nbc,lawandorder

If you saw the previews of this week's episode of Law & Order, you know that it's Jesse L. Martin's last show. The NBC promo implies that Detective Ed Green has gotten into major trouble and will be brought up on charges for his actions, perhaps lose his badge. That would be a very dramatic way to wrap up his nine years on Law and Order, and unlike the near-fatal shooting his character survived a couple of years ago, it leaves open the door for a guest stint down the road. But not too soon. Jesse L. Martin is in talks to star in a Broadway version of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, taking on the Sidney Poitier role.

The world of primetime TV are primarily set in the real world. The real world based on the fiction they create. So, Law and Order -- in all its incarnations -- is set in New York City, but it's not the real five boroughs. The newspapers they read are not The New York Times, the Post or the Daily News. For contemporary TV fiction, reality is on the margins of the storytelling because you can't really set those characters in a real world. However, when the two worlds intersect, the results can be magic. Here's 8 big-time, primetime examples:

1) Cowboy Up Time
Remember the episode of Lost when Ben wanted to convince Jack that he was in communication with the world outside the island? To prove that he was telling the truth, he showed Jack a video of the Boston Red Sox winning the world series in 2004. You can't get more real than that, right? And yet it was used in one of the most out of this world shows on the air. In fact, using Lost's own terminology, the Red Sox video is a constant truth in a universe that's a complete fiction.

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This season, Law and Order was looking for a way to get some new energy and interest in the long-running NBC Emmy-winning series, so on the judicial end of the show, they promoted Sam Waterson's Jack McCoy to DA and cast Linus Roache as Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter. Roache is one of those familiar faces that you've seen on other shows, maybe a movie or two, but here on Law and Order he's making you sit up and take notice. At least that's how it is for me. After watching the first two new episodes when the show returned recently, I wanted to know more about this guy. For starters, why did he remind me of a young Bobby Kennedy?

Well, it turns out that Linus Roache played Robert Kennedy in the mini-series, RFK. The Kennedy connection was even alluded to in last week's episode; at the end of the show, after McCoy had to defend his decision to prosecute overzealous New York City cops by taking the stand in open court, Roache's character, Cutter, gives him a tie pin that once belonged to RFK. With the last line of the show, Cutter says, "I found it on EBay."

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Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

I can't remember the last time that one network had the first seven spots in the Nielsen ratings. FOX got the number one slot with the Super Bowl (of course), but then got the next six spots too, with the post-game, the episode of House that followed the post-game, the two American Idol episodes (again, of course), the other episode of House, and the new game/reality show Moment of Truth. And if you extend it to the top 20, FOX also had Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? and Don't Forget The Lyrics. Good week for them.

1. Super Bowl (FOX)
2. Super Bowl Post-Game (FOX)
3. House (FOX)

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

1. America's Got Talent - Tues (NBC)
2. 60 Minutes (CBS)
3. So You Think You Can Dance - Thurs (FOX)
4. Singing Bee (NBC)
5. Hell's Kitchen (FOX)
6. CSI (CBS)
7. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
8. Without A Trace (CBS)
9. So You Think You Can Dance - Weds (FOX)
10. NCIS (CBS)
11. CSI: Miami (CBS)
12. CSI: NY (CBS)
13. Criminal Minds (CBS)
14. Cold Case (CBS)
15. So You Think You Can Dance - Mon (FOX)
16. Power of 10 (CBS)
17. Big Brother - Tues (CBS)
18. Extreme Makeover (ABC)
19. Law and Order: SVU (NBC)
20. Shark (CBS)

• Out: Law and Order: Trial By Jury, American Dreams, Medical Investigation, Committed, The Contender, Third Watch.
  
• New: The Apprentice: Martha Stuart, Three Wishes, E-Ring, Fathom, Inconceivable, My Name Is Earl, Thick and Thin, Four Kings.
• Returning: Scrubs, Fear Factor, Las Vegas, The Biggest Loser, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order, Joey, Will & Grace, The Apprentice, ER, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Crossing Jordan, Medium.
  
• Moving: The West Wing (Sundays, 8-9 p.m. EST), The Office (Tuesdays, 9:30-10 p.m. EST), Dateline NBC (Fridays 9-10 p.m. EST).

Read on for show descriptions.