So You've Decided to Watch Law & Order

MovieBob

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So You've Decided to Watch Law & Order

Here's the skinny on every series in the Law & Order franchise.

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Elijah Newton

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where the discovery of a dead woman who looks like she might have been sexually-assaulted is an excuse for SVU to clash with Russian exotic-animal poachers who are trying to smuggle a rare endangered monkey into the country (it's in a basketball - really) for wealthy Chinese gangsters who want to turn its bones into expensive chopsticks.
*blink blink*

Uh. Can we get a 'BLAND TELEVISION. IS. WEEEEEIRD!!!' graphic for this?
 

Sylocat

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Nov 13, 2007
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Eternally relevant [http://www.theonion.com/articles/stripper-surprised-she-only-talked-to-2-homicide-d,35400/], though I suppose SVU is far from the only culprit here.
 

Booklover13

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MarsAtlas said:
I can't be the only person who liked the original Law & Order the most, can I?
It was my favorite too. I liked that the case was the focus and you learned about the characters through small moments every episode made them feel more real. You felt like they really were just people who worked together, not best friends/the only friends each other had. I also like that they didn't always win.
 

Steve the Pocket

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Elijah Newton said:
where the discovery of a dead woman who looks like she might have been sexually-assaulted is an excuse for SVU to clash with Russian exotic-animal poachers who are trying to smuggle a rare endangered monkey into the country (it's in a basketball - really) for wealthy Chinese gangsters who want to turn its bones into expensive chopsticks.
*blink blink*

Uh. Can we get a 'BLAND TELEVISION. IS. WEEEEEIRD!!!' graphic for this?
I came in here just to quote that and say "You know what's not awesome about this sentence? Nothing." I see I've already been beaten to the punch.
 

ZZoMBiE13

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Oct 10, 2007
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Booklover13 said:
MarsAtlas said:
I can't be the only person who liked the original Law & Order the most, can I?
It was my favorite too. I liked that the case was the focus and you learned about the characters through small moments every episode made them feel more real. You felt like they really were just people who worked together, not best friends/the only friends each other had. I also like that they didn't always win.
Count me in for a "Nothing beats the original" status as well. Hang-em-High McCoy was always my favorite part of the series. Obviously he wasn't the only DA through the entire run. Seems like it was season 4 or 5 before he even showed up. But still, original L&O is easily my favorite.

Criminal Intent was a decent distraction but it's premise got old fast and SVU simply depresses me with it's subject matter. I'll still catch an episode of SVU from time to time, but I can't binge watch it at all. Where the original I've literally spent a couple of days at a time watching nothing else. Between a TNT marathon and what few seasons are available on Netflix, I spent the better part of two (maybe three) days watching little else.
 

Sanunes

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ZZoMBiE13 said:
Count me in for a "Nothing beats the original" status as well. Hang-em-High McCoy was always my favorite part of the series. Obviously he wasn't the only DA through the entire run. Seems like it was season 4 or 5 before he even showed up. But still, original L&O is easily my favorite.

Criminal Intent was a decent distraction but it's premise got old fast and SVU simply depresses me with it's subject matter. I'll still catch an episode of SVU from time to time, but I can't binge watch it at all. Where the original I've literally spent a couple of days at a time watching nothing else. Between a TNT marathon and what few seasons are available on Netflix, I spent the better part of two (maybe three) days watching little else.
I feel the same about the different series, I have completely given up on SVU when they seem to keep going back to the well of "lets do horrific things to the primary cast members".
 
Dec 10, 2012
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The original is by far the best. I do quite enjoy watching CI's Goren crawl around in the minds of sociopaths, and even SVU was entertaining for a while (who doesn't love Munch and Tutuola?), but the original was the only show that didn't eventually descend into lurid, depressing sleaze and self-indulgent police power fantasies.

The main show's characters were the least focused on and yet the most believable, because they were just people doing their jobs. It was like you could see, in all their short conversations and almost-background personal storylines, the human beings behind the careers they had chosen. Careers that defined then to a great extent, to be sure, but I never felt that Briscoe and Green or McCoy and Ross or what have you were just plot funnels; they had understated personality and struggles outside of the criminals they deals with. Law & Order was just a classic, classy show.
 

Darth_Payn

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I thought Detective Munch was the mascot of L&W's detective side of things.
I remember watching one episode of L&W in my Government class in High School. That, and The Oval Office. Did L&W touch on any geek culture or other sub-culture like that? I like the time CSI solved a murder at a convention for a Star Trek-esque show (with the team appropriately geeking out) and when Bones took on death metal.
Steve the Pocket said:
Elijah Newton said:
where the discovery of a dead woman who looks like she might have been sexually-assaulted is an excuse for SVU to clash with Russian exotic-animal poachers who are trying to smuggle a rare endangered monkey into the country (it's in a basketball - really) for wealthy Chinese gangsters who want to turn its bones into expensive chopsticks.
*blink blink*

Uh. Can we get a 'BLAND TELEVISION. IS. WEEEEEIRD!!!' graphic for this?
I came in here just to quote that and say "You know what's not awesome about this sentence? Nothing." I see I've already been beaten to the punch.
The Big Picture already had a few times saying "T.V.! IS! WEEEEEEIIIIIIRRRRRRD!!!", which is less likely to come back since Bob started this column.
 

