"Law & Order" (1990)TV series 1990-????

Creator:

Dick Wolf

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

Release Date:

13 September 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Drama

Tagline:

The Story Is Everything

Plot:

The show follows a crime, usually adapted from current headlines, from two separate vantage points. The first half of the show concentrates on the investigation of the crime by the police, the second half follows the prosecution of the crime in court.

Plot Keywords:

Female Boss | Sergeant | Female District Attorney | Death Of Cast Member | Law And Order

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Golden Globes. Another 40 wins & 145 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 26	9:00 PM	NBC	Driven	#18.5
Mon. July 28	2:00 PM	TNT	Homesick	#6.22

Cast

Steven Zirnkilton	...	Narrator (410 episodes, 1990-2008)
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Lt. Anita Van Buren / ... (346 episodes, 1991-2008)
Sam Waterston	...	Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy / ... (323 episodes, 1994-2008)
Jerry Orbach	...	Detective Lennie Briscoe / ... (274 episodes, 1991-2004)
Steven Hill	...	D.A. Adam Schiff (229 episodes, 1990-2000)
Jesse L. Martin	...	Detective Ed Green (198 episodes, 1999-2008)

Also Known As:

Law & Order Prime (USA) (informal title)
Law and Order (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

60 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:PG (season 3 DVD) | UK:15 (seasons 1-2 DVD) | Netherlands:6 | Iceland:12 (some epiosodes) | Singapore:M18 (season 5) | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | USA:TV-14 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Bethesda Fountain, Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Wolf Films

Trivia:

At the time of the show's creation, one-hour dramas were going through a slump, with sitcoms being more popular and much more likely to get strong syndication deals for re-runs. Dick Wolf thought that it might be easier to sell the show in 30-minute segments and came up with the concept of the first half of the show being the police investigation and the second half the legal procedure. Dramas started rebounding in popularity shortly after Law & Order debuted, so this never ended up becoming an issue with re-run deals.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Throughout the series members of the New York Supreme Court (which is a trial court) are referred to as "Judge" when in reality they are referred to as "Justice". Only members of the New York Court of Appeal (the state's highest court) are called "Judge".

Quotes:

Jack McCoy: [a judge in L.A. has just ruled to nullify an extradition order] Speak up, Your Honor. There are some people in the Bronx who didn't hear you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: The Best of Commercial Parodies (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I'm Not Driving Anymore

After a few soggy years, finally a great season in 2005

I've been a fan of this show for a long time, dating back to the first few years when it looked like it was filmed by college kids, and like any long term relationship it's sometimes been tough going. After a great first 4 or 5 years, it got a little bogged down, came to life again, and bogged down again, you get the picture.

Quite frankly I thought the show was going down for good the last few years, the cast seemed weak and bored and I didn't even bother to tune in each week, it seemed SVU was overtaking it.

But the good news is this past season it has sputtered back to life again, helped enormously by the new D.A. who yes is beautiful, but is also a very good actress. The scripts have gotten better too, overall I"d buy this season on DVD.

Standouts were the episode LICENCE TO KILL, GOV LOVE, and TOMBSTONE, which featured the shocker of seeing a regular character get shot! I did not see that coming and was roused out of my seat in astonishment at the cajones the show is finally showing again.

(Sidebar- I also watched the painful 'conclusion' of that episode on the woefully misconstrued TRIAL BY JURY, and was equally shocked at how bad that show was. Take it from me, stick to the original.) Yes the music remains cheesy and simplistic and yes you still never learn much about the characters private lives, but this show doesn't go for the easy quick fix and quick shock that SVU sometimes resorts to, and has far better stories than most any other show on television today. Long may it reign.