Question: Both Trial by Jury and The Juror share the same exact plot about a female juror — Joanne Whalley in the former and Demi Moore in the latter, who's coerced into rendering a "not guilty" verdict to acquit a mob boss. In both, a mob enforcer (William Hurt and Alec Baldwin, respectively) end up falling in love with the juror. How did this not result in a plagiarism lawsuit?Answer: Since it's hard enough to find a spokesman about a lawsuit that did happen, let alone one that didn't, I'm reduced to an educated guess in this matter. First, I wouldn't say that The Juror (1996) and Trial by Jury (1994) have "the same exact plot" — I'd say they have the same premise and that there are some striking similarities between the way the two stories play out.
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ConvictionI've had many obsessions in my life — love, shiny jewelry, chocolate — but none as devastating as Law & Order. My addiction to Dick Wolf's franchise (save for the deservedly short-lived Trial by Jury) has distracted me from finishing freelance assignments, deprived me of adequate sleep and even chased away a boyfriend or two. That said, Wolf's new series Conviction — which technically isn't part of the L&O family, even though it stars Special Victims Unit's cast
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Question: I'm a big fan of the Law & Order franchise (more of Law & Order: SVU than the original), but I was wondering what the chances are that the new series Conviction will survive on Friday nights. Trial by Jury didn't do very well in that time slot, and, speaking as a future prosecutor, I'm very optimistic about this show. I was just wondering if you think it will do well or not, and if you've seen more than just the previews of the show in order to form an opinion about it. Thanks.
Answer: Hard to know if it will survive on Fridays. Special Victims Unit did very well there, but that was before CBS found a winning formula for the night. I know I would much rather watch Numbers than Conviction, which seems to me a very clumsy effort by Dick Wolf to try to make a David E. Kelley-style series. (My review of Conviction will appear in the next issue of TV Guide, out later this week.) It may depend on how well Las Vegas survives the transfer to Fridays. If Vegas boosts NBC's Friday
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