John Oliver tackled the influential discrepancy between reality and on-screen fantasy in Law & Order, the “king of cop shows” with over 1,200 episodes among its many specials and spin-offs.
Law & Order, which returned this February after a 12-year hiatus, and its spin-offs, all created by producer Dick Wolf, is comfort TV that has real impact, the Last Week Tonight host said. Viewers of crime dramas are more likely to believe that police are successful at lowering crime, use force only when necessary, and that misconduct does not typically lead to false confessions.
