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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
Закон и порядок: Преступный умысел
Закон и порядок: Преступный умысел
Law & Order: UK
Games
Video game(s)Law & Order: Dead on the Money
Law & Order: Double or Nothing
Law & Order: Justice is Served
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Miscellaneous
Affiliated seriesHomicide: Life on the Street
New York Undercover
Deadline
''In Plain Sight
Satires"Law & Order: Special Letters Unit" (Sesame Street)
"Law & Order: Parking Violations Unit" (Saturday Night Live)

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 criminal justice system. Together, the original series and its various spin-offs constitute more than 800 hours of programming.

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, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, and the two Russian series arguably contain the most visual similarities within the franchise, particularly with respect to their opening credits sequence. Law & Order: UK’s opening sequence differs significantly from the others, but that programme's visual and narrative styles are otherwise nearly identical to those of the original New York-based prorgram. Past episodes of the American series are in syndication with TNT, USA Network, and Bravo! showing episodes sometimes up to six times a day.

Location

All of the American series [less the reality series, Crime and Punishment] have been 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 recorded in the Los Angeles area, even if the program is set in New York City. The original Law & Order series has filmed a few episodes in the Los Angeles area and Baltimore; these episodes or portions of episodes were set in the cities in which they were filmed and concerned multi-jurisdictional investigations and/or extradition. 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 Warner on SVU, and, until 2006, D.A. Jessica Griffin on As the World Turns.

Also as the result of sharing the same pool of New York-based television actors, the series' casts have had significant overlap with that of the former HBO series, Oz. This is perhaps most pronounced in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, whose original cast included three regularly-credited and one recurring actor who were also regularly-credited actors on Oz. This is discussed in greater detail here.

Law and Order: UK is based and filmed almost entirely in London. It is the counterpart of the original Law & Order series, adapted to London Metropolitan Police & Crown Prosecution Service procedures and the English criminal justice system, as shown in the episode "Unloved".

Paris enquêtes criminelles is based and filmed almost entirely in Paris. It is the counterpart of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Its third season features four appearances by Richard Belzer as his Law & Order: Special Victims Unit / Homicide: Life on the Streets character, NYPD Sergeant (retired Baltimore Detective) John Munch.

Закон и порядок: отдел оперативных расследований and Закон и порядок: Преступный умысел (translated: Law & Order: Division of Field Investigation and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, respectively) are set and filmed almost entirely in Moscow. The two are, respectively, counterparts of the American series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, adapted to the Russian legal system and police procedures.

Series

Current series

  • Paris enquêtes criminelles (2007-present)
    • Starring Vincent Pérez as Lieutenant Vincent Revel, Sandrine Rigaux as Lieutenant Claire Savigny, Jacques Pater as Police Chief Bonnefoy, Hélène Godec as Judge Frances Lherbier, Laure Killing as Judge Fontana, and Audrey Looten as Mélanie Rousseau. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star, Richard Belzer (who maintains a home in Paris) appears four times in the third season as NYPD Sergeant John Munch.
      • The show follows the format of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, adapted to Paris and the French legal system under the Napoleonic Code.
      • The programme's opening credits lack the traditional Law & Order elements. The sequence does not use a variant of the traditional Law & Order theme music, nor does it rely heavily on still images, nor does it conclude with the traditional shot of the principal characters walking abreast.
  • Закон и порядок: отдел оперативных расследований (Law & Order: Division of Field Investigation) (2007–present)
    • Starring Ivan Oganesyan, Alisa Bogart.
      • The show follows the format of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, set in Moscow and adapted to the Russian justice system.
      • Unlike the British and French series, the opening credits of Закон и порядок: отдел оперативных расследований use the traditional Law & Order theme music (closely patterned after the original series' version), and pans & zooms over still images like the American series' opening credits. Unlike the American and British series, the opening sequence's traditional final shot of the principal characters walking abreast is a monochrome still image.
  • Law & Order: UK (re-titled Law & Order: London for broadcast in Ireland) (2009–present)
    • Starring Bradley Walsh as DS Ronnie Brooks, Jamie Bamber as DS Matt Devlin, Harriet Walter as DI Natalie Chandler, Ben Daniels as James Steel, Freema Agyeman as Alesha Phillips and Bill Paterson as George Castle.
      • This show follows the format of the original Law & Order show but adapts it to the new setting of London, England. The first half hour centres around Metropolitan Police CID investigating a crime discovered in the cold open, and arresting one or more suspects; the second half hour depicts the Crown Prosecution Service attempting to secure conviction against the suspect(s).
      • The programme's opening credits do not use a variant of the traditional Law & Order theme music, nor do they rely as heavily on still images as the American series. The opening sequence does, however, end with the traditional shot of the principal characters walking abreast.

