Law and Order almost always puts in a direct reference to the source they're aping so that no one will miss the joke. Almost as often, the reference is overt, as when a Martha Stewart-esque character exclaims "first Martha, now me??" -- as if to imply, oh no we're not _really_ talking about Martha Stewart, wink-wink!

...was when he said that the cop would be "crucified." I have to believe this is subtle reference to Gibson's film, "The Passion of the Christ."

The episode certainly had its typical law-and-order tone, and this scene is not the best of the show. In all, though, I was quite impressed by Chase. Perhaps in part because it was just good to see him again, particularly cast in a role that is against-type for him, I found him to be chilling as this completely calculating and heartless man.

Chase came admirably close to real acting on L&O, and given the (melo)drama of the writing, the whole thing worked perfectly well. I bought (mostly) his racial tirade schtick, in part because the character was supposed to be plastered.

I thought in the rest of the episode he did an workman-like job. I especially liked his faux-pain over selling his son down the river ("Well, the boy's always had issues").

Maybe you HAVE seen too many Vacation movies.

In all honesty, Chase's time as a comic actor was up quite a while ago. It's hard to play the smug, oblivious fratboy when your hair turns grey, and Chase never really got beyond that characterization. His angry reaction when Howard Stern made a "Punk'd" phone call to him - the sort of thing Chase would have done to someone else years ago - showed how dry his well had become.

Also, although he hasn't had as public a scandal as Mel Gibson - and although his personal involvement in drugs and dating are only peripherally involved in any discussion of his profession - he travelled in the circles of "Saturday Night Live" and "National Lampoon." There, self-destructive and suicidal behavior was not just tolerated, it was considered an artistic statement and in a way encouraged. A drunk, racist and abusive Gibson would have been like a Marie Osmond in comparison to John Belushi, Chris Farley and Michael O'Donohue.

Whatever may be said about the "Law and Order" franchises, this looked like the most interesting Chase performance I've seen in years. Maybe he's come to some realizations about life and stretched his range beyond the fratboy.

The whole Mel debacle is about Mel not about what he thinks or what he did. If it were anyone else it would have passed unnoticed. But Mel made a huge deal out of offending Jews first and then being paranoid and defensive about our reactions to it. He brought all this attention on himself. Trust me, I know lots of people who openly harbor antisemitic thoughts. I have met people who admitted to being in the Klan and worse. And no one could mistake me in public for anyone but a Jew. So it's not so much about the act but about the outrage, as if antisemites or racists or whatnots are MOST outraged that we don't let them define for US what we should be offended by. In a weird way what's refreshing about Mel is his blithering honestly. It comes straight from a place where such idiocy is offered up as absolute unquestioned gospel. I hate to Godwin but it's just the kind of banality that Hannah Arendt wrote about.

starts out rough but i found him convincing by the end.