"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 | 19 | 20

Release Date:

13 September 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Drama

Tagline:

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups. The police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.

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:

Attorney | Detective | Police | District Attorney | Evidence

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Golden Globes. Another 40 wins & 150 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Dec. 26	9:00 PM	NBC	Rumble	#19.1
Sun. Dec. 27	3:00 AM	TNT	Confession	#2.1

Cast

S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Lt. Anita Van Buren / ... (381 episodes, 1991-2009)
Sam Waterston	...	Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy / ... (358 episodes, 1994-2009)
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:15 (seasons 1-2 DVD) | UK:PG (season 3 DVD) | Iceland:12 (some epiosodes) | Singapore:M18 (season 5) | Netherlands:6 | USA:TV-PG (some episodes) | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | USA:TV-14 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Studios USA Television

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:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In more than one episode, characters refer to the District Attorneys of various New Jersey counties. New Jersey has County Prosecutors, not District Attorneys. However, this error is very common.

Quotes:

[to Briscoe after he exited from an interrogation room where there is a young suspect]
Abbie Carmichael: Oh, great. You made her cry.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: (#1.11)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

I'm Not Driving Anymore

The Definition of Drama

There are many shows that are known for some sort of drama. For example, for the genre SCI-FI is Stargate: SGI or even STAR TREK. For the Drama area would be Law & Order. Lined up through drama from the 27th precinct to the court-room and the DA'S office, it is everywhere. The show is designed in a specific design. The first half of the show focuses on the police of, now in its eighteenth season, has Detective Ed Green and Detective Curtis Lupo under Lieutenant Van Buren. The second half deals with the DA'S office which, now in its eighteenth season, has ADA Cutter with ADA Rubirosa under DA McCoy, who originally since season five was the ADA. All the drama for anything comes from this show. This is the show to look up to, with all the success and popularity it has had everywhere. It is the most known Crime-Drama show ever and currently the most long-running show on television.