L is for Law & Order...all of them

Law & Order (franchise) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If someone told me I could only watch one t.v. show for the rest of my life, I would choose Law & Order...well, all of the different series, though a friend says that's cheating. "Together, the original series, its various spin-offs, the TV film, and crossover episodes from other shows constitute over 900 hours of programming." (Wikipedia), though I think that number is larger now, more like 1,500. I have spent twelve hours watching a Law & Order marathon on American television. (some might say that this was a waste of time but I was on vacation don't judge me!) There is; Law and Order (20 seasons, 456 episodes) (September 13, 1990 – May 24, 2010), Law and Ordr: Special Victims Unit (16 seasons, 362 episodes) (September 20, 1999 – present), Law and Order: Criminal Intent (10 seasons, 195 episodes) (September 30, 2001 – June 26, 2011), Law and Order: Trial By Jury (1 season, 13 episodes) (March 3, 2005 – January 21, 2006), Law and Order: LA (1 season, 22 episodes) (September 29, 2010 – July 11, 2011), so I have alot of Law & Order to catch up on.
Law & Order started in 1990 on NBC, I remember watching the first season, it blew me away from the start. In the 80's the cop shows were less serious and gritty, Chips, T. J. Hooker...etc, though Hill Street Blues was a series cop show but that was more about their relationships...Law & Order was about the crimes, you rarely knew what happened in their private lives.
There have been many detectives on the show but the best has always beenLennie Briscoe as played by Jerry Orbach, also known as Baby's dad in Dirty Dancing and the candlestick in Beauty and the Beast. He always had the best comebacks and one liners.
I think one of the reasons it's been popular for so long, though SVU is the only version of it currently broadcast, is the 'ripped from the headlines' storylines. Half the fun is guessing who the people really are...and that we sometimes see them get the justice they deserve, even if it's only on the show and not in real life. One of the other reasons it's so popular is the guest stars, there have been enough Oscar, Tony, Grammy award winners on this show to fill a Broadway theatre...Julia Roberts, Angela Lansbury, Carol Burnett, Jeremy Irons, John Ritter, Neil Patrick Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Williams, Jerry Lewis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joan Jett, Martha Stewart, Sharon Stone, Bradley Cooper, Sam Rockwell, James Earl Jones, Harry Connick Jr., Patti Smith and a personal favourite...Chris Sarandon...though the list goes on and on.
Taylor Swift is also a huge Law & Order fan...one of her cats is even named Olivia Benson.
One of the other things I love about Law and Order is that it crossed over several times with one of my other favorite t.v. shows, Homicide: Life On The Street...Det. Munch from SVU even started out on Homicide.

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