CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK!

It's probably not much of a surprise as to what the Crossover of the Week was....

CONVICTION
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LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT
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LAW & ORDER

But there was nothing really special about the crossover either. In this pilot episode, it had an air of been there/done that: This is the same set which was used by Dick Wolf's earlier attempt, 'Law & Order: Trial By Jury' (which I liked). And the atmosphere that Wolf was ham-handedly going for was better served in past productions by David E. Kelley.

Although the series doesn't carry the 'Law & Order' prefix as was also the case with 'Deadline', it does have stronger ties to the mothership of the franchise than that newspaper drama did. (All 'Deadline' had going for it was a tenuous link via the "New York Ledger" newspaper which is seen on occasion in the other shows.)

'Conviction' has Stephanie March reprising her 'SVU' character of Alexandra Cabot to be the ADA den mother to this habeus of young lawyers who are more involved in their personal issues than they are in the cases they prosecute.

Another link was forged by the quick cameo by Fred Dalton Thompson as the District Attorney, Arthur Branch. With his regular role on 'Law & Order', (which was also a regular gig on 'Trial by Jury'), and with guest appearances in the other shows in that Dick Wolf corner of the universe, it should be no surprise that D.A. Branch will be inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame later this year as we salute 'Law & Order'.

At any rate, that fast on-and-off-stage cameo was just par for the course, because it's probably not much of a crossover. But like I said, no surprises are to be expected there.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby