"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