“Law & Order” Turns 35

I still think the OG S1 cast was the best, and the writing was stellar, the look MUCH more gritty NYC. Quite a few of those early episodes (I'm thinking especially of "Out of the Half-Light" and "Everybody's Favorite Bagman") would feel right at home on stage.

There's finally a Law & Order channel on Pluto!

Law and Order has been around since before the internet basically.

Since before the Clinton presidency. Before Nirvana’s colossal Nevermind album. Before the first Michael Jackson pedophilia accusation. Before Goodfellas hit theaters.

[quote]There's finally a Law & Order channel on Pluto!

Damn. Not quite. My local version of Pluto (outside U.S.) doesn't have L&O original. Amazon has selected seasons for about €14 each. And I see that another mobile phone provider has the series as part of its TV/internet/mobile package. Maybe I will switch carriers rather than give € to Amazon

I agree with r1, I like the grittier feel of the early episodes

The show sustained a pretty high level for quite a while. They certainly had a Hell of a time threading the needle that was replacing Steven Hill's Adam Schiff, but all in all it was a consistently excellent show until then, and quite good for several seasons after that.

I'm actually in the middle (?) of a LAW & ORDER rewatch. I'm on the second season with Waterston promoted to D.A., and the show is still very enjoyable. We'll see whether I make it to the bitter end.

As I recall, the reboot episodes are unwatchable.

But this show should be a DL fave if only in tribute to whatever queen on the staff named Michael Moriarty's character Benjamin Stone. (John McMartin himself even turned up in the early years, as did Dick Latessa and no doubt some other original FOLLIES cast member[s] I've forgotten.)

They’re all available on Hulu, from the first season onwards. I’m always watching a couple classic episodes. I love to put it on while I’m eating dinner after work.

I can't believe how thoroughly Dick Wolf lost the plot on the reboot. I watched a couple of episodes of the most recent season, and it felt so... generic. Pretty actors who would be at home on CSI:Miami. And I never could stand Maura Tierney, who always sucks any joy and life out of a scene.

And the worst thing about the reboot is it may as well be filmed in Vancouver, or Portland OR, or on any random soundstage. No NYC vibe at all.

I play L&O OG on my computer to fall asleep every night. I have all the seasons up to and including S16, and I got them from the usual places many years ago.

The best ones were with Lenny Briscoe (Jerry Orbach). May he RIP.

Criminal Intent is still on one of my antenna channels, and while I like it to an extent, it was never as good as the OG.

I just watched a really good OG episode that I hadn’t seen before, but it was spoiled by Hulu! They put in the episode synopsis that the killer was the son of the victim, but that was supposed to be a surprise twist near the end which completely changed how the case was prosecuted. I never would’ve seen it coming and was robbed of a rare opportunity to gasp and clutch my pearls.