The Law & Order franchise

NBC recently announced it was developing a new Law & Order spin-off set in Los Angeles adding another addition to the franchise which was spawned several spin-offs already and two remakes abroad. So we take a look at the Law & Order franchise from the defunct spin-offs to the British and French remakes.

The original crime/legal series that spawned the franchise launched on NBC in 1990 and is currently in its 20^th season making it the longest running crime drama on prime-time American television. If it continues for just a few years more – which is highly likely – it’ll be the longest running drama on American television having passed the record set by Gunsmoke. Law & Order was created by Dick Wolf who is still a major player in the franchise – the captain at the helm of the ship. The series is set in New York and follows a simple format – the first part of the episode unfolds as a police investigation into a crime while the second half is presented as the court case on the crime.

Law & Order’s path to broadcast wasn’t an interesting one with Wolf taking the series to Fox and CBS before NBC agreed to air it. Although the station was initially concerned the format of the series wouldn’t lend itself to a weekly series they showed faith in the drama and 20 years on Law & Order is still airing on the network. The original pilot starred George Dzundza, Chris Noth, Max Greevey, Mike Logan, Dann Florek, Michael Moriarty, Richard Brooks and Roy Thinnes. The pilot was filmed in 1988 and the weekly series didn’t start until 1990 but the majority of the cast were still under contract and so returned. However, Roy Thinnes did not return to the series and Adam Schiff joined the cast for the first season. At the end of the first season George Dzundza decided to leave the series and actor Paul Sorvino joined but didn’t remain with the series for very long.

The current cast includes Jeremy Sisto, Anthony Anderson, Linus Roache, Michael Cutter and Alana de la Garza. When constructing the storylines the producers would base episodes around real life crimes that had made the headlines and were therefore topical. In the shows heyday it used to attract more than 20 million viewers but now averages around 10 million viewers. The decline in ratings is in line with the general decline of ratings for all major shows in a heavily competitive world thanks to the increase in the number of stations available to watch and new technologies which allow viewers to download programmes rather than watch them.

Exiled: – A Law & Order movie: 1998

In 1995 actor Chris Noth was unexpectedly fired from Law & Order much to the anger of its many fans. Such was the actor’s popularity that in 1998 it was decided to produce a television movie focusing on his character of Mike Logan after he left the Law & Order series. It was originally to be titled Logan In Exile but was later renamed. Alongside Chris Noth in the series were Dana Eskelson and John Fiore. The series wasn’t the hit it was expected to be and further planned films were scrapped.

Law & Order Special Victims Unit: 1999 –

“In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.”

The first fully fledged spin-off created by Dick Wolf in 1999 and revolving around a unit that investigate sexual offenses in New York. The series was closely formatted after Law & Order in the way that episodes were based on real life events that had made the headlines. Original cast members included Christopher Meloni, Richard Belzer, Mariska Hargitay, Dean Winters and Michelle Hurd. Actor Richard Belzer reprised his role of John Munch on fellow NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street and is still a cast member on the series. Law & Order itself had already featured crossover elements with Homicide in several episodes and when the series was cancelled the idea of crossing Munch over to Law & Order was raised. However, it was decided to cross the character over to the new spin-off instead.

The spin-off is currently the highest rated drama in the Law & Order franchise with actors such as B.D Wong, Dann Florek, Ice-T and Stephanie March amongst the cast. A Russian remake of the series based in Moscow has since been made.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent 2001 –

“In New York City’s war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad. These are their stories.”

The second fully fledged spin-off in the franchise focusing on high profile criminal cases instead of the sometimes domestic cases that the original series would investigate. The drama revolves around the Major Case Squad of the New York Police Department. Amongst the original cast were Vincent D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe. The series, in something of a departure, gave attention to the motives behind the actions of the criminal rather than singularly focusing on the investigation and prosecution of the individual. The opening of each episode shows a series of quickly cut scenes showing events leading up to the crime for both the victim and the criminal and unlike the other spin-offs it doesn’t usually result in a court case but rather a confession.

In the 5^th season actor Chris Noth reprised his role of Mike Logan a role he had played in the parent series between 1990 and 1995 before being sacked. The actor had reprised the role once before for a television movie and agreed to reprise it once again for the Criminal Intent spin-off. In 2007 the series moved to cable channel USA Network because of declining ratings and the following year actor Chris Noth departed the series. Jurassic Park actor Jeff Goldblum joined the cast of the series in 2008 and a revamp of the series will see it focus mostly on his character and actress Saffron Burrows new character of Julia Porter.

Law & Order: Trial By Jury 2005

 

“In the criminal justice system, all defendants are innocent until proven guilty, either by confession, plea bargain, or trial by jury. This is one of those trials”

The third spin-off in the franchise which launched in 2005 and focused on the trial of an individual rather than the police investigation that preceded it. The series would start with a witness of victim of a crime describing what had happened. The series focused on the defence and prosecution cases and the preparation that went into building and presenting them. The show featured a few crossovers with the other entries into the franchise including Special Victims Unit in which a investigation into a crime is concluded in an episode of Trial By Jury.

Amongst the cast of the series were Amy Carlson, Bebe Neuwirth, Fred Thompson and Kirk Acevedo. The series averaged 12 million viewers across its run but NBC decided not to renew the spin-off as it was often beaten in key demographs by new series Numb3rs which aired on rival CBS. It’s cancellation made it the first entry in franchise to be cancelled although there was some hope initially it would be picked up or moved elsewhere but this didn’t happen. The sets of the series were reused for Conviction.

In 2006 Wolf created Conviction which shared many similarities with Trial By Jury – reusing its sets – but was a more character driven legal drama. As with Trial By Jury the series was cancelled after just one series. Amongst the cast was Stephanie March reprising her role of Alexandra Cabot from Special Victims Unit – a role she has since reprised again on SPV.

Law and Order UK

“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups. The police who investigate crime, and the Crown Prosecutors who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.”

A remake of the original America series using scripts from the first season of Law & Order but adapted to reflect a more modern setting and the differences between British and American law enforcement and criminal court cases. The remake is based in London and is the first America drama to be remade for British audiences. As well as reusing scripts from the original series many of the motifs associated with the franchise are also present such as cold openings and sound effects.

Amongst the cast of the remake is Jamie Bamber, Bradley Walsh, Bill Paterson, Freema Agyeman, Harriet Walter and Ben Daniels. ITV showed several episodes of the series in 2009 to warm reviews and strong ratings. It held over the remaining episodes it had ordered for the first season until 2010 and showed them as “season two” even though they were produced as part of season one. The broadcaster has also ordered an additional 13 episodes which once again could be spilt to make two more seasons worth of episodes.

Paris enquêtes criminelles

A French remake of the Criminal Intent spin-off set in Paris and follows the investigations of two very different detectives with different approaches to the job. The first season was adapted from Criminal Intent but later seasons introduced newer storylines. The motifs assiocated with the series such as an opening narrative and drum beats are absent from the show even though Russian and British remakes of Law & Order shows still contain them.

As of 2008 there have been three seasons of the French series and its widely rumoured that Richard Belzer will crossover to the French series for several episodes as his character of John Munch.