My day job is in research, so I've draw on various resources in an attempt to help answer two questions about LOCI's move to USA Network:

(1) How might this change affect what viewers see onscreen in the new fall episodes?

(2) Is the move a good sign that LOCI might have a life beyond season 7?

The likely answer to #1 is "not a thing" and can be found in what we know about basic cable in general, and USA Network in particular.

- Basic cable TV has about a 90% penetration across U.S. households. It's not a niche platform, though many of its channels have a much-smaller-than-broadcast niche audience.

- USA Network, the #1 cable channel, targets the same general 18-49 population as NBC broadcast TV.

According to USA president Bonnie Hammer, in an interview with National Public Radio last year, USA's brand aims to provide "comfortable" programming that is "safe and predictable...but with a little more sass."

- Stripped rerun episodes on USA (and Bravo) already make LOCI the #1 off-network prime time series on cable among viewers 25-54. In that age population it draws a little over 1 million viewers a week. (source: Broadcasting & Cable).

LOCI works as it is for USA's general audience. Why would NBC Universal want to mess around with change? So we might as well believe Warren Leight and Dick Wolf when they claim that, despite budget cuts, the new LOCI episodes on USA will offer the same quality as the episodes that originated on NBC. (That's either good or bad -- depending on one's opinion of season 6 in general.)

Addressing question #2: Is the move a good sign for an 8th LOCI season?

Primary to the answer is whether LOCI first-run episodes perform on USA as Jeff Zucker expects. He's called LOCI's move "an investment in USA Network" - not an investment in LOCI. That means a lot of pressure on LOCI to boost the overall weekly audience for USA Network, and bring in substantial new revenue.

- LOCI episodes will still be significantly more expensive to produce -- even with budget cuts -- than any other original series developed for USA.

To justify the 22 episode commitment for season 7 (when other USA original series have a season of 13) LOCI will likely need to set a whole new benchmark for weekly cable ratings -- not only for original, scripted series but possibly for any kind of regularly scheduled cable show.

What kind of benchmark? Here's what LOCI will probably be compared to:

- The largest audience any original scripted cable series has ever attracted is 8 million, for a first-run episode of "The Closer" on TNT.

- USA's top-rated original series -- "Monk" -- recently drew well over 5 million viewers for its recent season debut episode.

- Most weeks now, the top-rated cable programs attract 3 to 4 million viewers at best. None recently have been original scripted series -- although "Monk" has certainly landed among the top 10 cable shows many times, as has "The Closer."

- The show that's currently chief in keeping USA the top-rated cable network is the WWE. Yep, wrestling. LOCI first-run episodes will surely need to do much better than the WWE because it's obvious those shows don't cost almost $2 million each.

I'm sure others on the board have information as well as opinions about the probable answers to the questions I posed at the beginning of this thread.

I'm looking forward to a robust exchange as we wait out the long summer to the next first-run Goren/Eames episode.

Annabelle Leigh

Hi Annabelle.

Member Starlyn was on the same wave length with you about this topic!

I've brought Starlyn's post over to help start off the conversation here.

Starlyn:


My thanks to both of you. Now it's time for the rest of our members to add their thoughts on the issue. Let's hear what everybody has to say!

PeachyBC

It's not a bad idea to move the show to USA since it's the #1 cable network. Also, that means more CI shows for fans to watch. Not only the new shows, but the re-runs as well. Also, I think that LOCI will have a life beyond season 7 because USA does have many good shows on its network.

Thank you AL, for the wonderful researching job regarding USA & for originating this thread.

A question I have is how having USA running the show will affect location shoots? Location shoots require extensive researching of homes & stores to be used, a hundred or so crew members are needed, as well as dozens of extras. Shows like Monk & The Closer have, as I described before, a "studio lot in Burbank" look to them.

I wonder if the location shoots that are usually planned for not only NYC, but Staten Island, Brooklyn, The Bronx & Queens will continue?

