Law & Order

Starting in September 2009, I will be yet again sitting down waiting in anticipation for the new series of the old American classic, "Law & Order". This year is the veginnings of it's 20th (!!!) season on American television, thereby making it the joint longest running primetime drama in American television history, and as everyone knows, it's not exactly easy keeping your show popular in the US. What's even harder, is keeping a show going that long, as the public knows, popular shows such as Scrubs, Desperate Housewives, even the supposed favourites such as Channel 4's Big Brother, struggle beyond the 5th season. They can still be popular, no question about it...however the strength in writing seems to start going downhill, or you begin to think you have seen it all before. Scrubs has even poked fun at themselves through the episode "My Deja Vu, My Deja Vu" where they admit they are running out of storylines. So the ability to keep a series still going strongly intowards 20 seasons is an amazing achievement. So how is it done?
The creator, Dick Wolf, has regularly admitted that the STORY, not the actors, are important. The premise is simplicity. The first half of the show is devoted to two detectives and their boss investigating a crime, quite often murder. They will find evidence and arrest a suspect usually half an hour into the show. This is the Law half, the second half is devoted to the District Attorney and his assistant trying to prosecute the suspect, with their boss helping them. A simple premise that has been used with varying circumstances for 433 episodes and a feature length TV-Movie. But what makes it more astounding, is that of the original 6 main characters in the first episode, of the first season, all of them have been replaced.

Since the Senior Detective Sgt Max Greevey debuted in the first episode, he has been replaced by 5 other actors. Since the Junior Detective Mike Logan debuted, he has been replaced by 6 other actors. Since the debut of Captain Donald Cragen, he has been replaced by Lt. Van Buren, who is now approaching her 17th season of Law & Order. Since the introduction of Executive Assistant District Attorney Ben Stone, he has been replace by 2 actors, including the famed Jack McCoy, the second longest running character at 15 seasons. Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette was introduced and has been replaced by 6 actresses during the 2o seasons. And finally, the District Attorney, Alfred Wentworth, who appeared in just the pilot, has been replace by 4 other actors, including the famed Jack McCoy. This is an example of how the actors aren't the main part, but the premise and storylines. Since the 90's, Law & Order has been succesful enough to spin-off two shows, Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent, which follows similar premises and have reached their 10th and 8th succesful seasons.

The creator, Dick Wolf, when asked why he feels the show has done so well, had this to say: "Most shows when debuted, are the equivalent of a 100 yard dash, hitting the ground running and eventually running out of steam. Law & Order, however, is the equivalent of a marathon, it's prepared for the long run." And despite the fact that the story and premise is supposed to be the main focus, the characters are all 3-dimensional with backgrounds ranging from recovering alcoholics, sons of abusive fathers, divorced mother, grandparents, ex-gamblers, all with a slight hint that resonates with real life people. They are all perfectly imperfect characters, with a perfect premise, that draws an audience in again and again. For people with an interest in intelligent crime dramas where the storylines matter, but with realistic characters, this should be a show for you. And shall surely be drawn in, from the first moment you hear "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories."