The Law & Order SVU that's on right now

[SWC75]

...is at least partially based on John Mackey, (although there were no sex charges or illegal activity involved there). It's about a former pro football star who had too many concussions and now doesn't know what he's doing. His loyal wife is at the end of her rope, trying to control his actions and prevent him from getting in trouble.

 

[qdawgg]

So... another SVU show "ripped off from the headlines".

 

[longtimefan]

So... another SVU show "ripped off from the headlines".

I preferred the original "L & O" franchise. And, yes, they consistently used current events to get story ideas; but usually the episodes would head off in directions different from what had happened in real life.

As a sidebar: several years ago the show actually affected a criminal case. A young mother in Texas had been convicted of killing her small children (perhaps 3 or 4). It being Texas, the death penalty was on the table. During the penalty phase, the prosecution presented "evidence" that the convicted woman had taken cues from an episode of "Law & Order" that she had seen. The problem was, there was an L & O producer in the courtroom. She called the DA aside and advised him that the show had never had an episode on that subject. The DA backed off, and settled for life imprisonment.