A Criminal Mind
By: Kevin Williamson
July 26, 2001
Calgary Sun
Competing with reality-TV and the blood 'n' guts gusto of made-for-cable series like The Sopranos can be murder if you're producing a drama for network television.
No bug-chomping contestants. No gore-spattering, no nudity, no explicit language.
Fuggedaboutit, says Rene Balcer, co-creator and executive producer of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
"You could make The Sopranos on a network without the language and nudity. It would be the same show, with the same themes and characters," he says from his Los Angeles offices. "If people want T and A, they'll go watch the spice channel."
Like the characters he writes, Balcer, a native Montrealer who segued from journalism to documentary filmmaking to screenwriting, doesn't mince words.
Unlike a lot of producers, he doesn't think the sky is falling because of the success of unscripted reality-TV series. In fact, he welcomes them -- sort of. "If people who don't watch TV are watching Fear Factor and see a promo for Criminal Intent, and that brings them to the show, I'm all for it."
Just don't expect Criminal Intent to compete for reality-TV's visceral thrills and bug-eating antics. "We're not going to throw (Criminal star Vincent D'Onofrio) off a building."
Like its prestigious predecessor -- which Balcer worked on as a writer and producer -- Criminal Intent is a New York drama about crime and the police who investigate it.
However it veers from Law & Order in a number of ways, including that it tells its stories from the points-of-view of the cops and the criminals. "What goes on between a criminal and his lawyer, between a criminal and his accomplices?"
He cites two high-profile crimes -- the disappearance of intern Chandra Levy in the U.S. and the murder of actor Robert Blake's wife -- as examples. "There's the stress of even being just a suspect," says Balcer, who was responsible for the notorious Law & Order based on the crimes of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.
Unlike the ensemble cast of previous Law & Orders, Criminal Intent is a vehicle for the riveting D'Onofrio, probably best known for his work in films like Men in Black and Full Metal Jacket.
"He's an unusual actor for television. Usually actors on television are low key for a very cool medium," Balcer says.
"But Vincent just jumps off the screen. You'll find out more about Vincent's character (Det. Robert Goren, a detective Balcer compares to Sherlock Holmes and Columbo) in the first 13 episodes than you've found out about Jerry Orbach or Sam Waterson's characters in the five or six years they've been on Law & Order."
Which makes Balcer's spinoff a lot less actor-proof than L&O, which has retained its popularity despite recycling its stars.
"We are connected to Vincent. His fortunes will rise and fall with us."
Ironically, Balcer got involved with Criminal Intent shortly after leaving Law & Order last season to pursue his own projects. He and L&O executive producer Dick Wolf were having lunch when Wolf -- who Balcer calls a "consummate salesman" -- pitched Balcer the Criminal Intent concept. Wolf had tried it once before with the short-lived early '90s series Crime and Punishment. The difference between Intent and Punishment? "Good writing," answers Balcer, who estimates he wrote or rewrote a third of all the L&O episodes.
Of course a good timeslot helps too.
At last week's press tour for television critics, Wolf blasted NBC for putting Criminal Intent in a 9 p.m. timeslot on Sundays.
"The subject matter is pretty frank. It's definitely a 10 p.m. show," Balcer says. "I don't think (the timeslot) is a disaster."
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