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Law & Order (franchise)

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Law & Order franchise
Created byDick Wolf
Original workLaw & Order
Films and television
Film(s)Exiled: A Law & Order Movie
Television seriesLaw & Order
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Crime & Punishment
Law & Order: Trial by Jury
Conviction
Paris enquêtes criminelles
Law & Order: UK
Games
Video game(s)Law & Order: Dead on the Money
Law & Order: Double or Nothing
Law & Order: Justice is Served

The term "Law & Order franchise" is commonly used to describe a number of related American television programs created by Dick Wolf and originally broadcast on NBC, all of which deal with some aspect of the New York City criminal justice system.

Shared people and resources in a common fictional setting are the connecting links between the shows, e.g., Hudson University and the New York Ledger tabloid newspaper. Many supporting characters, such as district attorneys, psychologists and medical examiners are also shared among the shows. Occasionally, crossovers of main characters and/or shared storylines between two of the shows will occur. A few major characters have also left the cast of one show within the franchise only to eventually join another. The franchise also crossed over on several occasions with the independently conceived Homicide: Life on the Street.

The music, style and credits of the shows tend to be similar. The original Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent arguably contain the most visual similarities within the franchise. Past episodes are in syndication with TNT, USA Network, and Bravo! showing episodes sometimes up to six times a day.

Location

The shows are filmed almost entirely in the New York City area, which is unusual as most television dramas (with the exception of some daytime soap operas) and many other network shows are taped in the Los Angeles area, even those shows which are set in New York City. (The original Law & Order series has filmed a few episodes in the Los Angeles area, however.) With some frequency, actors have appeared on the various series that make up the franchise, usually as different (sometimes very different) characters. This is to be expected since filming occurs in the New York City area and thus draw from the same pool of actors. Some prominent examples of the same actor playing different roles in different episodes are Diane Neal playing a female rapist in an earlier season of SVU before becoming the ADA (assistant district attorney) for that series, Annabella Sciorra playing a criminal defense attorney in Trial by Jury and later Det. Mike Logan's (Chris Noth) partner in Criminal Intent, as well as Jerry Orbach playing a defense attorney on the original series before joining it as Det. Lennie Briscoe (who despises criminal lawyers), Ice-T playing a pimp known as Seymour Stockton in the franchise's only movie Exiled: A Law & Order Movie, before taking on the role of Det. Fin Tutuola in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), and Anthony Anderson playing Detective Lucius Blaine in a 7th season episode of SVU before landing a role as Detective Kevin Bernard on Law & Order. Also, due to the New York filming, a number of actors appearing in Law & Order shows have regular or recurring roles on soaps, most notably Tamara Tunie, who in simultaneously played both medical examiner Melinda Werner on SVU, and, until 2006, D.A. Jessica Griffin on As the World Turns.

Series

Current series

Past series

Adaptations outside the U.S.

Near the end of 2006, Global American Television and the Russian television studio Studio 2V announced a deal with NBC, Wolf Films, and NTV to adapt original Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent scripts to the Russian justice system. Dmitry Brusnikin will both direct and star in the Russian spin-off.[1]

In France, there has been a deal with NBC, Wolf Films, and TF1 to adapt Law & Order: Criminal Intent to the French market as Paris enquêtes criminelles.[2]

On January 3, 2008, the Hollywood Reporter reported that NBC and Wolf Films were in negotiations to license a UK version of the original series with the working title Law & Order: London.[3] The series is to be produced by Kudos for the ITV network. Chris Chibnall, previously a producer on the science-fiction drama Torchwood, was appointed showrunner. ITV has ordered 13 episodes, which will be based on the scripts for the U.S. series.[4]

Versions of Law & Order and SVU shown in the UK on Channel Five have completely different opening credit sequences with different music, however UK satellite channel Sky One uses the combination of opening credits and music as seen in the US.[5]

  • Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) was often considered the sister show to the original L&O,[citation needed] although it was created by Paul Attanasio and not Dick Wolf.
  • New York Undercover (1994) was implicitly a part of the same universe as the franchise, as psychologist characters from L&O appeared in the series.
  • Deadline (2000), also by Law & Order creator Dick Wolf, featured the franchise's fictitious newspaper, the New York Ledger.
  • Conviction (2006) centered on the personal stories of young ADAs and the legal sides of the cases. Though not branded as part of the Law & Order franchise, it used the same sets of Law & Order: Trial by Jury and, coincidentally, was canceled after the same number of episodes. It clearly existed within the same fictional universe with two crossover characters, Alexandra Cabot, ADA from SVU, and Arthur Branch, DA from every Law & Order.[citation needed]
  • Crime and Punishment (2002)
    • This reality series examined actual trials from the San Diego District Attorney's office.
  • In Plain Sight (2008) is also set in the same universe.
    • Deputy Marshall Mary Shannon guest stars on the June 15th, 2008 of L&O: CI episode Contract to provide additional back-story for the suspect Frank Chess, whom she placed into Witness Protection prior to the events of this episode.[6] During the original airing on USA Network, while her character provided the background detail, a lower third advertised the episode of In Plain Sight that was to air immediately following.

TV movie

The Law & Order franchise has one TV movie, Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (1998) starring Chris Noth as Mike Logan.

Characters in the franchise

Main article: List of Law & Order characters

Police

 Name   Actor   Unit   Series   Years 
Det. Olivia Benson Mariska Hargitay SVU L&O:SVU 1999-
Capt. Don Cragen Dann Florek SVU L&O
L&O:SVU 		1990-1993
1999-
Det. Alexandra Eames Kathryn Erbe MCS L&O:CI 2001-
Det. Robert Goren Vincent D'Onofrio MCS L&O:CI 2001-
Det. Kevin Bernard Anthony Anderson 27th Pct L&O 2008-
Det. Mike Logan Chris Noth 27th Pct
MCS 		L&O
L&O:CI 		1990-1995
2005-2008
Det. Cyrus Lupo Jeremy Sisto 27th Pct L&O 2007-
Sgt. John Munch Richard Belzer SVU L&O:SVU 1999-
Capt. Danny Ross Eric Bogosian MCS L&O:CI 2006-
Det. Elliot Stabler Christopher Meloni SVU L&O:SVU 1999-
Det. Odafin Tutuola Ice-T SVU L&O:SVU 2000-
Lt. Anita Van Buren S. Epatha Merkerson 27th Pct L&O 1993-
Det. Megan Wheeler Julianne Nicholson MCS L&O:CI 2006-

DA's Office

 Name   Actor   Series   Years 
Michael Cutter Linus Roache L&O 2008-present
Jack McCoy Sam Waterston L&O 1994-present
Kim Grayleck Michaela McManus L&O:SVU 2008-present
Connie Rubirosa Alana de la Garza L&O 2006-present

Psychiatrists

 Name   Actor   Series   Years 
Dr. George Huang B.D. Wong L&O:SVU 2001-present
Dr. Elizabeth Olivet Carolyn McCormick L&O 1991-1997
2002-present
Dr. Emil Skoda J.K. Simmons L&O
L&O:SVU 		1997-2004
2000-2001

Medical Examiner

 Name   Actor   Series   Years 
Elizabeth Rodgers Leslie Hendrix L&O
L&O:SVU
L&O:CI 		1992-present
1999-2000
2001-present
Melinda Warner Tamara Tunie L&O:SVU 2000-present

Crossovers between series

As of 2006, there have been only seven crossovers in which characters from one L&O series meet characters from another L&O series. This is excluding characters who have switched shows (such as Don Cragen and Mike Logan) and characters which the franchise shares among the shows, such as medical examiners and district attorneys. The crossover episodes are the following:

  • Episode "...Or Just Look Like One" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
  • Episode "Hysteria" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
  • Episode "Entitled Part 1" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit / "Entitled, Part 2" Law & Order
  • Episode "Fools for Love" Law & Order
  • Episode "Poison" Law & Order: Criminal Intent
  • Episode "Badge" Law & Order: Criminal Intent
  • Episode "Tombstone" Law & Order / "Skeleton" Law & Order: Trial by Jury
  • Episode "Night" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit / "Day" Law & Order: Trial by Jury
  • Episode "Design" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit / "Flaw" Law & Order

Earlier, Law & Order had made three crossovers with another NBC show, Homicide: Life on the Street (1993):

  • Episode "Charm City" Law & Order / "For God and Country" Homicide: Life on the Street
  • Episode "Baby, it's You" Law & Order / "Baby, it's You, Part 2" Homicide: Life on the Street
  • Episode "Sideshow" Law & Order / "Sideshow" Homicide: Life on the Street

Recently, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" has made a crossover with another (USA) show, "(In Plain Sight)" (2008):

  • Episode "Contract" "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" / "In Plain Sight"

Jerry Orbach (Det. Lennie Briscoe), Jesse L. Martin (Det. Ed Green), Fred Thompson (Arthur Branch), Carolyn McCormick (Dr. Elizabeth Olivet) and Leslie Hendrix (Elizabeth Rodgers) are the only actors to play the same character on all four Law & Order series. As of the 2007-08 season, Criminal Intent is the only Law & Order series in which Richard Belzer has not played Det. John Munch.

