Some fluffy trideo shows you can use., Knight Star: Law & dis-Order, and CSI Options

[ShadowDragon8685]

Here's an idea I had for a nice, fun parody of real-life shows, and as a vicious, in-world jab at the security companies. It could even lead to Shadowrunny goodness for your players.

In spring of '69, Horizon corp hired on a pair of brilliant retro-culture trid directors with an idea to sell. The results aired in 2070, to astounding acclaim and applause.

Those shows are:

Knight Star: Law & dis-Order.

Knight Star: Law and dis-Order, otherwise known simply as Law and dis-Order, follows the travails of an award-winning cast of veteran Trideo actors who portray detectives, lieutenants, and highers-up in the fictitious security company Knight Star, which is a very obvious dig at both Knight-Errant and Lone Star.

The series is also a parody of the ancient 2d drama Law & Order, and in fact generally follows the same format as Law & Order; we open with the crime scene's discovery or the crime in progress, and cut away to the principal investigating cast standing over the body(s). The hour-long trid broadcast takes the viewer through the investigation and hands it off to the principal prosecuting cast, who consist of actual UCAS prosecuting staff. The broadcast then takes us through the preperation and run-up to the trial, including the wheeling, dealing, further investigation, interferance by outside forces, and so forth, until we get to the trial, where the defense and the prosecution makes their case. Sometimes the jury's verdict is heard, sometimes it's not.

Where Knight Star: Law & dis-Order breaks with it's philosophical fathers is in everything except format. The Knight Star investigation officers, Jerry Mander and Lenny Til, both caucasian human males, are corrupt beyond belief. They "interrogate" witnesses with the cameras off, shoot at the slightest provocation and don't stop until they go through at least two clips of ammo each. They manufacture evidence, hide evidence that would be damaging to a conviction, and generally treat the public rudely, and the SINless brutally.

Joining them are a supporting cast of characters, including a hermetic mage with an addiction to Deepweed, a perpetually spaced-out decker, their skirt-chasing stationhouse chief who's constantly hounding them about the need to bring in more females to "keep the pollitical quotas level", and their alcoholic lieutenant.


The prosecuting teams - there are two in this series - are a divide. One is an honest, upright team of actual prosecuting attourneys who have to fight and wrestle with the tampering and corruption of Lenny and Jerry, who very rarely manage to get things straightened out. They are often forced to take incredulous plea bargains (A hired hitman gunned down five people in the broad of day. He pleads down to one count of Man Two) just to get any conviction at all. By the time they've swept out the lies and the deciet, many Judges throw their cases out of court on lack of evidence.

The other team is quite firmly in with Jerry and Lenny, and will do whatever it takes to get a conviction - even if they have an innocent man. They threaten witnesses and tamper with juries, they intimidate obviously innocent people into pleading guilty to Murder Two.

The overall effect is something of an "intentionally unintentional comedy-drama" - the series' shooting and presentation is hard drama, in the style of Law & Order, but because of many of the deliberately outrageous situations and comical abuses, the show is often laughed at (Especially thanks to the wise-cracking leads.) The producers are aware of this, and work the theme into the show.


The second show is called CSI: Crime Scene Instigation. Being produced by the same people who are responsible for Law & dis-Order, there is a great deal of interplay between the shows, with the actors from one frequently appearing in the other in their normal roles. The show focuses on the Knight Star Crime Scene Investigation unit. While they do occasionally do some actual forensics, most of their work is based around fabricating evidence and even conspiring to set in motion events that will lead to a homocide for the detectives to investigate. The show follows the format of the 2d drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, with an edgy cast of trendy forensics officers who drive ridiculously luxurious and expensive SUVs - every time the vehicles are involved, the manufacturer's logo and model name is shown when they open the doors. The show is done in the format of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, featuring ridiculously graphic investigations and in-depth detail of exactly how they are going to fabricate their evidence. The cast is likewise trendy, consisting of young and good-looking humans and elves, and one recurring silent character - the ork janitor. CSI: Crime-Scene Instigation is not as well-loved as Knight Star: Law & dis-Order, but it nevertheless remains hugely popular.









Naturally, there are those who despise Knight Star: Law & dis-Order, and CSI: Crime Scene Instigation. Namely, Knight-Errant and Lone Star Security Services. Both corporations rail at the show, but their objections are swamped in the sea of laughter and loving that both broadcasts recieve, with their scathingly-hot, thinly-veiled ridicule of security companies and the breakdown of justice. Naturally, controvery breeds interest, and the shows feed on their condemnation.