Law & Order has dominated community TV for greater than 30 years, spawning the Dick Wolf Universe. Of the practically 20 spinoff collection, eight carry the Law & Order title. Police procedurals have been round for even longer. These “dedicated detectives” are a part of a storied lineage that features Sherlock Holmes and Columbo. Drawing on a centuries-long fascination with true crime, Law & Order pulls plots from headlines throughout the nation.

The authentic Law & Order created a profitable components: a homicide happens, the police examine, and the DA prosecutes. The “law” takes the primary half and “order” takes the second. Every collection principally follows this similar components. Some of those modifications are extra in style and efficient than others, leading to one-season and 20+ season reveals current side-by-side. So what makes some iterations of Law & Order impervious to the fickle nature of public opinion, and what makes others flame out earlier than they’re even established? Let’s rank them and see.

8 ‘Law & Order: Trial By Jury’ (2005-2006)

Seasons: 1

Coming in useless final, Law & Order: Trial By Jury is among the shortest. The fourth spinoff was not in a position to obtain the longevity of its predecessors, and was canceled after one 13-episode season. The collection deviated from the tried-and-true Law & Order components by minimizing the function of cops. The present follows ADA Tracey Kibre (Bebe Neuwirth), her deputy Kelly Gaffney (Amy Carlson), and District Attorney Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) of Manhattan Homicide as they observe leads, put together witnesses, and participate in prosecutions.

Trial By Jury featured crossover characters with different collection, together with Law & Order’s Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) and the Captain herself, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). Trial by Jury is the bottom rated within the franchise. As a authorized drama, it lacked the fervent draw being pulled by opponents like CBS’ Numbers. The lack of motion from the removing of the police investigation turned off many viewers. Even those that loved the present felt it was finest appreciated as a complement to the opposite current collection.

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7 ‘Law & Order: Los Angeles’ (2010-2011)

Seasons: 1

As a metropolis, Los Angeles is much less pleasant to the police procedural than New York or Chicago. Every procedural has tried an LA setting, and plenty of have fallen flat. Law & Order: LA ran for one full 22-episode season. The core gamble of the sixth collection within the franchise was {that a} gritty New York police procedural is transferable to a metropolis like Los Angeles; it was unsuccessful. Law & Order: Los Angeles, or LOLA because it’s affectionately recognized, follows the Robbery Homicide Division of the LAPD. While nonetheless ripping plots from headlines, the intrigue of Hollywood is an excessive amount of to withstand, and LOLA focuses on crimes dedicated in opposition to the wealthy and well-known, eschewing among the grittiness of its New York predecessors.

LOLA boasts one of the vital stacked common casts of any within the franchise, making it shocking that it struggled a lot to realize traction. Performances by such heavy hitters as Alfred Molina, Terrence Howard, Regina Hall, Skeet Ulrich, and Corey Stoll had been compelling sufficient to earn the present 5 nominations and two awards, together with Howard’s NAACP Image Award. LOLA suffered from components fatigue. Despite its glitzy setting and highly effective performers, New York regulation and authorized techniques don’t fairly translate to the West Coast.

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6 ‘Law & Order: True Crime’ (2017)

Seasons: 1

(*8*)

Law & Order: True Crime, the seventh collection, was conceived as an anthology collection, and Dick Wolf has reportedly saved the door open to revisiting its miniseries-for-one-crime format sooner or later. Only one eight-episode season has been made up to now, following the case of the Menendez Murders.

Law & Order: True Crime was a significant deviation in construction from the normal mannequin, following one crime over the course of a season as a substitute of a single hour-long episode. The story follows Lyle (Miles Villanueva) and Erik (Gus Halper) Menendez as they’re tried for the homicide of their dad and mom. Their lawyer, Leslie Abramson (Edie Falco), is a firebrand protection legal professional with a really attention-grabbing perspective on parricide. This is the one Law & Order collection to concentrate on the protection as a substitute of the prosecution or police. The present was nominated for 3 awards, together with one Emmy. Falco’s efficiency is lauded as top-of-the-line in Law & Order historical past, however it was not sufficient to dispel criticism that the present was too weak to fill eight full episodes.

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5 ‘Law & Order: Criminal Intent’ (2001-2011)

Seasons: 10

The first Law & Order collection of the twenty first century, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, sought to get into the minds of criminals. Unlike Trial By Jury, Criminal Intent nearly all the time targeted on the police investigation as a substitute of a lot courtroom motion. Criminal Intent follows circumstances within the Major Case Squad of the NYPD.

Major Case detectives Robert Goran (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe) clear up high-profile crimes like kidnapping, artwork theft, and threats in opposition to the highly effective, whereas ADA Ron Carver (Courtney B. Vance) prosecutes. The present ran for 10 seasons, resulting in various forged turnover. Other actors that will cycle by means of the forged embody Eric Bogosian, Jeff Goldblum, and Chris Noth, reprising his function as Detective Mike Logan from the unique. Critics thought the actors had been too good for the roles written for them. The present spent its first six seasons on NBC like most, however spent its remaining seasons on the USA community, NBC’s primary cable station of the day. Its scores declined after its fourth season when it confronted stiff competitors from ABC’s Desperate Housewives. The present was nominated for 15 awards.

