Law & Order - Season 1…

[Warped9]

After so many years I decided to go back to the beginning and revisit the first season of the original Law & Order.

Wow! So many impressions even though I recall seeing these episodes back when they were first broadcast. And Season 1 set me on a path as a L&O fan for decades.

So far I’m only three episodes in (rationing them to one episode a night) and I’m struck by the raw and down-to-earth sensibility of the series in those days. The characters look and talk like real people. The cases really do feel “ripped from the headlines.” There are no cellphones yet in sight and barely if any computers. The world we see looks so different from today. I also loved that no matter what part of society the stories went into it came across as convincing and believable.

I can’t help but compare this with the procedural shows of today and be reminded why I loved this show and have little to no interest for the versions being aired now.

I’m looking forward to revisiting these episodes and moving on to Season 2.

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[Mr. Laser Beam]

i love how Ben Stone can take a simple word like "sir" and turn it into the most devastating insult imaginable.

Kind of like how (on DS9) Kai Winn did the same thing with "child".

I also wonder how different L&O would have been, had the (aborted) 1989-90 season on CBS ever come about. Some Season 1 episodes actually were made for that season - you can tell which ones, because they don't have the doink-doink sound and the text captions are in a different font.

For those not in the know, the actual pilot episode - "Everybody's Favorite Bagman" (fun fact: that episode actually had an ON SCREEN APPEARANCE by the opening credits' narrator) - was filmed in 1988. The first season of the show was supposed to air on CBS starting in '89, but for some reason, that never came about - L&O didn't actually air until 1990, and even then, it was on NBC. So the first season was aired way the hell out of order.

And it's kind of a shock seeing Jerry Orbach play a L&O character OTHER than Lennie Briscoe!

Oh well. Can't wait to see the original L&O return. I wonder which, if any, previous characters will return...of course Stone won't be there, since they killed him off, but it'd be nice to see Van Buren or some of the other originals. And I really hope Michael Cutter comes back!

 

[Warped9]

^^ Ben Stone was killed? I remember Stone just resigning. I don’t recall any reference to him being killed. And I watched this series near religiously until the last couple of seasons.

I wish I had thought about the production order as I would have watched them that way.

 

[Marc]

^^ Ben Stone was killed? I remember Stone just resigning. I don’t recall any reference to him being killed. And I watched this series near religiously until the last couple of seasons.

I wish I had thought about the production order as I would have watched them that way.

No he just left.

It was on the ADA's (Claire Kincard).

 

[Warped9]

Claire Kincaid I remember being killed by a drunk driver as she gave Lennie Briscoe a ride home. God, that was shocking and sad.

ADA Alexandra Borgia’s murder was also shocking and sad.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^^ Ben Stone was killed?

It was Philip Winchester's first SVU episode.

Peter Stone - Ben's son - comes back to New York (from Chicago) for his father's funeral, then decides to stay on as the new ADA. This was also, IIRC, the most recent onscreen appearance of Jack McCoy, who gave the eulogy.

I don't recall a specific cause of Ben's death being given, although I'm fairly sure it was natural causes.

Talking of deaths, it reminds me of one of my favorite Donald Cragen lines...it was the ep where Max Greevey is murdered, and the killer had said he'd thought of going after Max's wife as well. Cragen says "'Maybe threaten his old lady'? Too bad he didn't try that route. Marie would have kicked his ass!"

 

[Warped9]

Talking of deaths, it reminds me of one of my favorite Donald Cragen lines...it was the ep where Max Greevey is murdered, and the killer had said he'd thought of going after Max's wife as well. Cragen says "'Maybe threaten his old lady'? Too bad he didn't try that route. Marie would have kicked his ass!"

Oh, yeah! I remember that!

 

[Danny99]

Is the Chicago series shot in Chicago because S. Epatha Merkerson is a regular on Chicago Med. I honestly don't watch the show, so I don't know if her screen time is more substantial than a return to Van Buren was. Alana De La Garza is a major player on FBI, as is Jeremy Sisto. Anthony Anderson has Black-ash & To Tell The Truth. In SVU, Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) had been promoted to Bureau Chief, so you'd have to make some reason for him to come back to being an EADA. Sam Waterson's run on Grace & Frankie is over, but he is 80. How much does he want to do?

I think the only one you're seeing back is Linus Roache in any kind of regular role & maybe Waterston to pass the torch from one generation to the next. I think they've burned the rest of the characters in some way that would make them difficult to bring back.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Is the Chicago series shot in Chicago

Yep.