Thank you from me as well, AL, and a question for you re DonnaLucy's post. Two things Dick Wolf has said recently that struck me. One was "Everybody gets to keep their job" and the other was "No comment" when asked by reporters whether he had taken a cut in his fees to NBC -U. I'm taking the latter to be a "yes", but I'm not clear about the first remark. If the location shoots are cut down, what happens to the crew? Are they salaried, or paid by the shoot? I don't know how these production houses work, but I'm curious. I'm thinking that there might be product placement money in some location shoots - outside a restaurant, boutique, etc that wants to show off its name. Maybe not enough to recoup the entire cost, but enough to cover say 50-60 per cent of costs?

Whenever Goren is drinking a soda in the interrogation room, it is always a COKE.

The only problem I have with CI being on USANetwork is for viewers who do not get cable or live in areas where USANetwork is not available. However, hopefully NBC will be more organized with airing the USANetwork original episodes than they have been on Saturdays with their drama repeats in the past and don't just air without any advertising a CI because "Bionic Woman" did not rate as well against Bones, Criminal Minds, and Private Practice or Chuck (CI's timeslot replacement) did not rate as well against House, Unit, Dancing, and Reaper. I hope the encores air in a more consistent manner so viewers without USANetwork can see the episodes as they air instead of having to wait a year later when the local stations start to air season 7. Otherwise, I think USANetwork next season will have more compatible shows to air with CI than NBC since Monk and Psych are more like CI than Bionic Woman, Chuck, Journeyman or most other fall shows except SVU.

I would think that moving production to CA would not work not just for the crew, but mainly the actors. VDO, KE and I'm pretty sure CN are all living in NY,NY. I don't think that they would willingly just commute to LA for shooting. I think I read that was one of the reasons that Jamie Sheridan(Capt. Deakins) left the show, because he was commuting from LA. The entire premise of the show is based in the Big Apple, so making it look like NYC would probably prove harder than just being there.

I wondered about that too; I hope that they stay in the NYC area. I think changing the location might lose something or the feel of the show (environment, atmosphere, background, etc) will seem different (to me anyway). I don'thave anything against LA or shows taped in LA; just saying that I would prefer not just CI, but all Law and Order shows to stay in NYC area (unless I am mistaken; I assume they are all taped in NYC; correct me if I am wrong).

Also, if I am not mistaken, was not it posted here a while back that VDO sold his home in NY and moved? Could the show have had something to do with his move? (maybe he already knew the fate of the show?) If he moved to another location in NY, will he turn around (after a recent move) and move again closer to LA? Will he commute to LA from his NY homebase if he is still there?

I don't see him commuting and being away from his family due to the shooting schedules (or will that change too?). He continues to do movies (which I am sure takes him away to vaious locations) when not on LO:CI; so I don't think he would want more commuting.

But I don't know. I don't pretend to know the man, but it seems like that could have been one of the reasons he did the show in the first place, it is consistent work, not having to go to different locations all the time, still able to be close to family, I bet the pay is great, being able to create a character, etc.

All 3 Law and Orders are based in New York. They are not going to move Criminal Intent to LA.

Thanks for the information!

I've just recently found out that USA is not available in canada as part of the basic cable package.. whether it's available at all, I don't know either.. so the answer to #1 is that it will affect the fan base in canada... Maybe not us, but others are affected.. and I am quite confused.. the article I just read said it's been number one, so why bother moving it?? It doesn't make sense and I think it means the end of the show... I LOVE The original investigators in this show, not the two new ones though.. I don't watch on the weeks they are on..


my friend in canada just looked at her listing, and even with higher cable packages, USA is NOT available where she is.. I don't want to be mean or rude but I think canadians should also be involved in the equation, therefore the answer to your number one question is, it will only hurt them, or those that don't have basic cable.. as you can get channel 5 here where I live without cable, you can't get USA without it..

Early in the fall season, first season shows like Kidnapped, Heroes and Studio 60 were being encored at a regular schedule on USA network, three or four days after their first runs. It was as if NBC had wisely realized what the cable networks had known for at least a couple of seasons. If you can't draw people in according to your regular schedule, give them an option of times to try to catch it. Then they just stopped.