Past series

Adaptations outside the U.S.

Near the end of 2006, Global American Television and the Russian Federation|Russian television studio Studio 2V announced a deal with NBC, Wolf Films, and NTV to adapt original Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent scripts to the Russian justice system. The Russian version of SVU had the name changed to Law & Order: Division of Field Investigation while the Criminal Intent remained with the same title. Ivan Oganesyan, Alisa Bogart among others stars the SVU adaptation and Igor Lagutin and Alyona Kovalchuk lead the cast of the Russian CI.[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 (translation: Paris Criminal Investigations). Vincent Perez portrayed the role of Lt. Vincent Revel for three seasons. It is still unknown whether the TF1 (channel where the show is broadcasted in France) will renew this series for the next season or not.[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; its working title was Law & Order: London, but its final title was Law & Order: UK.[3] The series is 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 are based on the scripts for the U.S. series and the show debuted on ITV1 on 23 February 2009.[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.
    • H:LotS and L&O occasionally crossed over.
    • Richard Belzer's Det. John Munch transferred from the Baltimore PD to the NYPD on SVU; one of Lennie's former lovers had been previously married to Det. Munch; although Munch was initially resentful of Briscoe, the two quickly bonded over their mutual resentment of the woman.
    • Various characters from L&O and H:LotS appeared on the opposite series, as two-part stories were periodically begun on an episode of one series and concluded on the other, the same criminal having committed crimes in both Baltimore and New York City, or a crime in one city having a connection in the other.
  • New York Undercover (1994), co-created by Kevin Arkadie and Dick Wolf, was implicitly a part of the same universe as the franchise, as psychologist and psychiatrist 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.
  • In Plain Sight (2008) has also crossed over with the franchise
    • 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. 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 articles: List of Law & Order characters, List of Law & Order cast members, List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit characters, List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit cast members, and List of Law & Order: Criminal Intent cast members

Police & DA Investigators

 Name   Actor   Series   Years 
Sgt. Max Greevey George Dzundza L&O 1990–1991
Det. Mike Logan Chris Noth L&O
H:LotS
Exiled
CI 		1990–1995
1995
1998
2005–2008
Capt. Don Cragen Dann Florek L&O
Exiled
SVU 		1990–1993
1998
1999–
Sgt. Phil Cerreta Paul Sorvino L&O 1991–1992
Det. Lennie Briscoe Jerry Orbach L&O
H:LotS
Exiled
SVU
CI
TBJ 		1992–2004
1996–1999
1998
1999–2000
2001
2005
Lt. Anita Van Buren S. Epatha Merkerson L&O
Exiled
CI
TBJ 		1993–
1998
2002
2005
Det. Rey Curtis Benjamin Bratt L&O
H:LotS
Exiled 		1995–1999
1996–1999
1998
Det. Ed Green Jesse L. Martin L&O
SVU
CI
TBJ 		1999–2008
1999–2000
2001
2005
Det. Elliot Stabler Christopher Meloni SVU
L&O
TBJ 		1999–
2000
2005
Det. Olivia Benson Mariska Hargitay SVU
L&O
TBJ 		1999–
2000–2005
2005
Sgt. John Munch Richard Belzer
Joseph Perrino (teen)
David Rudman (Muppet) 		H:LotS
L&O
The X-Files
SVU
The Beat
TBJ
AD
"SLU" (SS)
The Wire
PEC 		1993–1999
1996–2000
1997
1999–
2000
2005
2006
2006
2008
TBA
Det. Monique Jeffries Michelle Hurd SVU 1999–2001
Det. Fin Tutuola Ice-T SVU
L&O 		2000–
2005
Det. Bobby Goren Vincent D'Onofrio CI
SNL 		2001–
Det. Alex Eames Kathryn Erbe CI 2001–
Capt. James Deakins Jamey Sheridan CI 2001–2006
Det. Joe Fontana Dennis Farina L&O
TBJ 		2004–2006
2005
Det. Nick Falco Michael Imperioli L&O 2005
Det. Carolyn Barek Annabella Sciorra CI 2005–2006
Inv. Hector Salazar Kirk Acevedo TBJ
L&O 		2005
2005
Inv. Chris Ravell Scott Cohen TBJ 2005
Det. Nina Cassady Milena Govich L&O 2006–2007
Det. Megan Wheeler Julianne Nicholson CI 2006–
Capt. Danny Ross Eric Bogosian CI 2006–
Det. Cyrus Lupo Jeremy Sisto L&O 2007–
Det. Chester Lake Adam Beach SVU 2007–2008
Det. Nola Falacci Alicia Witt CI 2007
Det. Kevin Bernard Anthony Anderson L&O 2008–
Det. Zach Nichols Jeff Goldblum CI 2009–