Guest-Starred before Cast Regulars

While many cast members of the various Law & Order shows previously appeared in other roles, there are a few who have done so more than once:

  • Eric Bogosian (CI:Capt. Danny Ross)
    • (L&O: Conspiracy; Night & Fog) as Gary Lowenthal
  • Courtney B. Vance (CI: A.D.A. Ron Carver)
    • (L&O: By Hooker, By Crook) as a mayoral aide
    • (L&O: Rage) as a stockbrocker
  • Julianne Nicholson (CI: Det. Megan Wheeler)
    • (L&O: All My Children) as Jessie Lucas
  • Milena Govich (L&O: Det. Nina Cassidy)
    • (L&O: Flaw) as Geneva
  • S. Epatha Merkerson (L&O: Lt. Anita Van Buren)
    • (L&O: Mushrooms) as Denise Winters, the mother of the shooting victims
  • Jerry Orbach (L&O & TBJ: Det. Lennie Briscoe)
    • (L&O: The Wages of Love) as defense attorney Frank Lehrman
  • Michael Imperioli (L&O: Det. Nick Falco)
    • (L&O: Atonement) guest-starred
  • Diane Neal (SVU: A.D.A. Casey Novak)
    • (SVU: Ridicule) as a female rapist, Amelia Chase, who plead guilty after being prosecuted by Alexandra Cabot.
  • Amy Carlson (TBJ: A.D.A. Kelly Gaffney)
    • (SVU: Asunder) as Patricia Andrews, a woman who claimed that her police officer husband had raped her, later to rescind her statement
    • (L&O: Dead Wives Club )as Collette Connolly, who kills the woman who stole her husband after the murder victim's first husband was killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
  • Ice-T (SVU: Det. Odafin Tutuola)
    • (Exiled: A Law & Order Movie) as Seymour 'Kingston' Stockton, a pimp
  • Scott Cohen (TBJ: Det. Chris Ravell)
    • (L&O: Judgement in L.A.: D-Girl; Judgement in L.A.: Turnaround; Judgement in L.A.: Showtime) as murder suspect
  • Tamara Tunie (SVU: Dr. Melinda Warner)
    • (L&O: Deadbeat) as a defense attorney Caroline Bennett
  • Annie Parisse (L&O: A.D.A. Alexandra Borgia)
    • (L&O: Attorney Client) as Jasmine Blake, a stripper and former prostitute
  • Jeremy Sisto (L&O: Det. Cyrus Lupo)
    • (L&O: Family Hour) as defense attorney Clint Glover
  • Bebe Neuwirth (TBJ: E.A.D.A. Tracey Kibre)
    • (SVU: ) as Nina Laszlo, a drug-dealing modeling agent
  • Anthony Anderson (L&O: Det. Kevin Bernard)
    • (SVU: Fat ) as Lucius Blaine, a Queens SVU detective who temporarily serves as Elliot Stabler's partner

