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| “ | Thirty-eight people were shot in courtrooms last year. The show you're staging is no different than mine. | „ |
| ~ Mason belittling Ben Stone |
Richard "Rick" Mason is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Sweeps". He is an unethical journalist and daytime talk show host who arranges for one of his guests to be murdered on the air.
He was portrayed by Robert Klein.
Early life[]
Mason worked for years as a television journalist before hosting his own daytime talk show, Final Confession. He quickly became notorious for hosting the most controversial guests possible and engineering wild, unpredictable - and often dangerous - situations on the show, for which he garnered high ratings. For one episode, he exposed the identity of a juror in a mob trial without his knowledge, leading to the man's murder; for another, he gave a prostitute money for drugs so she would be more "lively" on the air, leading to her death from an overdose.
For a "sweeps week" episode, he invited drag performer Tommy Turner and his parents, who did not know he was a transvestite, to appear on the show. Tommy's father Howard suffered a fatal heart attack after seeing him in drag, which made Tommy feel so guilty that he committed suicide.
"Sweeps"[]
Mason has convicted child molester Joseph Vinton as a guest on Final Confession, along with one of his victims, 15-year-old Scotty Fisher, and Scotty's mother, Sarah. He had been warned not to let Scotty's father Sid on the show because he had repeatedly threatened to kill Vinton, but he told Scotty to invite Sid anyway, convinced that the show would be more exciting if he carried out his threat on the air. Sure enough, Sid barges onto the stage and shoots Vinton dead.
While investigating Vinton's murder, NYPD Homicide Detectives Lennie Briscoe and Mike Logan learn from Mason's head of security, Barry Talbott, that Mason had called his lawyer, Alice Sutton, and asked about what kind of legal trouble he would be in if Sid killed Vinton. Mason blames Talbott, however, while Sutton denies ever talking to Mason about the possibility of someone being killed on the show.
Briscoe and Logan talk to Debbie Courio, one of Mason's former employees, who tells them about the episode with Tommy Turner. Executive Assistant District Attorney Ben Stone and Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid question Scotty, who admits that Mason told him to call Sid and tell him where the show was going to be taped. They offer Sid a reduced sentence and assurances that they will not charge Scotty in return for his testimony, which gives them enough evidence to charge Mason with first-degree manslaughter and criminal facilitation.
During the trial, Sid testifies that Mason had wanted him to kill Vinton, and that he had made Scotty call him to make sure he would be on the show. Scotty, meanwhile, testifies that Mason took him to a payphone to call Sid. Mason, meanwhile, turns the trial into a media circus by holding a press conference and announcing that he is suing the NYPD and District Attorney Adam Schiff for wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution, respectively.
Mason testifies in his own defense that he takes every precaution to make sure the guests on his show are safe. In response, Stone calls Courio as a witness, and she testifies about the mob trial juror, the prostitute, and Tommy Turner - all guests whom Mason knowingly put in danger, and all of whom died as a result. She also tells the jury that Mason had said that what the show needed was for someone to die on the air.
The jury finds Mason innocent of manslaughter, but guilty of criminal facilitation, and sentences him to 18 months in prison. As he leaves the courthouse, Mason gives a statement to the reporters outside casting himself as a martyr for the First Amendment.
Trivia[]
- Mason is loosely based on TV journalist and talk show host Geraldo Rivera.
External links[]
- Rick Mason on the Law & Order Wiki
