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This month marks an achievement in television with the Law & Order franchise turning 35. We’ll be celebrating all month long.
For first making a splash in the early 1990s, you’d think the older episodes would be dated or hard to watch in 2025. That’s not the case at all.
I’ve seen the first episode of Law & Order: SVU several times, and now that the older seasons of the original Law & Order are on Hulu, I finally got to see its premiere episode too — and was surprised by how relevant it still is today.
Technology Has Changed, But The Franchise Has Not (For The Most Part, Anyway)
It amazes me that when both of these shows began, cell phones and electronic records weren’t a thing.
Law & Order Season 1 Episode 1 kicked things off with a story about a medical mistake that reminded me of Homicide: Life On The Street, my all-time favorite cop show (which is on Peacock now, so go watch it if you haven’t seen it.)
Unlike the more sensationalistic cases that the franchise has become known for, this was a quiet story about a medical mistake that became negligent homicide when a grieving father insisted the cops investigate.
I loved this story because it had everything that has made the franchise great for the last 35 years, but I cracked up when ADA Paul Robinette complained about having to search medical records by hand.
Robinette: Where’s a computer when you need one?
Stone: You want to enter every record into a database, be my guest.
Nowadays, of course, the records would be electronic to begin with, and the detectives would likely debate whether an AI search of them would be admissible (or accurate).
I’m pro-technology, but the story would lose something if it were told now because of that. One of the most significant pieces of evidence was that someone had used whiteout to conceal a medical error, rather than crossing it out and initialing it.
How would you even replicate that in the modern era?
SVU Put Character-Driven Storytelling on the Map, But The Original Law & Order Characters Had More Depth Than They’re Given Credit For
I’ll confess that when I think of the original Law & Order, it often reminds me of Dragnet, the classic cop series where the cops’ personal lives were mostly unimportant and the focus was on dramatizing real-life cases.
(Fun fact: Dick Wolf tried and failed to reboot Dragnet soon before Law & Order got the green light.)
SVU established Stabler and Benson’s relationship from the beginning by having Stabler be the more seasoned cop who helped guide rookie Benson, making the modern episodes more interesting because Benson has grown so much.
I also love that Law & Order: SVU Season 1 Episode 1 introduced Stabler’s family and made them a significant part of the show, which was a huge departure from the way Law & Order typically approached things.
Still, on rewatch, the pilot episode of Law & Order was far more personal than I remembered.
The show addressed bias in a way that Law & Order Season 24 failed to do — instead of being heavy-handed, it presented both sides of the issue in a fair and logical manner that also gave the characters depth.
I loved that Greevy and Logan both shared personal stories to explain their feelings about medical professionals, and Captain Cragen jumped in with his story of how he realized he had an alcohol problem.
I knew he had one in SVU, so I was pleasantly surprised to rediscover that it was a carryover from his Law & Order days and not newly invented for the new show.
I didn’t expect the very first episode to provide the characters with any backstory.
I always thought the characters on the original Law & Order were more or less interchangeable, because anyone could investigate the cases without much changing.
I prefer SVU because it is more personal, but I’m thrilled that I was wrong about Law & Order’s original cast.
Part of the problem for me is that I started watching during Jerry Orbach’s long run as Lenny Briscoe.
Are you as obsessed with the Law & Order franchise as I am?
Hit the comments below with your thoughts. If readers are as passionate about the long-running franchise as I am, it’s more likely I’ll get to keep writing about it.
If you watched Law & Order in the 1990s, Briscoe WAS the show, to a large extent.
He popularized the part of the formula that involved making a sarcastic comment about the victim right before the opening credits and was one of the longest-running cast members, sadly forced to quit shortly before his death because of ill health.
He was never the warm and fuzzy type, and he cycled through three different partners, making it seem like who the actual characters were didn’t matter as long as they were partnered with him.
The Law & Order cast changes that we complain about today are nothing new. There were two other detectives before Briscoe joined the cast, and there have been several others since Orbach’s death.
Heck, even Sam Waterston wasn’t part of the series at the beginning!
Ben Stone Is Still Engaging To Watch Despite The Negative History
For the first five seasons, Michael Moriarity played ADA Benjamin Stone.
Long-time viewers might remember that Moriarity quit for political reasons. He believed the show would be censored because of the new TV ratings system.
Between that unnecessarily sensationalized exit and being more used to Waterston’s Jack McCoy, I didn’t expect to enjoy Stone as much as I did.
He was an equally strong ADA, and after being reintroduced to him, it’s easy to understand why the Chicago Justice character who later appeared on SVU was portrayed as his son.
The Bottom Line: All 35 Years Of Ripped-From-the-Headlines Drama Deserve to Be Celebrated
Both Law & Order and SVU are very different shows today, but the earlier episodes of both are still very watchable.
I appreciate even more that Cragen moved over to SVU after being reminded what a strong captain he was on Law & Order. (After Season 4, he disappeared until SVU came along, and was replaced by the equally fantastic Anita Van Buren, played by Chicago Med‘s S Epatha Merkerson.)
SVU also had solid character development and interesting stories, and both shows made the ripped-from-the-headlines format work.
(I hate that Benson’s mother was killed off after the pilot because that was a lost opportunity, though.)
I’m thrilled that the first 20 seasons of Law & Order are now available. After 35 years, it’s easy to forget what the show was like when it began, and I’m excited to re-experience it.
What do you think?
Your voice is what keeps TV Fanatic alive. I can’t wait to read your comments, and I hope you’ll also share this article with your Law & Order-loving friends.
Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU will return on NBC on September 25, 2025 — the 35th anniversary of Law & Order Season 1.
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