Parodies

  • Law & Order: Parking Violations Unit was the subject of a comedy sketch on NBC's own Saturday Night Live (October 6, 2001).
  • Law & Order: Elevator Inspectors Unit was briefly depicted in an episode ("Helter Shelter"; December 1, 2002) of the animated series The Simpsons.[7]
  • Law & Order was parodied on the Robot Chicken episode Tapping a Hero, where human chickens act out a normal episode only saying bawks and bagahas. Seth Green explained this on NPR, saying that Law & Order episodes are all the same and that one doesn't even need the dialogue to understand the show.
  • Law & Order: PCAMPIEOFTD (Petty Crimes Against Municipal Property in Excess of Five Thousand Dollars) was Lois Griffin's response to Peter when asked, "Which Law & Order is this?" in a scene from Family Guy's Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (released September 27, 2005) set 30 years in the future.
  • Family Guy parodied the Law & Order opening titles in the episode Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High. It featured Steven Zirnkilton doing the opening voiceover: "In the television comedy world, the people are entertained by two separate yet equally important types of shows. Traditional sitcoms, that get laughs out of everyday situations like trying to fix your own plumbing, or inviting two dates to the same dance, and animated shows that make jokes about farting. This is the latter." The cast are shown as Peter Griffin, Lois Griffin, and Greased Up Deaf Guy. At the end of the credits, when characters are walking toward the camera in the courthouse, Peter and Lois are shown walking with Meg and Chris when Glenn Quagmire streaks them.
  • On an episode of Saturday Night Live, NBC unveiled its new gay-themed fall schedule, including Law & Order: Queer Squad.
  • Law & Order: Special Letters Unit was the subject of a Sesame Street segment. The muppets used represented Don Cragen, John Munch, Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler.[8]
  • On an episode of The Tonight Show, a special "Jaywalk" segment about legal terms was aired as Law & Order: Special Jaywalk Unit.
  • On the fourth episode of Acceptable.tv, one of the shorts is entitled Law & Order: Production Unit. The skit spoofs several aspects of the show while at the same time attempting to produce a new Law & Order series called Law & Order: Mounted Police.
  • When Steven Zirnkilton appeared on the Hamish and Andy show, he recorded several humorous Law & Order-styled voiceovers, one of which was, "In the radio broadcasting system, when the red light goes on, you talk into a talking stick. Hamish and Andy know how to do that. This is them now."
  • In the cartoon Back at the Barnyard, an episode entitled Fowl Play, a narrator (not from the franchise) says the voiceover: "In the Barnyard Justice System, there are animals who commit crimes and animals who prosecute them. Some of them have udders."

Other pop culture references

  • In an episode of Cyberchase, during the Cyberchase for Real segment, Harry finds that an advertised stain remover doesn't work like it should, so he has a vision in which he puts the advertiser on trial. You can hear part of the Law & Order theme music being played at the beginning of the vision.
  • An episode of My Gym Partner's a Monkey is entitled Law & Odor.
  • In the Arrested Development episode Exit Strategy, Richard Belzer appears as Professor John Munch, although it later turns out that this is Detective Munch's disguise to try to get evidence on George Bluth.
  • An Arthur episode entitled "Flaw and Order" steals the notorious Law & Order sound, as well as the black screen with location/date/time of the scenes.
  • Gaia Online features a line of clothing articles for one's avatar titled Lawl and Order. The line resembles that of a police uniform.
  • The 30 Rock character Jenna's filmography includes starring in a Law & Order spin-off as a Lady Rapist, which mirrors Jane Krakowski's portrayal of a female murderer on Law & Order: SVU.
  • In Back at the Barnyard the episode Fowl Play uses the signature title colors and bong sound.
  • One good franchise deserves another: The eighth volume (2005) of Forbidden Broadway, the off-Broadway series spoofing musical theatre shows, was subtitled "Special Victims Unit,' a gentle roast-tribute to Jerry Orbach's dual career as Broadway leading man and television detective. The show announced it was "investigating homicides of a theatrical nature."
  • In the television series Friends the character Joey was scheduled to make an appearance as a victim but his scene was cut. He then attempted to pretend to his grandmother that he was ADA McCoy to which his grandmother replied "no, Sam Waterstone!"
  • The bridge of the song "Leeds United" by Amanda Palmer from her album "Who Killed Amanda Palmer?" references the Law and Order franchise: "Who needs love when there's Law and Order?"

Games

There are three computer games based on the original Law & Order. The player must investigate crimes and then prosecute the resulting cases. Actors from the television series reprised their roles in vocal form in these games:

There is also one computer game based on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. While it shares many similarities with the other Law & Order games, the Criminal Intent game focuses more on investigations and interrogations, not prosecution.

Special Notes

References

  1. ^ "Good Cops, Bad Cops". Context.themoscowtimes.com. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ The Hollywood Reporter
  4. ^ Broadcasting - News - 'Torchwood' writer to lead UK 'Law & Order' - Digital Spy
  5. ^ "IMDB". Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  6. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Law_%26_Order_franchise&action=edit&section=6
  7. ^ "The Simpsons "Helter Shelter" episode". imdb.com. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  8. ^ "Sesame Street "Special Letters Unit"". Blogs.nbcuni.com. Retrieved 2007-09-23.


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