District Attorney's Office

 Name   Actor   Series   Years 
Alfred Wentworth Roy Thinnes L&O 1990
Ben Stone Michael Moriarty L&O 1990–1994
Paul Robinette Richard Brooks L&O 1990–1993, 1996, 2005, 2006
Adam Schiff Steven Hill L&O
SVU
"PVU" (SNL) 		1990–2000
2000
2001
Claire Kincaid Jill Hennessy L&O
H:LotS 		1993–1996
1996
Jack McCoy Sam Waterston L&O
H:LotS
Exiled
SVU
TBJ 		1994–
1997-1999
1998
2000–
2005
Jamie Ross Carey Lowell L&O
H:LotS
TBJ 		1996–1998, 1999, 2001
1997
2005
Abbie Carmichael Angie Harmon L&O
SVU 		1999–2001
1999–2000
Nora Lewin Dianne Wiest L&O
SVU
CI 		2000–2002
2001–2002
2001
Alexandra Cabot Stephanie March SVU
Conviction 		2000–2003, 2005, 2009–
2006
Serena Southerlyn Elisabeth Röhm L&O 2001–2005
Ron Carver Courtney B. Vance CI 2001–2006
Arthur Branch Fred Thompson L&O
SVU
CI
TBJ
Conviction 		2002–2007
2003–2006
2005
2005
2006
Casey Novak Diane Neal SVU 2003–2008
Alexandra Borgia Annie Parisse L&O 2005–2006
Tracey Kibre Bebe Neuwirth TBJ
SVU 		2005
2005
Kelly Gaffney Amy Carlson TBJ 2005
Connie Rubirosa Alana de la Garza L&O 2006–
Michael Cutter Linus Roache L&O 2008–
Kim Grayleck Michaela McManus SVU 2008–2009

Psychiatrists and Psychologists

 Name   Actor   Series   Years 
Elizabeth Olivet, Ph.D. Carolyn McCormick L&O
NYU
SVU
CI
TBJ 		1991–
1996
1999–2001
2006
2005
Emil Skoda, M.D. J.K. Simmons L&O
NYU
SVU
CI 		1997–2004
1998
2000–2001
2002
Agent George Huang, M.D. B.D. Wong SVU 2001–

Medical Examiners

 Name   Actor   Series   Years 
Elizabeth Rodgers, M.D. Leslie Hendrix L&O
SVU
CI
TBJ 		1992–
1999–2000
2001–
2005
Melinda Warner, M.D. Tamara Tunie SVU 2000–

Crossovers between series

As of 2009, 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 the USA Network 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 and the European series, are the only Law & Order series in which Richard Belzer has not played Det. John Munch, although Belzer is slated to make appearances as Munch in the French series, Paris enquêtes criminelles. Belzer has yet to appear on Law & Order: UK, and it remains to be seen if he will. Chris Chibnall joked, however, that Munch is obligated to appear.[6] No plans have been announced for him to appear in either of the Moscow-based series.

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

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://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7880999.stm

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