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Kellen wrote:So sad he passed away.
I liked: Alice's Restaurant, Bonnie & Clyde, The Left Handed Gun.

knives wrote:Is Flesh and Blood available anywhere?

So it was a shock, Mr. Penn said, when Dick Wolf, creator of NBC's ''Law and Order'' and one of television's foremost producers, asked the director to dinner in New York and offered him the job of executive producer on that show. Mr. Penn's pay for the season is likely to top $1 million, talent agents said.

Given that television is flagrant in its discrimination against writers and producers over 50, Mr. Wolf's decision to appoint Mr. Penn is a virtual breakthrough for the elderly. ''I think there's this vast pool of guys who have had incredible careers and are much more talented than a lot of people who are having movies green-lit right how,'' Mr. Wolf said.

The average age of the writing staff on ''Law and Order'' is 46, he said. ''That's ancient on television,'' said Mr. Wolf, who is 53. ''But I'm doing dramas, not 'Friends.' For serious writing, miles on the odometer are beneficial.'' (For the second season in a row, Mr. Wolf is also using 69-year-old Ted Kotcheff, director of ''North Dallas 40,'' as executive producer of NBC's ''Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.'')

In his new job, Mr. Penn, who has made a handful of television films, will oversee the creation of each episode of ''Law and Order,'' working mostly with the directors and actors. Mr. Penn's son, Matthew Penn, is one of the directors on the show, which revolves around the police and a district attorney's office in New York. Mr. Wolf recalled, ''When Ed Sherin, who had been doing this job for seven years, decided to leave, it was, like, who do you get to replace someone who was that integral to the daily running and daily success of that show?''

Mr. Wolf said that Lewis Gould, one of the show's producers, came to him and said, ''You know who Matt's Dad is -- Arthur Penn.''

''And I said, 'Wow, what a great idea,' '' Mr. Wolf continued. ''So I had dinner with him, and when we had coffee I said to him, 'Do you want to run ''Law and Order''?' And he said yes. As you can tell, it was a very complicated negotiation.''

Mr. Wolf said that what appealed to him about Mr. Penn was his obvious experience and talent working with stage actors. The cast of ''Law and Order'' includes such theater actors as Sam Waterston, Jerry Orbach and, starting in the fall, Dianne Wiest. (She will replace Steven Hill, who played a district attorney.)

Beyond that, Mr. Wolf said, Mr. Penn's signature in his early television movies, as well as ''Bonnie and Clyde'' and other films, was focusing a sociological lens on various moments in American history. ''Bonnie and Clyde,'' he said, was not merely a film about some lovers on a crime spree, but a film about the Depression. ''His pictures operate on two levels -- and we needed that for this show,'' he said.

Mr. Penn described his role on ''Law and Order'' as serving, in a sense, as a mentor to the show's directors. Directing episodes has no interest for him, Mr. Penn said.

''I would rather be available to the young directors and be able to talk to them about the possibilities,'' he said. ''A lot of directors in television have come up through the technical ranks. They have all the technical skills in the world. They're not all that familiar with actors. And on 'Law and Order' you have wonderful racehorsy actors like Sam Waterston, Jerry Orbach and, now, Dianne Wiest.''

Aspect wrote: Wed May 27, 2026 12:22 pm Don’t forget The Miracle Worker. A stone cold masterpiece. Show it to a kid and watch them squirm at how violent Helen Keller is!

I also have a soft spot for (not a masterpiece) The Chase. Don’t hit me.