When Law & Order first debuted in 1990 on NBC, it’s doubtful that the network and the series creator, Dick Wolf, foresaw the monster they would create. What started as a gritty look at the police, district attorneys, prosecutors, and other figures in New York City’s justice system spanned 20 years and produced multiple spin-offs, becoming a cultural phenomenon defined by a jazzy intro song and an iconic gavel sound effect.
One of the spin-offs, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has long outlived its predecessor, appealing to viewers with sensationalized storylines about sex crimes, human trafficking, child abuse, and other sensitive subjects. One comedy podcast provides a deep, often humorous dive into the show, and it will soon take Pittsburgh audiences on a live journey into the world of fictionalized “ripped from the headlines” cases, wisecracking detectives, and questionable procedures.
Co-hosted by professional comedians Liza Treyger and Kara Klenk, That’s Messed Up breaks down episodes of Law & Order: SVU by exploring the actual crimes on which episodes are based, and through interviews with on-screen talent “ranging from big stars to joggers who find the body.” Treyger and Klenk will record an episode live on Thu., Oct. 26 at the Pittsburgh Improv.
In a joint statement, the co-hosts tell Pittsburgh City Paper that the live show “combines an episode recap with hilarious commentary and a PowerPoint (a funny one, no graphs) and games,” adding, “It’s great for people who just like to laugh, even if you’ve only ever caught an episode of SVU in a hotel room once.”
Treyger and Klenk say they met doing comedy in New York City, where, one night in a green room, they were discussing a Twitter account called @DoinkDoink that “lets you know whenever an episode of Law & Order is on TV.” After bonding over having seen every episode of the SVU franchise specifically, Klenk got the idea for the weekly podcast.
The two women also claim some personal connections to the hit series. Treyger, who, in addition to her stand-up specials, has appeared on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers and in the film The King of Staten Island, says she once bombed an audition for SVU. Klenk, who has written for Comedy Central, Netflix, and RuPaul’s Drag Race, claims that Christopher Meloni, the actor who famously plays Elliot Stabler on SVU, used to live in her hometown “but he left.”
While SVU has produced many laughable, over-the-top moments (parody accounts have been dedicated to Detective Odafin Tutuola’s ridiculous descriptions of underground street drugs and sex acts), many find its success less than amusing. The long-running series has come under fire for what many view as a wholly unrealistic, glorified depiction of law enforcement, particularly after the George Floyd protests and continued calls for police reform in the United States.
One 2022 New York Times article says SVU – which, along with its predecessor, first set out to examine various issues with the law – has, in recent years, chosen to “sacrifice realism to preserve optimistic attitudes toward policing.” This sentiment was echoed by HBO Max late-night host John Oliver, who, in a 2022 episode, called the show “dangerous” for presenting an inaccurate view of the legal system and valorizing police, making it little more than so-called cop-aganda.
Treyger and Klenk retain a more nuanced take on the show, saying they are “very open and honest about how SVU is a complete fantasy of the justice system.”
“A world where the cops listen to and even believe women 100% of the time?” they tell City Paper with an added “LOL.”
They expand on this, saying that, even though the show “might not be an accurate representation of law enforcement,” it’s still “extremely educational and important in so many other ways.” They claim it has handled topics like assault, trauma, LGBTQ+ issues, and mental illness, often before these topics “were being routinely discussed” in the public sphere.
“People learn so much from this show from protecting themselves from predators to how to report an assault, the reality of PTSD, and so much more,” they continue. “Not to mention all of the esoteric disorders and conditions Dr. George Huang [played by actor BD Wong] has taught us! This is why we, and our listeners, consider ourselves amateur detectives.”
That’s Messed Up Live: Anywhere But Hudson. 8 p.m. Doors at 6:30 p.m. Thu., Oct. 26. Pittsburgh Improv. 166 East Bridge St., Homestead. $25-85. improv.com/pittsburgh
This article appears in Oct 11-17, 2023.
