Law and Magic Blog

L&O: Criminal Intent's Magician's Special

The recent Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode about the vanishing magician was quite clever, IMHO. Titled "Vanishing Act", it featured Christopher Lloyd as The Great Carmine, a washed up magician, James Frain as Dean Holiday, an egotistical illusionist jealous of Miles Stone, a David Blaine type who winds up dead in middle of The Great Carmine's act, and Kristin Connolly as a vanishing beautiful assistant. The Naked Cowboy, who's embroiled in a real life lawsuit of his own, makes a cameo appearance. The episode brings together all sorts of familiar themes, including why a magician can't reveal the secret of his illusion, even to save himself from an accusation, and how to get that special vain someone to confess his guilt when you have only a hunch to go on. I could hear Carly Simon singing in my head.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent's New Episode Features Vanishing Magician

Law & Order: Criminal Intent's upcoming episode (Sunday, July 20 at 10 pm, 9 Central time) features a storyline about a magician who vanishes during his act. While I'm not entirely certain what "ripped from the headlines" story inspired this episode, it might be one like Michael Patrick's, about which I blogged a while ago. Of course, the L&O: CI writers will dress up the script's original "RFTH" inspirations to avoid the usual right of publicity, invasion of privacy, and defamation concerns. Still, I'll be interested to see the episode, with guest stars Christopher Lloyd and James Frain.

A Little More On That Globo TV Lawsuit

Here's a little more on that Brazilian magicians' lawsuit against Globo TV, courtesy of  Vicenç Feliu, a law librarian here at LSU Law.

...[this case was up in the Tribunal of Justice, court of first instance of the State of Rio Grande do Sul; Judge Eduardo Khote Werlang of the 11ª Vara Cível de Porto Alegre (11^th Civil Chamber of Porto Alegre) presiding.  The decision was passed on 30 April 2003 and the docket number was 00101156694. There were 21 magicians (see list at bottom of message) bringing suit against Rede Globo and their attorneys were Dr. Marco Antonio Birnfeld and Dr. Marcio Oliveira Puggina, who died on 01 October 2001, while the case was ongoing. As you know, the judge ruled in their favor. I have searched the court’s website (http://www.tj.rs.gov.br) using the docket number as well as different combinations of the known facts and have been unable to find any documents related to this case.  I have also searched the web and beyond finding more news items, like the one you have, or blog entries, I have not been able to find any actual official court documents.   

Vicenç 

List of magicians: 

• - Andréa Araújo Viana (ANDREA)
• - Leda dos Santos Souza (PASSOQUINHA)
• - Andréia Maria Alexandre Henrique (MARY)
• - Caetano Miguel Tótaro Neto (ROCAMITONI)
• - Claudio Alves Machado (WULLICHANG)
• - Daniel Silveira Pereira (LE DENIER)
• - Edgar Poggetti (IBIS)
• - Guacira Terezinha da Silva (GUACIRA)
• - Hilton da Rosa Melecchi (HIDROMEL)
• - José Benedito Galtieri Filho (MAGRINE Jr.)
• - Juliana Cristofari (JULLY)
• - Marco Antonio Rodrigues (THU)
• - Maria Lucia Schneider (LÚCIA)
• - Paulo Roberto Britto Martins (TONY) – Actual Presidente
• - Rita de Cássia Vareira dos Santos (RITA)
• - Sérgio Albino Schneider (ALBIN)
• - Solange Carvalho Araújo (SOLANGE)
• - Valéria Martinak Soares (VALÉRIA)
• - Vera Lúcia Santana Dias (ALINE)
• - Vilson José Schneider (VILSON)
• - Vitor Hugo Cardia (KARDINI)

Legal Fallout From Those "Masked Magician" Specials

I was browsing for more information about possible legal fallout from the broadcast of the "Masked Magician" specials on the Fox network in the late 1990s and found an article published in the Herald Sun (Melbourne), dated June 4, 2003, called Magic Cat Is Out of the Bag. Apparently twenty-one Brazilian magicians sued the Globo TV network, Brazil's biggest, for broadcasting the specials, because the conjurors lost income after audiences saw the secrets of the illusions (and presumably lost interest in going to magic shows). One magician, Paulo Roberto Brito Martins, said he lost more than $800,000 in income. The court ruled that the network should pay each magician damages in the amount of his (or her) lost income. I'd be curious to know more about the legal basis for the ruling, and to get a copy of the opinion. Anybody out there have access to Brazilian case law? The case comes out of Rio Grande do Sul; the judge is Eduardo Kothe Werlang.