I watch more programs on networks like TNT, USA, FX and Bravo than otherwise. Honestly, if it weren't for CI, Heroes and Ugly Betty (Rita Moreno, by the way, was brilliant as a tipsy aunt who talked too much when she drank), I really wouldn't watch regular network television much at all. What I like about these networks is that I have a choice of when to watch a show. My "watercooler shows" I watch religiously when they're on or tape and view them ASAP. My guilty pleasure shows like Top Chef or 4400, I can watch at any time, safe in the knowledge that their networks will run them easily half a dozen times throughout the week, and then marathon them at least once a month. For people who prefer viewing a couple of hours of a show, story arcs are played out on a rainy Sunday afternoon and new viewers who missed out on this season's "hot, don't miss" programming have the chance to get hooked.

That's programming I can agree with. I'm thrilled CI is moving to USA and really do believe they'll find a way via sister stations to make it available to people without USA as an option and to fans in Canada.

Abigail, don't feel badly. The only thing involved in NBC's decision was money. The nationality of its viewers had nothing to do with it. And before everyone yells at me, yes, I am fully aware that NBC is a business with an obligation to it's shareholders. I just wish it it wasn't so.

I wasn't suggesting that the show would be moved to California. Using the "studio lot in Burbank" comment was a tongue in cheek example of shows with a fake look, that's all.

My concern was that the location shots, while still being in the NY area, would be severely limited. I don't want the writer's to have to write their scenes working around this obstacle. My favorite scenes are those from Stray, the scenes in Brooklyn, Staten Island & especially in Times Square. Who wants a CI where the budget concerning location dictates how the story is written?

I can live without the expensive guest stars (hopefully Tony Goldwyn will return a few times for a scene or two, that shouldn't cost too much), but not the feel & flavor of NY.

I think that the location shots have been very limited this season. Look at Endgame, the only outside-a-set scene was the shack at the lake.

In Rocketman, they only shot at the space museum.

In each episode Goren and Eames are usually have at least one scene walking down a street or something, but there are not a lot of long on-location scenes. That is not where their budget is being stretched.

You're right Abigail187. From the bit of informal research I've done, we do not get the USA Network north of the border. So I feel your friend's pain! But with NBC airing the episodes eventually, Canadians will still get to see the shows, just a bit later than they air on USA Network. I can live with that. Seeing them later is better than not seeing them at all!

The other interesting possibility, brought up by Annabelle Leigh in one of her earlier posts on this thread, is that NBC Universal could potentially look for other distribution systems in other countries. So perhaps a Canadian network here will pick up the original airings.

Of course, we'll have to hope that this other Canadian network is not CTV! All the Law and Orders air here in Canada on the CTV Network. And while they maintain the SVU schedule near religiously, they play pretty hard and fast with the schedules for Law and Order and particularly for CI. CTV also airs American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, which both seem to regularly bump the airings of CI. Early in the season, they always seemed to find another slot for it in the same week, sometimes even airing it the Monday before the NBC airing. But lately, it has disappeared from their schedule. It's still listed as a program that airs on CTV but I haven't seen a new epsiode on CTV in months and there's no indication on their website, last time I checked, of when they'll be airing it. I'm sure they'll air them eventually but the guessing game is very frustrating for CI fans. Not to mention how little it's doing to attract any new viewers. I emailed them once about the CI schedule and got no response. So overall, a big thumbs down from this Canadian viewer to CTV.

I don't think it's that Canadians don't factor into the equation. I'm sure the powers that be know there's a loyal CI fan base here. But I would guess the numbers are low as compared to what they would be to American audience numbers. And if the move to USA Network was an important factor in terms of getting both Law and Order and CI renewed, then they had to go with what made the most sense. As some people here seem to be indicating, it may in fact be beneficial for CI because it will be a 'star' on USA rather than being 'the last kid picked for the team' as it sometimes seemed to be on be on NBC.

My personal feeling on it is (imagine child like tantrum, stamping feet, simplifying the issue beyond reason) -- if the Canadian network that I assume paid money for the rights to air the show in Canada isn't concerned about the Canadian viewers, I'm not sure how concerned NBC is or should be. (Okay, I done now.)

ive just been quickly reading what you are all saying about this move.I wonder what will happen to us over here in Scotland when already we are only at season 4.

Although ive not had the time to read all it might affect what fans in other countries get to see?