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4 ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ (2021-Present)

Seasons: 4

Law & Order: Organized Crime is the most recent addition and the primary to be a derivative of a derivative. Following Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’s lead, the present permits for extra growth of the primary forged than in earlier iterations and delves extra deeply into the characters’ private lives. The present makes use of multi-episode arcs with extra formulaic episodes interspersed like its predecessor.

Organized Crime follows the NYPD’s Organized Crime Control Bureau and its lead detective, SVU veteran Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni). Alongside Sergeant Ayanna Bell (Danielle Mone Truitt), tech wiz Jet Slootmaekers (Ainsley Seiger), and detectives Jamie Whelan (Brent Antonello) and Bobby Reyes (Rick Gonzalez), Stabler investigates all types of organized crime, specializing in one enterprise per season. Characters from SVU make frequent appearances, maybe none extra so than Stabler’s former accomplice, Olivia. The present struggled a bit at first to seek out its footing and to keep away from overdosing on nostalgia, however now Chris Meloni shines in his most anticipated reprisal. The present isn’t afraid to permit Stabler to lean into his rebellious roots, pitting him in opposition to corrupt cops for a complete season.

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3 ‘Law & Order: UK’ (2009-2014)

Seasons: 8

While adapting a New York-centric present to suit the Los Angeles authorized system proved the larger problem, the success of Law & Order’s British adaptation buoyed Wolf’s confidence. Lovingly known as “Law & Order with wigs,” Law & Order: UK is much less spin-off than adaptation. The present chosen episodes of the unique collection that may very well be most simply tailored to the British authorized system.

On a macro scale, the present labored as a result of, as Wolf stated: “Murder is murder,” however it falls aside below scrutiny. There is simply an excessive amount of distance between the American and British authorized programs for a one-to-one adaptation to work completely. Fans didn’t appear to thoughts watching Bradley Walsh, Jamie Bamber, Harriet Walter, and Ben Daniels examine crimes with out firearms and debate in courtroom in powdered wigs. The present ran for 5 seasons.

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2 ‘Law & Order’ (1990-2010 & 2022-Present)

Seasons: 23

The present that began all of it, Law & Order is the second-longest working collection within the franchise, due to an 11-year hiatus. Law & Order has by no means deviated from its authentic components: first half cops, second half courts. The present follows a Manhattan Homicide squad.

In its preliminary run, the present had a revolving door forged, together with George Dzundza, Chris Noth, Dann Florek, Jerry Orbach, S. Epatha Merkerson, Jill Hennessy, Benjamin Bratt, Vanessa Williams, J. Okay. Simmons, Dianne Wiest, Fred Thompson, Dennis Farina, Michael Imperioli, and Anthony Anderson. Despite being revived in 2022, Law & Order has finished much less to problematize the hero worship of police than the opposite collection airing. The few social questions the present asks are sometimes delivered by means of Detective Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) as rhetorical questions posed to his accomplice, performed by Jeffrey Donovan. The present forged is rounded out by Lieutenant Kate Dixon (Camryn Manheim), ADA Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy), and Sam Waterston reprising his function of ADA Jack McCoy. The present is beloved, and has been nominated for over 50 awards.

1 ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ (1999-Present)

Seasons: 25

Coming in at primary is the longest working live-action scripted prime-time present in American tv historical past: Law & Order: SVU. The authentic spinoff, SVU has adopted devoted detectives investigating sexual crimes for over 5 hundred episodes throughout 24 seasons. When the present first aired, critics had been skeptical of a derivative having a lot success, however SVU is essentially the most beloved.

Other than Dick Wolf himself, there isn’t any different title extra synonymous with Law & Order than Olivia Benson (Hargitay). Hargitay has held the function over the course of all the present, her character rising within the ranks from junior detective to captain. The present started with Benson and Stabler alongside Detectives Munch (Richard Belzer) and Tutuola (Ice T) below the route of Law & Order veteran Captain Cragen (Dann Florek). The forged has undergone many modifications within the many years since. Of the unique forged, solely Hargitay and Ice-T stay. The present has developed over its a whole lot of episodes. It started by adhering to the components, however has morphed over time to incorporate many extra storylines centering on the non-public lives of the detectives and multi-episode arcs. Current seasons have even built-in cohesive storylines throughout the three collection, airing back-to-back-to-back on Thursday evenings. It has been nominated for practically 100 awards.

The present has had success regardless of its darkish content material by offering illustration, catharsis, and hope to the numerous victims of sexual violence and exploitation throughout the nation. SVU and Hargitay have led the cost to finish the rape package backlog throughout the nation to get actual justice for victims. The present can also be notable for its nuanced portrayal of police, particularly as police brutality has dominated the headlines.

Law & Order: SVU

Genre

Crime Drama

Language

English

Number of Seasons

25

Debut Date

September 20, 1999

Studio

NBC, Wolf Entertainment

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