New Law and Magic Series Picked Up For Fall

On offer for fall by the networks:

From CBS: The Mentalist; The Ex List

From Fox: Fringe

From ABC: Life on Mars (yup--based on the British series)

Breaking the Magicians' Code

More "Breaking the Magicians' Code" next week. Tonight was episode 4, in which the Masked Magician unmasked himself, and explained his reasoning for the exposures.

See here for next week's schedule. I'm wondering if Fox is planning to re-release the videos (long o.p.) as DVDs....Given the ever-increasing interest in magic, they should sell well.

Fox Reality Channel Airs "Breaking the Magician's Code"

Do you remember that video set, "Breaking the Magicians' Code"? It's making its reappearance on the Fox Reality Channel. This week the focus is on the second episode. It will air again tonight, at 6 p.m. (5 Central time) and 9 p.m. (8 Central time). Fox originally aired the specials from 1997 to 2002.

New Midsomer Murders

I just received my set of Midsomer Murders: Volume 10, which contains four episodes (Second Sight, Hidden Depths, Sauce for the Goose, Midsomer Rhapsody). So far, I've only watched the first episode, Second Sight, which concerns Inspector Barnaby's investigation of mysterious deaths in the village of Midsomer Mere, a town in which more than one person turns out to have real psychic powers, although one person, a woman called Romany Rose, is obviously a fraud. I half-expected the place to disappear at dawn, like Brigadoon. Unlike other Midsomer episodes that I've reviewed on this blog, this one was a disappointment. The Inspector doesn't believe in psychic powers and uses traditional methods of detection in order to solve the murders, but the scriptwriters force the audience to believe in the paranormal by offering only that as the explanation for various characters' knowledge of events. I continue to like Inspector Barnaby and his approach to solving crimes--he gets an A, his sergeant gets a B for quoting his first "Nan" who believed in spirits and then the other one who didn't, and I'm giving the scriptwriters a C- for taking the easy way out. Still--good acting, great locations, and seeing John Nettles, Jane Wymark (Mrs. Barnaby), Laura Howard (Cully Barnaby), John Hopkins (Sergeant Scott), and the other regulars is always a great comfort. Watching these folks go through their paces while we're munching popcorn is our idea of a great evening.

Penn Jillette On Dancing With the Stars

I note that Penn Jillette is (was) one of the contestants on this season's Dancing With the Stars. I did catch his performance last week. Now, I do like Penn & Teller, and I admire their attempts to expand their repertoire.

People should be nicer. Based on what I saw, I thought Penn's dancing was rather good. I understand he's married, and I'm willing to bet that his wife will be thrilled with his newly updated skills. But I do think he should keep the flowers, and lose that magic tie.

Shows With Paranormal Themes and Law-Related Content Seem Popular For Fall

The Hollywood Reporter lists a number of pilots ordered up for fall by the networks. I note that several feature both paranormal themes and some law-related content, including, for ABC: Life on Mars (based on the British series) "A story about a 21st century detective who, after a car crash, mysteriously finds himself working as a cop in the 1970s -- based on the BBC's sci-fi crime drama"; for CBS: The Mentalist: "A mentalist uses his skills of observation to solve crimes as an independent detective working with the police"; Mythological X: "After learning from a psychic that she already has dated the man she's supposed to marry, a woman revisits all her past relationships in the hopes of finding him"; The Meant to B's: "Romantic drama about a young woman who dies, but in order to "pass over," she must return to Earth and help people improve their lives"; for Fox: The Oaks: "Follows the lives of three families, in different time periods, who all occupy the same house haunted by a restless spirit"; Fringe: "Young, tough FBI agent is forced to confront the spread of unexplained phenomena and work with a XX scientist and his son" (this one sounds a lot like the X-Files, doesn't it?); for NBC: The Listener: "The show centers on Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik) as a young, big-city paramedic with
the power to listen to people's thoughts; developed by and shared with
Canada's CTV".

"Pushing Daisies" and "Ghost Whisperer" are returning for fall. NBC hasn't yet decided about renewing "Medium".