Even if your cable network has a sister company operating outside the U.S
Cable is not as widespread here as it is in the U.S and theres also the question of whether our terrestrial channels will be able to "Buy" back dated series like they do now.

ITs bad enough as it is being 3 and 4 series behind for us over here.

Did I miss something about location shoots being reduced? Why does anyone think that's going to happen?

L&O universe location shots don't require extensive scouting. Most outdoor shots are concentrated in front of various buildings in downtown Manhattan, in the area right around the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge (the neighborhood in which I worked for years.)

I recognize all the buildings we see (over and over again): The Municipal Building (backdrop for USA Network's current LOCI promo), with One Police Plaza immediately behind it (where the Major Case Squad's fictive offices are located.) One Federal Plaza, also a frequent location, is about two blocks away. The courthouses (all the perp walks) are just to the west of the Municipal Building. Walk another few blocks, you're right in the heart of Chinatown.

Some shots are in streets right outside of Chelsea Piers, where Wolf Films is headquartered.

And so forth.

If you live in Manhattan, you walk it, so you soon get to know every street and building.

Outer borough locations aren't that hard to find either: Staten Island Ferry docks, Fresh Kills (the huge garbage dump), Prospect Park in Brooklyn -- these are all well-known to anyone living in NYC.

In addition, the Mayor's Office has a special department that encourages film and TV location shooting in NYC. Its staff issues permits, closes off streets, helps negotiate use fees -- and tries to keep happy outfits like Wolf Films, which over the years consistently has supplied jobs (with union cards!) for the teeming hordes of unemployed actors (and "other artists.")

So did I miss some kind of article or Wolf quote indicating a reduction in location shooting, or a move to California? Because I can't imagine how that would make any financial sense.

Annabelle Leigh

I think people are just speculating. And there has been some confusion.

One of the articles stating Vincent had sold his apartment wasn't actually an article, it was a Manhattan real estate blog. The author of this blog had a friend who owned an apartment in the same building as Vincent. This 'friend' sold their apartment and was moving to California. The author went on to say....Now that D'Onofrio has sold his apartment, could he be heading west as well. Or something along those lines.

I think a lot of people misunderstood.

Lady B:

My understanding is that there are contract crew who work all season and people who are hired by the day -- just like actors.

There's money in product placement and product integration but -- more important -- there's less choice now about whether or not to permit this form of advertising. At the upfronts -- where business has been slow -- agencies and advertisers are looking to cut deals that include placement/integration with spot ads. DVR delayed viewing is getting to be so huge networks want it counted -- Nielsen is experimenting with that already -- but advertisers don't because DVRs let viewers zap through commercials. Thus, they want products in the non-zapped program parts.

There already is a lot of "production integration" on LOCI. (Product integration is considered less obvious and doesn't dictate anything material to a scene or script.) Next time you see an outdoor shot, look for Federal Express trucks, for example. They're everywhere in LOCI episodes -- too frequently for this to be an (unpaid) coincidence.

Coke cans -- who mentioned that? -- yes! Coke seems to be the official interrogation room drink of the L&O universe. That's also product integration. (Suspects, witnesses, Goren & Eames, etc would likely be drinking something during those tense interrogations. Might as well be something branded.)

However Goren ordering a scotch in that season 6 bar scene with Eames (where she orders a no-name double vodka martini) -- anyone remember the brand yet? That scene didn't need to be in a bar; my guess is it was in a bar because of product placement.

I believe some on this board said, on another thread, that the bar scene was out-of-place for LOCI -- yes? Jack McCoy is frequently in a bar in L&O, but I don't remember a lot of G/E bar scenes, other than this one.

Yep -- more of this stuff will be evident. Maybe we should make a game out of it.

AL

Perhaps you did not miss anything. To be clear, I don't necessarily assume that anyone is moving; I think it was just a question posed by another poster and I was also curious about it as well. I was saying that I hoped that the show would not have to move to another location/studeio (if that issue does come up at all with the folks at NBC.) My thought was if a move did take place, did VDO's recent move have anything to do with that. But another posted has since stated that there will be no move for the show; if that is correct, then I guess that would answer that question for me.

