The show premiered on September 13, 1990 and ended on May 24, 2010. 456 episodes were broadcast and produced. The show ran for twenty seasons on NBC. At the time, it was NBC`s longest-running crime drama and, along with Gunsmoke, the longest-running prime-time script drama. The first two seasons aired Tuesdays at 10 p.m. From season 3 at 4 p.m., the show aired Wednesday at 10 p.m. For season 17, it was moved to Friday at 10 p.m. For seasons 18 and 19, the show was postponed to Wednesday at 10 p.m. For season 20, the show aired on Fridays at 8 p.m., while in the spring it was moved to Mondays at 10 p.m., where it aired its finale on May 24, 2010. At the end of the first 30 minutes of L&O, you enter Part II. Now the action moves to the lawyers and we go to the criminal court, where assistant prosecutors Ben Stone (Moriarty) and Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks) try to make the most of the information provided to them by people like Max and Mike.
Wolf pitched the idea to Universal Television`s president at the time, Kerry McCluggage, who pointed out the resemblance to a 1963 series called Arrest and Trial, which ran for one season. Both watched the pilot of this series, in which a police officer (Ben Gazzara) arrested a man for armed robbery in the first half and the defense attorney, played by Chuck Connors, eliminated the author in the second half as the bad guy; That was the formula of the show every week. Meanwhile, Moriarty`s behavior on and off set became problematic for Wolf. Following a public statement in which Moriarty called Attorney General Janet Reno a “psychopathic Nazi” for her efforts to censor violence on television, Moriarty had a verbal confrontation with Reno at a dinner in Washington, D.C. Wolf asked Moriarty to moderate his comments, and Moriarty responded by leaving the show the following week. This may have been caused by his drinking, as he admits (in his Wikipedia article) to being “a very bad drunk” before getting in the car in February 2004. The final plot for Ben Stone involves his resignation for guilt after a woman he forced to testify against a Russian gangster was murdered by his cohorts. As Moriarty`s successor, Sam Waterston was Wolf`s first choice for the role of Assistant Attorney John J. “Jack” McCoy Jr.; Waterston`s character differed markedly from Moriarty`s, as Jack McCoy was conceived as more emotionally stable and with more sex appeal.
[37] Following the indictment of the accused, the E.A.D.A. and A.D.A. will meet with the defendant and his counsel to discuss a plea. Prosecutors will present the evidence against the accused, while defense counsel will point out gaps in the D.A.`s case and point to alternative theories of the crime or explain their defense strategies for the court. The meeting usually ends with the plea being rejected and the defendant and counsel deciding to take a risk in court, although this type of meeting may take place again later in the episode if new information is discovered. Viewers get to know two homicide detectives, a senior detective (usually an experienced police officer) and a junior detective (usually a young but capable detective) who report directly to their boss on their premises (a lieutenant or captain). When they arrive at the scene, they are greeted by the first officer or forensic technician from the Crime Scene Unit (CSU), who informs the two senior detectives of everything known at the time. During their preliminary investigation of the crime scene, the detectives presented will make their initial observations and develop a few theories, followed by a joke or two before the title sequence begins. In season 15, Röhm will leave in the middle of the season. Röhm`s final scene in the series, in the episode “Ain`t No Love”, sparked controversy among the fan base when ADA Southerlyn asked Arthur Branch if she would be fired for being a lesbian, a fact the scripts hadn`t even hinted at until then.
Wolf stated that Röhm`s departure was unexpected and that she left the show in January 2005.[50] For a few seasons, she had often argued opposing points to those of McCoy and Branch, and he thought she would be better as a defense attorney than as a prosecutor. Annie Parisse succeeded him as Assistant Prosecutor Alexandra Borgia. On May 14, 2010, NBC announced that it had cancelled Law & Order and would air its final episode on May 24, 2010. [1] [2] [3] Immediately after the series was cancelled, Wolf tried to find a new home for the series. [4] These attempts failed, and in July 2010, Wolf stated that the series had now “entered the history books.” [5] The ADA is usually introduced in an indictment scene where defendants plead (usually not guilty) and bail conditions are set. However, they sometimes appear earlier in the episode during the police segment to arrange an exchange of information or to decide if detectives have enough evidence for search and/or arrest warrants. In season 2, Carolyn McCormick was introduced as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet, a police psychologist who is called on a case-by-case basis. NBC had lobbied for producers to include female characters in the all-male cast. She was added to the opening credits as a ” lead actress ” in seasons 3 and 4,[31] but despite attempts by producers to include her in as many episodes as possible, it was found that it was difficult to fit her into the series because the format relied heavily on police and prosecutors.[30] It was removed from the credits in season 5.[30] [31] Often, the plot of the first part of an episode resembles a recognizable aspect of a real case.
In early seasons, details of these cases often closely followed true stories, such as the episode “Subterranean Homeboy Blues” from the first season, in which a woman shot two attempted assaults, alongside the case of Bernhard Goetz.[69] Another episode of season 1, “Out of the Half-Light,” focused on a racist rape case that mimicked the Tawana Brawley case. This “ripped from the headlines” style is reflected in the opening credits, which evolve from halftone newspapers to high-resolution photos. Another episode of the first season, “Poison Ivy,” was based on the case of Edmund Perry, in which an NYPD official shot and killed a black student who committed a crime in front of the officer when he returned to town after graduating from an Ivy League kindergarten. Later seasons would draw on real cases, but deviate further from the facts. Often this was done by increasing the seriousness of the crime in question, usually by adding murder. As a result, the plot would tend to deviate considerably from the actual events that might have inspired the episode. [69] Ads for episodes with similar real-life parallels regularly use the phrase “ripped from the headlines,” although a textual warning in the actual episode emphasizes that the story and characters are fictional. This format lends itself to examining different outcomes or motives that could have had similar events in different circumstances.
Some victims of real crimes felt used and exploited,[69] with a lawyer, Ravi Batra, going so far as to sue the series in 2004 for defamation in connection with the season 14 episode “Floater”, which portrayed a lawyer with a similar name and Batra`s peculiarities. [70] Batra and the issue then settled out of court for an unspecified amount. Hennessy decided to terminate his three-year contract at the end of the 6th century.[71] Claire Kincaid was disbarred because she died in a drunk car accident. She was replaced by Carey Lowell as Assistant Attorney Jamie Ross.[39] Lowell stayed with the show until the end of season 8, when she left to spend more time with her daughter. (Jamie Ross was struck off for similar reasons for leaving the D.A. office.) Lowell (who later returned for a few guest appearances) was replaced by Angie Harmon as Assistant District Attorney Abigail “Abbie” Carmichael, who was designed to be much stronger and more outspoken than any of her predecessors.[40] Harmon auditioned for the role with 85 other women, including Vanessa Williams, and was selected after Wolf heard her Texas accent. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990 and aired on NBC, producing 456 episodes.[41] Initially, Fox ordered thirteen episodes based solely on the concept, without pilots. The head of the network at the time, Barry Diller, reversed his decision. While he loved the idea, he didn`t think it was a “Fox show.” Wolf then went to CBS, which ordered a pilot, “Everybody`s Favorite Bagman,” written by Wolf about corrupt city officials involved in the mob.