2 - He Handles New York's Most Sensitive Cases - Law and Order: SVU

Your hosts Meghann and Kelsey get serious about the crème de la crème of police procedurals--Law and Order:SVU--ahead of its season 19 premiere. What makes this formulaic, lurid, "ripped from the headlines" TV show so compulsively watchable? Whether you're a SVU superfan like us or have ever half-watched an episode while folding laundry, you'll enjoy this overview of the themes, key players, and distinctive pleasures of the SVU-verse. Our first and surely not last episode on this beautiful, insane show.

Topics include: what kinds of real life crimes make the best fictionalized adaptations,  Benson and Stabler's good-cop-bad-cop chemistry, Ice Tea's oddly appropriate casting as Fin Tutuola, why Detective Munch is definitely a My Good Bad Taste subscriber, Rafael Barba's exquisite suits, Alex Cabot's offscreen fate, what guest role John Mulaney could play, our hosts put their theatre degrees to use walking us through the twists and turns of their favorite crazy/classic episodes, when it's time to call the cops, why Olivia Benson can never catch a break even when she has tickets to see the original cast of Spamalot on Broadway, Munch's prank call techniques, cyberbullying via text, and why SVU fandom is a great basis for a friendship.

Check out some of the books, movies, and shows Meghann and Kelsey mentioned this episode:

Criminal Minds - CBS
The Confession Tapes - Netflix
Matthew Gray Gubler's face

Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders - NBC

John Mulaney "He Handles New York's Most Sensitive Cases" bit

Danny Pino's face

Jawbreaker (film)

Captain Cragen hugging a monkey

Hope for Justice is a non-profit that aims to end human trafficking around the world. You can donate here:

http://hopeforjustice.org

Mariska Hargitay (Det. Olivia Benson) started the Joyful Heart Foundation: http://www.joyfulheartfoundation.org which spearheaded the END THE BACKLOG initiative to shine a light on the backlog of untested rape kits throughout the United States.

Intro:
“The Four Seasons” – Vivaldi
“Crown On The Ground” – Sleigh Bells

Outro: Machine by Mercury and the Architects licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0