‘Law & Order’ is a legal drama, created by Dick Wolf. The first series was released on 13th September 1990. It has total 20 series to date and the last series was released on 25th September 2009. All the seasons have received more or less good responses and ratings from the audience, making it one of the longest yet most successful series. In 1997, it achieved Emmy Award for ‘Best Drama Series
Now after a long break, NBC has announced that the 21st series will be released somewhere around February 2022.
About the drama:
The whole series consists of 20 seasons each having 18 to 24 episodes. The range of the ratings it achieved was 7.2 to 12.1 as per Wikipedia. The highest rating of 12.1 is scored for the very first season and the lowest 7.2 is scored for the twentieth series.
Each episode had 2 parts i.e. Police and Prosecutors. 1st part shows the crime scene and investigation of the crime place and arresting of suspects. On the other hand 2nd, the part would show lawyers, attorneys, judges, and courtrooms.
Law & Order was in demand not only because of the novel concept but also for showing the real stories. Most of the crime story shown therein is real and most of them have created headlines in reality.
Apart from the huge line of cast, the series also featured real-life huge personalities, such as Julia Roberts and Samuel L. Jackson, Mayors Rudy Giuliani, and Michael Bloomberg. This special feature gave the series gave it a realistic touch.
Spin-offs:
The series had many spin-offs and became a network franchise itself. Following are the spin-offs that are published to date.
1. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
2. Law & Order: Criminal Intent
3. Law & Order: Trial by Jury
4. Conviction
5. Law & Order: Los Angeles
List of casts:
1. George Dzundza as Max Greevey
2. Chris Noth as Mike Logan
3. Dann Florek as Donald Cragen
4. Michael Moriarty as Ben Stone
5. Richard Brooks as Paul Robinette
6. Steven Hill as Adam Schiff
7. Paul Sorvino as Phil Cerreta
8. Jerry Orbach as Lennie Briscoe
9. Carolyn McCormick as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
10. S. Epatha Merkerson as Anita Van Buren
11. Jill Hennessy as Claire Kincaid
12. Sam Waterston as Jack McCoy
13. Benjamin Bratt as Rey Curtis
14. Carey Lowell as Jamie Ross
15. Angie Harmon as Abbie Carmichael
16. Jesse L. Martin as Ed Green
17. Dianne Wiest as Nora Lewin
18. Elisabeth Röhm as Serena Southerlyn
19. Fred Dalton Thompson as Arthur Branch
20. Dennis Farina as Joe Fontana
21. Michael Imperioli as Nick Falco
22. Annie Parisse as Alexandra Borgia
23. Milena Govich as Nina Cassady
24. Alana de la Garza as Connie Rubirosa
25. Jeremy Sisto as Cyrus Lupo
26. Linus Roache as Michael Cutter
27. Anthony Anderson as Kevin Bernard
28. Jeffrey Donovan as Frank Cosgrove
29. Camryn Manheim as Kate Dixon
30. Hugh Dancy as Nathan Price
31. Odelya Halevi as Samantha Maroun
Awards won:
Here is a list of awards won by ‘Law & Order’:
1992:
• Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Editing for a Series for Heaven (Emmy Awards)
1993:
• Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a Series Constantine Makris for Conspiracy (Emmy Awards)
• Outstanding Guest Actress – Drama Series Elaine Stritch for “Point of View” (Emmy Awards)
• Best Episode in a Television Series Teleplay René Balcer and Michael S. Chernuchin, for “Conspiracy” (Edgar Awards)
1996:
• Norman Felton Award (Producers Guild of America), Producer of the Year, (Peabody Award)
1997:
• Outstanding Cinematography for a Series Constantine Makris for Mad Dog (Emmy Awards)
• Outstanding Drama Series (Emmy Awards)
• Best Episode in a Television Series Teleplay I. C. Rapoport and Ed Zuckerman, for “Deadbeat” (Edgar Awards)
1998:
• Outstanding Cinematography for a Series Constantine Makris for Stalker (Emmy Awards)
• Best Episode in a Television Series Teleplay Richard Sweren, Shimon Wincelberg, and Ed Zuckerman, for “Double Down” (Edgar Awards)
• Best Teleplay, Rene Balcer and Richard Sweren for “Entrapment” (Writers Guild Award)
• Best Television Episode, “DWB”, written by Rene Balcer (Silver Gavel Award (American Bar Association))
1999:
• Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama Series Sam Waterston (Screen Actors Guild)
• Best Episode in a Television Series Teleplay René Balcer and Richard Sweren, for “Bad Girl” (Edgar Awards)
• Best Television Episode, “Hate”, written by Rene Balcer (Silver Gavel Award (American Bar Association))
2000:
• Best Episode in a Television Series Teleplay René Balcer, for “Refuge, Part 2” (Edgar Awards)
2005:
• Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama Series Jerry Orbach (Screen Actors Guild) – posthumously awarded
About the upcoming season:
Nearly after a decade, the series has got a renewal order from NBC. Law & Order franchise earned billions for NBC from all over the world and now NBC is all set to create history again. As we can see there was a gap of almost 12 years and in these 12 years many unbelievable crimes took place and that would surely give the drama fresh content.
Dick Wolf a creator and an executive producer all through the previous 20 series is all set to take the command again. In one of the interviews, he said “There are very few things in life that literally dream come true,” “This is mine.”
Susan Rovner, chairman of Entertainment Content, NBC Universal Television and Streaming said “‘Law & Order’ is quite simply one of the most iconic shows in television history, and the idea of continuing its legacy and partnering with Dick on an all-new season is nothing short of exhilarating.”
NBC ordered a new season on 28th September 2021 and the season is all set to be released in February 2022. Although it is continuance showing 21st season, NBC gave it status as an altogether new series. However, for the public and media, it will be considered as a continuation only.