StreamerDarkly

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Jan 15, 2015
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ZZoMBiE13 said:
Count me in for a "Nothing beats the original" status as well. Hang-em-High McCoy was always my favorite part of the series. Obviously he wasn't the only DA through the entire run. Seems like it was season 4 or 5 before he even showed up. But still, original L&O is easily my favorite.
Before that, it was Ben Stone as the ADA and Paul as his sidekick. I liked that cast well enough, but the McCoy and Kincaid era was easily the best for me. Fantastic theme song. I used to love lazing around on New Year's day with a hangover watching the Law and Order marathons of old episodes (on A&E I think?).

The show felt watered down the longer it went on. Coming out with SVU and CI made it worse if anything. The contrived intensity of Stabler was just painful to watch. I'll take a no nonsense Lenny Briscoe any day of the week.
 

UNHchabo

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ZZoMBiE13 said:
Count me in for a "Nothing beats the original" status as well. Hang-em-High McCoy was always my favorite part of the series. Obviously he wasn't the only DA through the entire run. Seems like it was season 4 or 5 before he even showed up. But still, original L&O is easily my favorite.
McCoy starts in Season 5, replacing Ben Stone.

The original L&O had a slump in the quality of their writing starting around Season 9, and came back up to quality with Season 18. There are many good episodes in there, but overall it's just not up to their usual standards. That's despite some really good actors in that span, both in the main cast and guest-starring. Of particular note is the ending dialogue of the "Access Nation" episode, where Serena talks about how technology is making it "really scary out there".

Season 5 is my favorite, but if you missed the last 3 seasons (18-20), check them out.
 

dharmaBum0

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Booklover13 said:
MarsAtlas said:
I can't be the only person who liked the original Law & Order the most, can I?
It was my favorite too. I liked that the case was the focus and you learned about the characters through small moments every episode made them feel more real. You felt like they really were just people who worked together, not best friends/the only friends each other had. I also like that they didn't always win.
People forget (or I'm the only one who noticed) just how good the series was from season 2-7. It declined a fair bit after, eventually sinking totally into utter mediocrity around the time Fred Thompson showed up. But if you can catch the early episodes (TNT was showing them early morning saturdays not too long ago, may still be doing it) it's a treat.
 

SonofSpermcube

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Why is there no 24 hour Law and Order channel?

If they included everything that is implicitly or explicitly a part of the L&O universe, and all adaptations, they could go over nine weeks without repeating a single episode.
 

SonofSpermcube

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dharmaBum0 said:
People forget (or I'm the only one who noticed) just how good the series was from season 2-7. It declined a fair bit after, eventually sinking totally into utter mediocrity around the time Fred Thompson showed up. But if you can catch the early episodes (TNT was showing them early morning saturdays not too long ago, may still be doing it) it's a treat.
3-5 were the best. That's the Jerry Orbach/Chris Noth years.
 

Shinkicker444

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MarsAtlas said:
I can't be the only person who liked the original Law & Order the most, can I?
I liked the original the best as well, used to watch it all the time. Had such a love/hate thing for McCoy and Brisco was awesome. Munch was a good character as well. Well, I really liked his conspiracy theorist schtick. Was he like that in the prior series before L&O?

One thing I loved about the really early episodes of L&O were all the upcoming actors whom eventually became famous. The same happened with the X-files. Always giggled a little at seeing Samuel L Jackson playing a lawyer in a couple early episodes.
 

Tireseas_v1legacy

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It should be noted that Trial by Jury was also hampered by Jerry Orbach's death the week the first episode came out (he was the carry-over character that connected the series to the main one).
MarsAtlas said:
I can't be the only person who liked the original Law & Order the most, can I?
You're not, but I can say that towards the end I preferred both UK and LA more, mainly because after almost 20 years (and two other series in the local), the setting was getting a tad stale, although I did enjoy the new ADA who worked under McCoy when he became Fred Thompson the new DA (although apparently not enough to remember the actor or character's name).
 

RaikuFA

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Shinkicker444 said:
MarsAtlas said:
I can't be the only person who liked the original Law & Order the most, can I?
I liked the original the best as well, used to watch it all the time. Had such a love/hate thing for McCoy and Brisco was awesome. Munch was a good character as well. Well, I really liked his conspiracy theorist schtick. Was he like that in the prior series before L&O?

One thing I loved about the really early episodes of L&O were all the upcoming actors whom eventually became famous. The same happened with the X-files. Always giggled a little at seeing Samuel L Jackson playing a lawyer in a couple early episodes.
Yes he was. They had crossovers with Homicide and Munch was still mad as a hatter in his appearences.

Love main show. SVU is hit or miss. There's a reason why "True Believers" is rarely shown in repeats, though I hear it's starting to get a bit better with episodes like "Girl Dishonored"(based off of the Stubenville rape case) or the one that Benson wrote and directed that guest starred Alec Baldwin. LA, UK and TBJ I've never seen. CI I didn't like except for the Logan episodes (a memorable episode had Whoopie Goldberg is a must see). Just don't like knowing who the killer is during the episode. "Who's the killer? Is it this guy getting coffee they cut too? Episode's over I guess." Logan ones rarely did that.