Thanks Chelsea61, that's exactly it. It was a real estate blog and the blog owner was just chatting up and trying to make a good story out of it.

VDO and his family (the whole kit and kaboodle, wife, kid, pets, termites...oh, maybe not the termites) have relocated elsewhere within New York. It had nothing to do with CI. No worries, no need for speculation.

LOL - I'm on board with that, AL - I'm a native New Yorker and can't imagine moving to California!!! Nothing against CA, but NY is "da bomb."

rowe

No worries AL!

I just wanted to clarify what I said and let you know that you did not miss any information (as far as I am aware of). Like I said before, I have nothing against LA or any other location; I just would prefer for the shows to stay in NYC (actually, the New York area). I am glad that it seems like the show will remain in the NY area.

By the way, you have very insightful posts!

Oh yeah,'EyeBaller'! That's because you live in New York! I would love for Bobby to heas another direction, like mine!

I meant Head!!! This way, South ya know? I'll shut up now.

Sorry; I don't live in New York. Actually, the reason I want the show to remain in the NY area is because to me, if the show did move to another location, it might somehow change the show as well (and it might not work). That is why I want them to stay put! But, it seems like they are not moving, so the location (the "look" ) of the show will be consistent to me.

I just realize this thread existed...I wrote something about this in the CI:Media thread.

Basically I wanted clarification about the USA move and if CI will still be airing on NBC (which I would assume is the case).

I think LOCI will become the top rated show on cable next year... The reruns do well so the first runs she too as long as they are placed in a good time slot....

I am happy they will still be on the air!

Hi Allie,

LOCI has moved to the USA network. USA will run Season Seven episodes first BUT NBC will reair them.

I've copied my post from the "CI in the Media" thread into here (with a few edits) . I hope the information clears up any confusion.

I think the question was raised, way back, in the media, of how and where Dick Wolf could find around $500,000 of below-the-line costs of each ep of LOCI, keep the actors, keep the look, and still shave off that chunk of change.

I may be wrong here entirely, but it seems to me that, even if one were to consider just the time spent, it's more costly to load up and send a tech crew to an external location to set up the electrical work, the massive lights and the rigging, the tracks for the cameras, etc, than setting up a shot in your purpose-built tech-ready studio. Then you have all the other support crew - props, wardrobe, make-up, armorer -to load up and send as well. (And then load up, and send everything all back again).

And we haven't even gotten to the extra fees for the professional tech specialists and cast extras (the extras are probably cheap), and the clean-up costs, nor fees to the owners of properties used for internal shoots like apartments, lobbies and hotels. By reducing the number of off-studio set-ups, surely there would be a cost saving there? Yes? No?

God forbid that TPTB extinguish the look and feel of NYC - like killing off a major character - but possibly we'll see fewer night shoots, or fewer extravaganzas like the chase scene in HH-Lupus or the Washington Park scene in Blind Spot, or the courthouse exit circus in ITWSH.

(Actually, now you've made me curious: what do you suppose was the most expensive scene ever produced for LOCI???)



Re a production shift to California: that's one I hadn't heard. It would make absolutely zilch sense, and not just from a creative stance, or because of the cosy relationship with the Mayor's office. With the film-making tax credits offered by the State of New York, plus the extra tax credits offered by the City, it seems that California is not competitively priced with New York - or a million other places that are leaching film production away from CA.

Just saw a very detailed report on the subject of runaway film production costs and comparative tax relief in different American states and foreign countries. The report was prepared in 2005 by the California Film Commission. If you haven't seen it, it might interest you. You'd need a bottle of Glenlivet to get through all of it, (that's Goren's Scotch, btw, but he didn't mention what year - 12,15 or 18 - like the hip Grey Goose-sipping bar crowd). www.film.ca.gov/ttca/pdfs/link_overview/cfc/California_Film_Commission_Study.pdf . You'll have to strip and paste it into the address bar, I suspect.

Thanks Peachy.

I'm glad NBC will play the show.

What I DON'T understand is NBC though. Are they trying to isolate a whole country? Up here in Canada we don't get USA network! ...but if CI's being aired on NBC then it's not so bad...just wish it wouldn't be on a Saturday...that means I'll have to invest in a VCR of some sort...

