"Law and Order" original series on DVD (1990-2010)

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Couldn't find a dedicated thread discussing the original & iconic Law & Order series, so wanted to create one.

I never saw the show on TV, but did catch some episodes on DVD back in the 200X's.

However, recently I decided I wanted to watch the show in chronological order from the beginning. Excellent series! Though the show is very formulaic, it's well-done & interesting, with a great opening theme song/music & also a great score throughout. I really like the "time capsule" element re: NYC in the '90's (in the early seasons). In fact, NYC may as well be another character in the show itself.

Mike Logan (Chris Noth) and Max Greevey (George Dzundza) are solid as partners in the first season. Then, Dzundza's character is killed off in the beginning of S02 (off-screen), and Phil Ceretta (Paul Sorvino) replaces him.

Then, Sorvino's character is written off the show (he gets seriously wounded about half-way through S03, and then has to work a desk job) and Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) is his replacement.

Obviously, also important to the series are Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks) & Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty) as the main lawyers in the show. The interactions between LE & the lawyers are an integral part of these cases.

And, Steven Hill had a significant role in these early seasons, as D.A. Adam Schiff. (Prior to this series, Hill was probably best known for his role as Dan Briggs in the 1st season (1966-1967) of the iconic TV series Mission Impossible; he played the lead in the series. After some alleged disputes, Hill left the series & was replaced by Peter Graves as Jim Phelps from S02-on).

I'm almost finished with the 3rd season, and am looking forward to the rest of the series. It's amazing that it lasted 20 years, and was popular enough to generate several spin-offs (none of which I like as much as this original show).

It's evident that some/many?! of these episodes are based on real-life crimes. It's also interesting that in at least some of these cases, you do feel sorry for the criminal(s) involved.

Too many great episodes to list, but some of the most memorable; these are all from the 3rd season, which I find the strongest (so far):

"Forgiveness": A young woman is found killed near where she left a going-away party the night before.

[Show spoiler]The trail leads back to her estranged bf, who she had just broken up with. Very sad episode.

"Night and Fog": An elderly man is accused of killing his elderly wife, who had a lot of ailments. As the investigation progresses, the man's activities during WW II in Europe come to light.

"Conduct Unbecoming": A wild party involving military personnel on leave in NYC results in the death of a female officer. Briscoe & Logan investigate

[Show spoiler], and the prime suspect is another officer. There is one particular court-room scene in this episode that reminded me a lot of the penultimate/iconic scene in the great film "A Few Good Men" (1992) - which had just been released the year before. Well-done homage.

This is a great extended version of the original opening theme:

Law & Order Full Theme (High Quality) - YouTube

[OceanBlue]

Haven't seen a lot of the earlier seasons of the original Law & Order. I started watching it regularly with the ninth season (Benjamin Bratt's fourth and final season on the show, when Julia Roberts guest-starred in the milestone 200th episode).

It wasn't because I lost interest in the show, but I stopped regularly watching the series at the start of the eighteenth season (Jeremy Sisto debuted at the start of the season). In the past few years, I've seen the occasional episodes whcih have been from the Briscoe and Green era. Jerry Orbach is one of those actors who I greatly miss seeing on television (loved Lennie Briscoe's humour when the detectives arrived at the crime scene).

[OceanBlue]

I only know of the UK DVD release. But someone else here may know of a physical media release outside the UK. Am talking about Exiled: A Law & Order Movie, which saw Chris Noth reprise his role of Detective Mike Logan. It originally aired in the States during the ninth season of Law & Order (several ex and (at the time) current Law & Order actors made appearances in the TV film.

Realistically now, I can't see the original Law & Order getting a Blu-ray release (what with there being twenty seasons and several crossover episodes). Thinking about starting collecting the North American DVD releases. A long time ago, I remember reading that the North American release of the fifth season had the episodes presented in anamorphic widescreen, whereas the UK release had the episodes in a fullscreen aspect ratio.

[OceanBlue]

For now, as well as the three crossover events the original Law & Order did with Homicide: Life on the Street (in the sixth, eighth and ninth seasons), Chris Noth made an uncredited appearance in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street (the third season episode "Law & Disorder").

