The Jury
I am a fan of the TV shows Oz, Homicide, and Law and Order (all three). Homicide and Oz -- both off the air now -- featured the team of Tom Fontana and Barry Levison for writing and producing. I don't know what Law and Order had in common on that level, but many cast members of Oz are also on Law and Order (the female cop on Criminal Intent, the male cop on Special Victims Unit, the psychiatrists on both SVU and the original L&O, as well as many guests). And of course Richard Belzer's character, Detective John Munch, was on both Homicide and is now on SVU.
So Levinson/Fontana have a new series out, The Jury, where instead of looking behind the scenes at the cops, or the lawyers, or the criminals, you look behind the scenes at the juries. The evidence unveils to the audience as the jurors discuss it, and flashbacks show us some of what happened. It's a pretty good show, if you like the ones I mentioned above. Not as engaging as Oz, maybe, but this is network TV, not HBO.
On this week's episode, "Last Rites" -- because the case involved a murder of a priest during a prison riot -- Oz was well-represented, with thirteen regulars/recurring guests.
One of the witnesses was from Oz, a cop (inmate James Robson), as well as all of the jurors (inmates Dino Ortolani, Bob Rebadow, Poet Jackson, Cyril O'Reily, Kareem Said, and Vern Schillinger; inmate Ryan O'Reily's mother Suzanne Fitzgerald [also Abby from Eight is Enough]; Vern Schillinger's daughter-in-law Carrie Schillinger; the brother and sister of an inmate, Carlos and Margarita Ricardo; Detective Nancy Mears; and the mother of officer Clayton Hughes, Lenore Hughes).
That's a whole lotta Oz.
So Levinson/Fontana have a new series out, The Jury, where instead of looking behind the scenes at the cops, or the lawyers, or the criminals, you look behind the scenes at the juries. The evidence unveils to the audience as the jurors discuss it, and flashbacks show us some of what happened. It's a pretty good show, if you like the ones I mentioned above. Not as engaging as Oz, maybe, but this is network TV, not HBO.
On this week's episode, "Last Rites" -- because the case involved a murder of a priest during a prison riot -- Oz was well-represented, with thirteen regulars/recurring guests.
One of the witnesses was from Oz, a cop (inmate James Robson), as well as all of the jurors (inmates Dino Ortolani, Bob Rebadow, Poet Jackson, Cyril O'Reily, Kareem Said, and Vern Schillinger; inmate Ryan O'Reily's mother Suzanne Fitzgerald [also Abby from Eight is Enough]; Vern Schillinger's daughter-in-law Carrie Schillinger; the brother and sister of an inmate, Carlos and Margarita Ricardo; Detective Nancy Mears; and the mother of officer Clayton Hughes, Lenore Hughes).
That's a whole lotta Oz.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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