Now,AL, when I say I laughed at this, it was NOT derisively. At all. Absolutely. I was sort of laughing at myself. I was born in Manhattan, spent the first 24 years of my life in Manhattan, and return a few times a year, and I don't personally know by sight a single place you've mentioned. Not even Brooklyn. (Oh, except I went on the Staten Island Ferry when I was six.) I knew almost every location in "Art", though.

Native New Yorkers, it is said, are often only deeply familiar with the territory within 20 square blocks of their home. I only understand my own neighbourhood, numbered streets, and only those between East 64th and East 96th, with a sprinkling of the shopping and office highlights in the forties. Murray Hill and Gramercy I can handle, but further south is hard. Soho just defeats me. Going to the West Village is like going to Nantucket. I only ever went to the World Trade Center because an Aussie visitor insisted. I was so disoriented that when we walked around Wall Street I had no idea I was there until I read the street sign.

You mention on this thread that New Yorkers are parochial. Boy, you are talking about me. Remember Saul Steinberg's famous celebration of the New Yorker's 'geography of the mind'?

Loved that "geography of the mind"! LOCI would not be LOCI without New York. Didnt leight say somewhere in an interview that New York was important to season 6? Its certainly important to me as an alien.Ive enjoyed seeing all the outside shots so i hope they keep that aspect,however costly.To me New York is a thing apart,not so much American as an Urban Bubble representing the World,all cities everywhere (the pressures,the noise,the municipal buildings,the underbelly,the mixing of races,village communities within the larger ones,exhileration and pain ). Its a good place for a Morality Play!!!!Didnt he mention that somewhere too,the "42minute morality play"? Love it!Thats its universal appeal and why it travels best of all the Law and Orders! Im hoping for further creative mutation as it gets cablised (not cannibalised!!!!) Ha!

I've read several news articles lately (mostly rehashing what we know, so I won't post links), but it seems DW cut/lowered the license fee for his shows in order to make renewals possible. Ahhhh....what a guy!

PeachyBC

Yeah, his 'No comment' at the press conference question about reducing his license fee sounds like a "yes' to me. Do we think that The Wolf would take the full $11 million hit, though? I'm curious. I hope he writes a book - before his Gunsmoke target is reached, too.

My mother was from Yugoslavia and my father Poland. They met and married after the war in, of all places, New Jersey.

This New Yorker's geography of the mind was, at least in the 60s and 70s, some European's geography as well. I can not tell you how many letters written on super thin, wispy air mail paper we received from my mom's family still back in the old country, that came addressed simply with my mother's name, the correct street address and the letters USA with a partial zip code. It was as if the whole of the lower 48 was a big brown US shaped thing with New York City on the right side and Hollywood on the left. Nothing in between. Like Lewis and Clark didn't leave a road map and directions when they went out on a long Sunday drive.

That cover of the New Yorker has never been topped. Thanks, B!

Hey 'Eyeballer', LOCI has been on the USA network here since I started watching it. I's reruns though, but that's how I got addicted, because my husband, Tony, told me to watch it because it was good show! That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

I'm also supposing that a good chunk of that came out of the licensing fees because Wolf didn't deny it. Maybe the principal actors took salary hits as well. (Just my uninformed guess.) Those are two places where budget cuts wouldn't affect episode quality.

There's so much profit in the entertainment field -- scads of money in major TV series still, even with the general reduction in broadcast television viewership and its ad revenues. If the most highly paid participants in LOCI chose to take less to keep the enterprise going, I say "congratulations" for not letting greed win.

I agree on the "major character" of NYC. I have to believe that Wolf Films and LOCI decision-makers are in accord -- and that they all understand fewer locations shots will undercut the show's authenticity and therefore its quality. In addition, fewer exteriors mean fewer opportunities for product integration (a la the Fedex trucks.) So I'm not concerned about location shots yet.


A fun thing to think about. "Endgame" seemed very expensive overall because of the multiple location shots (including one that had to look like Sullivan County).

The jailhouse set looked newly-built. It had an ominous, theatrical quality that the prison interrogation room so often seen on L&O original lacks.

But that's a whole episode. The most expensive scene -- hmmm.