[ElectricPeterTork]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Thinking about starting collecting the North American DVD releases. A long time ago, I remember reading that the North American release of the fifth season had the episodes presented in anamorphic widescreen, whereas the UK release had the episodes in a fullscreen aspect ratio.

Yes.

I believe they started protecting the show for Widescreen with S4, actually, but the DVD releases didn't go widescreen until S5.

Also, Season 14 is fullscreen and cut syndicated versions because they originally released it in 2004 in ahead of S15's broadcast premiere, and Uni never fixed those mistakes in any subsequent releases.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by ElectricPeterTork

Yes.

I believe they started protecting the show for Widescreen with S4, actually, but the DVD releases didn't go widescreen until S5.

Also, Season 14 is fullscreen and cut syndicated versions because they originally released it in 2004 in ahead of S15's broadcast premiere, and Uni never fixed those mistakes in any subsequent releases.

Never straightforward with the occasional physical media release is it? Thanks for your helpful reply.

[OceanBlue]

Have TV repeats of the fourteenth season of Law & Order, since the show ended, been the uncut versions? Over here, Sky Witness have been repeating the show, and I'm sure the fourteenth season was rerun a few weeks ago.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Recently finished watching S04 of L&O. I'm exclusively watching it on the DVD sets, and strongly feel that this is the best way to watch the show. Overall the DVD's have solid PQ, and I also like the inclusion of the deleted scenes; most of these don't really add much to the episodes, but they're still interesting to watch.

S04 had some major cast changes. Paul Robinette was replaced by Claire Kincaid, and Cragen was replaced by Van Buren. Good actors, and I've always found cast changes like this in long-running shows to be important in keeping a show "fresh". In fact, I found S04 to be extremely well-done, and almost as strong as S03. Some of my favorite episodes:

"The Golden Years": An elderly woman is found dead in her apartment, and her grand-daughter is charged with neglect & being responsible for her death. When investigating the crime, however - things become "hazy" as to what actually happened. The episode really shined a light on how, in many cases - the elderly & infirm are neglected & ignored by those who are assigned to care for them. Extremely sad & realistic episode.

"Big Bang": A well-known & respected physicist's estranged wife is violently killed by something that was sent through the mail.

[Show spoiler]This was traced back to a former student of the physicist who had his valuable scientific work stolen by the physicist, and wanted revenge. Very disturbing episode, and this was obviously based on actual events that were occurring ATT.

"Wager": A well-known & supposedly wealthy young baseball player's father is killed in his apartment. LE initially thinks that the crime was committed by a loan shark, given that the father was thousands of dollars in debt due to his gambling addiction.

[Show spoiler]As the investigation progresses, it's revealed that the murder was an unintentional accident committed in the heat of the moment - by the baseball player who had gotten tired of his deadbeat father constantly shaking him down for money (so that the father could pay off his gambling debts). Very sad episode, with no real "bad guys".

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

Recently finished watching S04 of L&O. I'm exclusively watching it on the DVD sets, and strongly feel that this is the best way to watch the show. Overall the DVD's have solid PQ, and I also like the inclusion of the deleted scenes; most of these don't really add much to the episodes, but they're still interesting to watch.

S04 had some major cast changes. Paul Robinette was replaced by Claire Kincaid, and Cragen was replaced by Van Buren. Good actors, and I've always found cast changes like this in long-running shows to be important in keeping a show "fresh". In fact, I found S04 to be extremely well-done, and almost as strong as S03.

I can't remember the episode titles, and I don't know if there was any explanation about Richard Brooks's departure from the original Law & Order. But I have seen him in an episode each of

[Show spoiler]Law & Order: SVU, Chicago Justice, and recently an episode of Chicago P.D., where Brooks reprised his role of Paul Robinette.

[Moviefan2k4]

I enjoy most episodes of the original Law & Order, especially when compared to the very intense subject matter of SVU or the "cops-only" approach of Criminal Intent. The first show is the best of them all, by far.

