I watched L&O (original version) semi-obsessively in 2005-2006, when my mom was dying. The stakes were high enough (murder, etc.) that I could focus, but the formulaic nature of the show was soothing.

I watched a ton of syndicated L&O at one point. I think maybe it was related to my Homicide binging? I don’t remember watching any of the spin-offs, though. But the dun dun is terrific!

I haven’t been watching much in the way of procedurals lately, at least partly because I’m wary of how police culture is portrayed, but I’m still reading a lot of murder mysteries and some of them are recent with contemporary settings and it’s been interesting seeing how they grapple with the issues. I can’t think of any really stellar examples, but I think most everyone has noticeably been trying, at least.

I’m watching Law & Order right now and it’s…well, it’s good background when I don’t want to focus.

It's excellent for that! My mom and I used to watch only the second half of the ST:TNG because she liked to catch the local news and then we'd switch over and that worked well because we could always figure out what was going on with very little difficulty and L&O requires even less paying attention. Almost as good as baseball for moving wallpaper.

L&O SVU was filming directly in front of Sticky’s Finger Joint today, and I couldn’t get the lunch I wanted.

Those bastards!

I’m liking Magpie Murders. Only two episodes in, but good so far. I did read the book, and I remember some things but not everything, so that’s interesting (I remember who did it in “real life” but not in the manuscript, for example) and I’m pleased with the adaptation as an adaptation, fwtw

I have relatives I haven't seen as much as Lennie Briscoe.

Ha!