a real life Law and Order coming on tonight at 10/9c. Be there.
We'll talk later.
http://www.nbc.com/Crime_&_Punishment/

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, that was interesting to watch once, even if I did think they overdid the "Law & Order"-ishness. I don't think I'll be watching it again, though - despite how very well it was cut together (and, really, it was - Guttentag deserves an award of some kind for taking what must have been a lot of footage and cutting it into a good hour of television), I felt kind of dirty afterwards. Something about watching a real murder trial as entertainment didn't sit well with me.

I was also surprised to see nobody blurred out. I guess anything in a courtroom is fair game, but what about everything else? Did everyone involved give clearances? Did the producers have to pay anyone? Is it really proper for the California court system and DA's office to enter into this deal with Dick Wolf?

 

[Butch C]

There public servents and as civil servents you can demand thier salaries, bonuses and employment history from your local gov. The taxpayers have a right to view every second of the proceedings.

 

[Jason Seaver]

OK, but what about the victim's family? Or the prosecutor's wife? Or the scenes showing the people in the DA's office planning strategy? Wolf, NBC, and company would have needed to obtain clearances for each of them, wouldn't they? It just seems odd that there were apparently no issues; I, for one, don't think I would have welcomed the camera if I knew that a family member's murder was being packaged as entertainment.

But, then, that's an issue with every documentary, I suppose. As much as I loved Sound And Fury and Legacy a couple years ago, for instance, there were parts where I always wondered why the filmmakers weren't told to get lost. "Crime & Punishment" is very good documentary filmmaking, even if it's not the sort of documentary I enjoy watching; I think I might be more comfortable with it I knew what kinds of promises and compromises Wolf and Guttentag had to make in order to receive the really quite incredible access they did.