[OceanBlue]

You never know whether to put certain stuff about the Law & Order universe in spoiler tags or not. I quite enjoyed it when

[Show spoiler]Chris Noth reprised his role of Detective Mike Logan for a second time (technically for the third time) when he joined Law & Order: Criminal Intent in it's fifth season (I said "technically" because he guest-starred in a fourth season episode, with his appearance tied-in to his exile to Staten Island). Putting it mildly, I wasn't happy when he left the show at the end of the seventh season, and was replaced by Jeff Goldblum.

Coming up soon over here on a new episode of Law & Order: SVU from it's most recent season, former Law & Order: Criminal Intent actress Annabella Sciorra guest-starring, reprising her Criminal Intent character (former detective Barek, Mike Logan's detective partner in the fifth season).

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

I enjoy most episodes of the original Law & Order, especially when compared to the very intense subject matter of SVU or the "cops-only" approach of Criminal Intent. The first show is the best of them all, by far.

Agree with this 100%. I have seen a handful of episodes of L&O: SVU & Criminal Intent, and don't find either show nearly as compelling, watchable, or interesting as the original. SVU in particular is tough to stomach at times.

And, the original L&O series is the only one of these three I plan on watching in it's entirety - which will take a while, given that it ran for 20 seasons/20 years. Wow. It's definitely one of the longest-running shows of all time.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Recently finished watching S05 of L&O. IMHO this is the best season in the series, so far that is (though I know I say that with each successive season - LOL). If anything, the show gets better as time goes on - and that's saying a lot, since it started off extremely strong in S01. As I've always said with ensemble shows like this, the strength of the series isn't with the individual characters, but with the cast as a whole. So, a good series can definitely keep producing quality episodes as cast members leave & are replaced by others, as long as the replacements are solid - as they definitely are in this series.

-From a DVD presentation stand-point, this is my favorite season so far as well- due to the Region 1 DVD's being presented in the Anamorphic Widescreen (16:9) format. This is the first DVD season in the WS format (since Seasons 1-4 were in the 4:3 full screen format). It's fantastic to see the picture fill up a WS set - and, IMHO the PQ is slightly better than in previous seasons.

I'm sure that S05 wasn't shown in the 16:9 format when it first aired on TV in 1994-1995; I wasn't watching the show ATT, but I'm sure that no one in the mid-'90's had WS TV's. So, I suspect the show was filmed in 16:9 ATT and then formatted to 4:3 to "fit" audience's CRT TV's during that era. And then, when the DVD's started being released in the 200X's they used the 16:9 prints for S05 - since by that time, almost everyone had WS sets.

-Re: the season itself: Sam Waterson as Jack McCoy was a good choice to replace Moriarty as Ben Stone (who left at the end of S04). Prior to seeing SW on this series, I was mainly familiar with his roles in various Woody Allen dramas from the '80's (Crimes & Misdemeanors, Hannah and her Sisters, September), etc. McCoy can be an unlikeable character at times when he gets too heavy-handed re: a lot of the cases, but that's to be expected re: his role as EADA.

There were some impressive & especially powerful episodes in this season:

"Scoundrels" - an unethical lawyer is found dead in his office, and Logan and Briscoe's investigation lead them to a scammer, an elderly woman who was fleeced out of her life-savings, and the elderly woman's son. Incredible episode. Edie Falco (The Sopranos) guest stars.

"Rage" - a wealthy Wall Street big-shot is found murdered in his expensive townhouse, and the trail leads back to one of his many employees. Guest starring C.B. Vance.

"Progeny"- an abortion clinic doctor is found dead in her car, and the investigation leads to a vehement pro-life group.

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

I only know of the UK DVD release. But someone else here may know of a physical media release outside the UK. Am talking about Exiled: A Law & Order Movie, which saw Chris Noth reprise his role of Detective Mike Logan. It originally aired in the States during the ninth season of Law & Order (several ex and (at the time) current Law & Order actors made appearances in the TV film.

Haven't seen "Exiled: A Law and Order Movie" yet, but I do know it was never released in any of the Region 1 DVD L&O boxed sets - though it should have been, given that it is part of the series. However, "Exile" was released as a stand-alone Region 1 DVD in 2012. Amazon (U.S.) is currently selling this for about $20; but, I can't speak for the PQ since I don't have this disk. I also found some crummy streams of this online, but they are borderline-unwatchable.

