The video speaks for itself.

Isn’t art supposed to imitate life? I watched that episode of Law and Order. The rhetoric sounded to me an ordinary day on at least one local blog. On the other hand, as you saw in the video, O’Reilly was named as one of the haters who stir up people on the right about illegal immigration. I am not so sure O’Reilly is all that vitriolic on this subject. He is actually rather tempered from what I have witnessed. However, his outrage and tantrum over Dick Wolf weakened his case.

The plot can be seen at this site. And to set the record straight, Law and Order SVU has only been on the air for 11 years. The show often incorporates current issues into the plot as the detectives try to solve crimes committed against special victims.

21 Thoughts to “O’Reilly takes on Law and Order over Immigration Episode”

  1. This show was mentioned by Diverity Gal on one of the other threads. O’Reilly really errupted over this mention of his last name in the script of the show. A true O’Reilly rant!!!

  2. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    A justified O’Reilly rant. Am I actually hearing the argument that the content of “Law and Order SVU” actually deserves a look/listen? You want good TV? Try “Flavor of Love”.

  3. I like SVU. I never said it was good TV. What is Flavor of love about? Channel, time?

    I don’t like O’Reilly’s rants. he weakens his case by appearing out of control. He could have made his point better.

    I usually feel that Law and Order’s attempt to address contemporary topics to be a little contrived and artificial. But I give Wolf credit for at least trying to consciousness-raise.

    Also, what O’Reilly did not say is that Wolf always presents both sides, usually through the SVU characters.

    Someone of O’Reilly’s stature really doesn’t need to throw a fit and act like an ass. Having a little dignity would have made more of a point.

  4. The fact that the character who mentioned his name was shown to be a buffoon should have been taken in to consideration. I doubt if O’Reilly or Ingrams either one saw the show. O’Reilly doing all the name calling (liar, coward, gutter snipe) is simply over the top and only discredits O’Reilly. I have lost a great deal of respect for him.

  5. DiversityGal

    For a show that Bill thinks has no influence, he sure is bent out of shape over its very brief use of his name. In my opinion, the conservative pundit character bore a much greater resemblance to other pundits than Bill.

    I think it’s very important to remember that Bill is irate over a fictional show. In the clip Bill plays on his show, John Larroquette (playing an immigration rights lawyer), utters his CHARACTER’s opinion about how conservative punditry has a harmful influence on America and has incited some people to have a violent hatred of immigrants. Please note that my emphasis is on CHARACTER.

    Why is Dick Wolf a “despicable” person for approving character dialogue? Characters are going to have opinions; some you will agree with as a viewer, and some you will not. Some of these opinions can be extreme (as is sometimes the case with guest players on Law & Order), and some will be layered, conflicted, or more moderate (the core characters in Law & Order franchises often debate the issues, and may or may not change their perspectives within an episode). I think it’s more than a little ridiculous that Bill O’Reilly is treating a dramatic show like it was journalism or even entertainment journalism.

    The core, and often left-leaning Law & Order SVU characters of John Munch and Fin Tutuola are even heard referring to children of illegal immigrants as “anchor babies.” If Dick Wolf or his staff weren’t interested in layering their characters a bit, then why would these two audience favorite characters be even uttering these words? Also, at the end of the episode, John Larroquette’s character loses his s*** and commits murder.

    In any case, I think Bill is overestimating his understanding and defense of illegal immigrants. He seems to put forth that he understands the plight of illegal immigrants, and has no beef with them. He says his problem is just with the government or corporations, and with illegal immigrants who commit violent crime.

    I don’t buy that. While history MAY show that he hasn’t uttered comments near the level of nastiness about illegal immigrants that other pundits have, he is SOOOO not an innocent here. In his famous on-air battle with Geraldo Rivera about Bill’s reporting of a drunk driving incident in VA Beach as an immigration issue, Bill denies that the government played a role in luring illegal immigrants to the US (which would seem to contradict his most recent statement). Also, when Geraldo tells Bill that immigration status doesn’t have anything to with or predispose someone to commiting violent crime, Bill responds by telling Geraldo that it sure does, because illegal immigrants already have a history of being “irresponsible.”

    In addition, Bill wrote an article in 2005 entitled “Alien Invasion,” in which he relates the story of a Ms. Dias, a slumlord who allowed illegal immigrants to crowd a house she owned. He encouraged his readers to imagine how they would feel if they had to live with this in their neighborhood.

    Again, I don’t necessarily rank these examples up there with some of the crap I’ve heard people say about illegal immigrants, but I don’t really believe that Bill is the compassionate dude he would have us believe either.

  6. hello

    Flavor of Love…. man, my wife watches that crap and I can’t stand it. Good pull…

  7. hello

    Who watches Law and Order these days?

  8. I would agree. He isn’t quite Mr. Innocent. He just isn’t as vitriolic as some of the others. I think he made an ass of himself going postal over a fictional character who certain didn’t end up looking very good in the show. He was overly righteous in the beginning, attacked cops, had unrealistic goals, and then ended up murdering. He was a fool to take the case in the first place.

    And O’Reilly is outraged? Give me a break. CHARACTER = fiction, O’Reilly.

    I had recorded the show and just got around to watching it last night, AFTER I heard Mr. O go nuts. I HAD to make time for it.

    Munch and Fin often appear very conflicted over issues. O’Reilly also probably missed the point also that the issues aren’t all left wing causes. I seem to recall a few shows about Munch’s father having dementia, his ex wife, and other contemporary topics that really aren’t political. Dementia doesn’t ask for political party affiliation.