Yes, tax credits and abatements. New York has made it very inviting financially to locate film and TV productions there.

About a decade ago (or more) NYC was losing a lot of film and TV production to Canada; California was losing even more. So much of it headed north to avoid the union work rules and the high cost of everything. We can be glad there was finally a collective wake-up call. As much as I like Canada -- and as gorgeous as much of it is -- one cannot approximate New York City by shooting in the streets of Toronto.

Fascinating. Thanks very much for the link.


Bwalter is correct about the Glenlivet. Kudos. But why no brand name vodka for Eames' double martini? Come season 7 I can't imagine NBC letting that kind of $ opportunity slip.

AL

P.S. Thanks for The New Yorker cover, and that post too. Indeed one difference between a native New Yorker and one who lived 17 years in a small town upstate, just waiting to escape to this City of Cities is geographic curiosity. For 20 years I walked everywhere from Washington Heights to the Brooklyn Bridge (which I walked across, to thorughly explore that historic borough of neighborhoods). You brought back a warm flush of memories. I'll be saddened and outraged if LOCI cuts location shots next year!

I still think he said Glenfiddich,which is a Scottish make of Whisky. Can someone ask him if they see him in the street,those wonderful New York streets!!!?

FYI Flatpack: Good point. I did the homework at the time when we were talking about this, a few months back, because I wondered this, too. I ran the DVD twice, at 75 and 50 per cent speeds, through acutely sensitive headphones. It is definitely Glenlivet. Smart move, too, because Glenfiddich is a lovely Scotch and all that, but Glenlivet (esp the 18-year old stuff) has a reputation for being sublime. Both labels are currently the hyped chic hip bar order du jour, thanks to great marketing campaigns, but Glenlivet has the greater claim to being worthy of uber-hype. This from experts, so someone did their research over at Chelsea Piers before putting it (figuratively, anyway) in Goren's mouth. To Bobby: A Votre Sante, Cheers, Prost, Skal, Slainte (Sorry, no accents on anything. None to be had here)

* Edit: Annabelle Leigh, what am I saying? Bobby's discerning taste in Scotch probably had nix to with serious research, and a whole lot to do with serious corporate dollars for product placement.

I was going to suggest the good old standby of holding the control button and the apostrophe while typing the accented letter e. But that didn't work. Sorry! Copying and pasting, however, did.

é

Yes, that would work. I could make a René macro. I could make a lot of things. I never will, but yes, it sure can be done. I just used yours, thank yoo

This is a very good point, Linda and B. Of course I prefer to complain, rather than simply use Linda's, then type the word aigu. This is because I am naturally petulant. I also love using the term aigu. From now on I will always write it 'Rene (imagine an accent aigu above the second 'e') Balcer. I personlly think this would make a fantastic advertising campaign on USA, they could use it for the rebroadcasts of L&O too. If you'll excuse me, I will now draft USA's PR department a letter suggesting this idea....do not however hold your breath for replies!
Mari

I love the word aigu, too. Also grave. Also circonflexe, not to mention cedille, Umlaut - sorta charmless to say, but looks so chic over "uber'.

Back to writing Mr. Balcer's name. I do like your petulant parenthetical qualifier. I am even more petulant and a lot lazier. Unless that easy-type aigu is forthcoming from the PR people, I'm going to start writing it Reen Balcer.

Oh yeah, the thread topic. Lemme see......Well! Product placement in Season 7 at the USA channel certainly will be very interesting to watch. Especially if Nestle comes to the party and we still don't have an aigu.

Either the Times Square scene in Stray (season 3) or the airport scene in Masquerade (season 6). Both required many extras & seemed complicated to shoot.

Just a guess here.

I'm accturally quite ****** about the move as this means I will not be able to see new episodes as I live in Canada and can't get the USA channel!! so this move really sucks for Canadian fans like me!!!!!

True. And when you think about it, a fine Scotch and rumpled-ness are a credible fit - after a day's grouse hunting on the moors or an afternoon tossing perps against a wall, a gentleman would look like a proper fool ordering a lychee martini.

On topic: next season, when LOCI is on the USA channel, shall we have a thread called Spot the Product?