I'm debating on whether I should see 'Exiled' before I start watching L&O S06, or after. I know S05 is Mike Logan's (Noth) last season in this original L&O series, so this would be a somewhat obvious follow-up to S05. However, I also know that 'Exiled' takes place three years after S05 ends. So, I may wait to watch this.

[JoeKryten]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

I can't remember the episode titles, and I don't know if there was any explanation about Richard Brooks's departure from the original Law & Order. But I have seen him in an episode each of

[Show spoiler]Law & Order: SVU, Chicago Justice, and recently an episode of Chicago P.D., where Brooks reprised his role of Paul Robinette.

Story-wise, there was no explanation given at the time but Robinette did show up at least once down the line as the defense lawyer as he was now in private practice.

The real reason for the first cast changes was simply that they had no women on a show with six lead characters (if you count the LT and the DA as leads).

[Here2Learn]

I have the full series DVD set. I am early in season 6. All my earlier seasons were in 16:9. I tried to make them 4:3, but could not.

Robinette's departure is mentioned in the first show of season 4, episode 1, at the end, I think.

[OceanBlue]

Hopefully, will soon start collecting the North American DVD releases of the original Law & Order. But recently, I decided to order a copy of the Australian release of the fourteenth season.

Have already got the North American DVD releases of Homicide: Life on the Street (the separate season sets from A&E), but not Homicide: The Movie.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

I finally finished watching S05 & have started on S06. Interesting that Mike Logan was written off the show at the end of S05 -

[Show spoiler]re: his hitting that politician outside the courthouse.

Ben Bratt was a good replacement for him in S06, and a good foil to Orbach.

I am really enjoying the '90's setting of this show. As someone who was a young adult during this time, I clearly remember how tech. was slowly but significantly improving throughout the decade - which is clearly reflected in the series. I.e., in the very early seasons very few characters have cell-phones & some use beepers, pay phones (when they were still around), etc. As the decade/seasons go on, more characters are using those original, large cell phones, etc. Also, the Internet isn't prevalent in the very early seasons, but as time passes it does get more accessible & popular. And, obviously personal computers get more advanced as the decade passes.

The first person I knew who had a cell phone was in 1992. And, I clearly remember the first time I used the Internet was in college in the "computer lab", way back in 1995. That was several years before I got a home Internet connection (dial-up - ha ha).

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

I finally finished watching S05 & have started on S06. Interesting that Mike Logan was written off the show at the end of S05 -

[Show spoiler]re: his hitting that politician outside the courthouse.

Ben Bratt was a good replacement for him in S06, and a good foil to Orbach.

You've probably already posted about this in the Homicide: Life on the Street thread, but have you got the complete series DVD set or the separate season sets? Why I ask, is because the first crossover Law & Order did with Homicide was in Law & Order's sixth season.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

Good question. I'm watching this original L&O sereis on the individual, separate season sets.

I re-watched Homicide: Life on the Street several years ago (excellent show, but that's another thread). And, I did notice that several crossover L&O episodes were included in this set(s).

Have you got the separate season sets of Homicide: Life on the Street or the complete series set? I know that A&E included the Law & Order crossover episodes as bonus features in the separate season sets, and that the Homicide crossover episodes were not included in the separate season sets of Law & Order.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Have you got the separate season sets of Homicide: Life on the Street or the complete series set? I know that A&E included the Law & Order crossover episodes as bonus features in the separate season sets, and that the Homicide crossover episodes were not included in the separate season sets of Law & Order.

Good question - I don't own any of the Homicide: Life on the Street A&E DVD sets; I got them out of the library & did check them out as individual seasons. Yes, the H:LOTS A&E set(s) did include the L&O crossover episodes.

EDIT: I'm going to modify something that I said earlier: As it turns out, I don't own the L&O series DVD sets I'm watching, and thought I was watching them in the individually released season sets (I'm borrowing them from the library as well). But, I recently saw the S06 L&O cross-over episode with H:LOTS, and this set does include the actual H:LOTS episode as well. What's misleading is that the DVD container(s) for these seasons look like they're individually released, but that's probably the way they came in the boxed set?!