    I find it refreshing that shows deal with contemporary issues rather than vapid nonsense. If the ratings aren’t high, I am not surprised. Many people don’t want to think when they watch TV.

    I also take extreme exception to O’Reilly saying that Dr. Tiller ‘executed innocent babies.’ In saying that, O’Reilly totally trivializes fetal anomoly and life threatening issues of women. Regardless of one’s opinion on abortion, Dr. Tiller did not execute anyone. He himself was executed as was Dr. Britton.

  9. DiversityGal

    Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that SVU is the most popular one of the franchise. You still have people interested in the “will they or won’t they” quality of Olivia Benson and Elliott Stabler’s relationship. I am certain that ratings/viewers are down for ALL of the shows (Criminal Intent has been on life-support for awhile, and “just plain” Law & Order has only recently revived itself a little), but you can’t throw a stick without hitting someone who doesn’t watch the reruns. You can find them on tons of TV channels, it seems. L & O sure seems to have influenced TV by the boom in procedural dramas.

    I doubt this episode is going to change anyone’s minds on the topic, nor do I necessarily think the show tries to do that in general. It kind of presents a view that things are complicated, as its regular characters debate pretty much every issue under the sun during investigation, trial prep, and actual trial.

    Again, Bill should have just left well enough alone. The pundit character in this episode gets upset on the stand and tells his viewers, “Are you gonna let her talk that way to me?” Bill makes himself look all too similar when he goes ballistic at the mere mention of his name in the episode, and subsequently seeks to inspire the same outrage in his viewers.

    And yes…I am a big time Law & Order fan…but y’all could tell that already:)

  10. Rick Bentley

    This is O’Reilly being O’Reilly. He is a bully who will not tolerate anything other than high praise being said about him. Even by a fictional character!

    Flavor of Love and O’Reilly show may be crap, and Law and Order SVU as well, but the best show on TV is … Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew. I’m not kidding. It’s deep.

  11. Where does one watch Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew?

    I don’t disagree about O’Reilly. However, he has a few….operative word..FEW…qualities I think are ok. They escape me at the moment because I am so disappointed in his behavior over the L &O svu show. He threw a temper tantrum over a TV character mentioning his name in a not so positive light. Good grief. He is a bully. One of the ‘louder is righter’ crowd.

    DG, Laura and Bill were both interrupting each other to discredit L & O and say how it had no ratings. Then why do they care? Ratings aren’t why I watch a show.

    Actually, I am a big fan of Criminal Minds. Give me a serial killer any day of the week.

  12. Rick Bentley

    Sex Rehab is on VH1, frequently (several times during the course of a week). You can watch the most recent episode on-line here – http://www.vh1.com/shows/sex_rehab_with_dr_drew/series.jhtml

    O’Reilly might benefit from crossing over to that show – http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1013043mackris1.html

  13. Rick Bentley

    If I had my dream job of writing sketches for Saturday Night Live, I’d do a Celebrity Sex Rehab with Tiger Woods, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, and Bill Clinton.

  14. Should I wait until no kids are around to watch this show, Rick?

  15. Witness Too

    I agree that O’Reilly is not as bad as the other names he was mentioned with. He has a right to be upset about that. I’m worried that he had this meltdown publicly. He might actually get pushed off the deep end where those other pundits are. I used to think O’Reilly was the worst of the worst, but his roots in actual journalism sort of stop him from going as far as Glenn Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, and the other fact-free extremists. I hope that he stays grounded and doesn’t let this unfair criticism push him over the edge.

  16. O’Reilly has an academic reputation, for sure, which sets him apart from the Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh crew.

    I am just not so sure we have to hold our fictional characters accountable for what they say, especially when the one who mentioned O’Reilly’s name wasn’t the most credible.

    What is O’Reilly thinking. He took a 1 and turned it into a 10.

  17. Rick Bentley

    Sex Rehab has some cursing and bad behavior in it, but teens could definitely watch it I think.

    “O’Reilly has an academic reputation” ????????

    Taught English and History in a High School

    Worked as a reporter, for print and television

    Worked on “Inside Edition”

    Then became the biggest blow hard on TV.

    I prefer O’Reilly, but for smarts or knowledge that goofball Hannity is above O’Reilly.

  18. Rick Bentley

    I’m not trying to demonize him for this – I just find it funny.

    On a September 2007 edition of The Radio Factor, while having a discussion about race with fellow Fox News commentator and author Juan Williams,[77] O’Reilly said he “couldn’t get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia’s restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, primarily black patronship.” He commented that no one in Sylvia’s was “screaming M’Fer, I want more iced tea.”[78] He further added that “I think that black Americans are starting to think more and more for themselves, getting away from the Sharptons and the Jacksons and people trying to lead them into a race-based culture. They’re just trying to figure it out. ‘Look, I can make it. If I work hard and get educated, I can make it.'”

  19. Rick Bentley

    There’s the real world

    There’s the world that exists in O’Reilly’s head

    Every once in a while, they intersect a little bit

  20. O’Reilly has post graduate degrees from both Boston College and Harvard. He has worked in academia.

    The other guys mentioned, Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck did not graduate from college. I guess that puts O’Reilly head and shoulders above the competition along the lines of being academic.

    No big O’Reilly fan here. But I do have some respect for his educational background. All the education in the world doesn’t keep someone from making an ass of one’s self.

  21. O'Reilly's_Insane

    O’Reilly is off his rocker. As far as I am concerned, he can join Lou Dobbs in an early retirement.

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