A chonker of a box set, Universal has released Law & Order: The Complete Original Series. Twenty seasons across 104 discs, this popular series has been in constant television rotation since its original debut in 1990. Created by Dick Wolf, the series is set and filmed in New York City. Each episode is divided into two parts: the first half hour deals with investigating a crime and apprehending the suspect by New York City Police Department homicide detectives, while the second half hour is the prosecution of the suspect by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
The casting was top notch, offering a series of excellent actors in the primary roles. A series of new faces played the junior detectives. A pre “Mr. Big” Chris Noth stayed around for the first five seasons, followed by Benjamin Bratt (4) and then Jesse L. Martin (8) and Anthony Anderson (3). Initially, Noth was joined by George Dzundza as Senior Detective Sargeant Max Greevey. Dzundza left after the first season over a contract dispute. Paul Sorvino replaced him as Phil Cerreta, only to leave after the third season to pursue a career as an opera singer. The fourth season saw Jerry Orbach join the series as beloved Senior Detective Lennie Briscoe, who stayed with the show for eleven seasons. For me, the Briscoe years were the highlight of the series, but Dennis Farina and Jeremy Sisto aptly filled the role of supervising the younger detectives in later years.
In a wise move, the DA’s were played by acting veterans. The chronically underrated Steven Hill played Adam Schiff for ten seasons, fighting city hall and chronically worrying about his family. Debuting in season five (replacing Michael Moriarity’s Ben Stone) as Jack McCoy, Sam Waterston became a tentpole of Law & Order, staying with the series for the rest of its original twenty season run, rising from Executive Assistant to the District Attorney to District Attorney himself, Waterston’s Jack McCoy became the steady presence in a cast that otherwise was a revolving door.
While McCoy often acts as the series’ moral center, his character is far from perfect. His DA’s often didn’t share his decidedly liberal view of justice. The first assistant DA was Richard Brooks (3 seasons) but later shifted to women at the insistence of then NBC president Warren Littlefield. First was Jill Hennessey (6 years) as Claire Kincaid, then Carey Lowell (7), as Jamie Ross, then Angie Harmon (3) as Abbie Carmicheal, then Elizabeth Röhm (4) as Serena Southerlyn, then Annie Parisse (33 eps) as Alexandra Borgia, then Alana De La Garza (5) as Connie Rubirosa.
Other actors turned up in the main cast along the way. A personal favorite of mine, Dianne Weist served as an interim DA Nora Lewin for seasons eleven and twelve. Also of note, was the casting of U.S. Senator Fred Dalton Thompson as DA Arthur Branch during seasons 13-17. Dalton left Law & Order to launch an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for President in 2008.
In its twenty-year run Law & Order: The Complete Original Series had plenty of famous guest stars including Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Lansbury, John Ritter, Julia Roberts, Martin Short, Henry Winkler, and more. The show also features several unknown actors who would go on to stardom, such as Claire Danes, Colman Domingo, Bradley Cooper, Adam Driver, Edie Falco, Jennifer Garner, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Allison Janney, Jennifer Lawrence (blink and you’ll miss her), Sarah Paulson, Ellen Pompeo, Sebastian Stan, Kerry Washington, and many more.
While a Blu-ray set would have been nice, these standard definition episodes (I watched nearly thirty of them), looked solid on my 65-inch television. While they don’t have the absolute clarity found on the high-definition transfer, the 1.33 flat aspect ratio leaves little to complain about. The series made the change over to widescreen with season five. Later seasons are in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Heck, it’s just nice to watch all these episodes whenever you want, without commercial breaks!
The Dolby Digital 2.0. track does the job, providing clean, clear and concise dialogue throughout.
Extras include four crossover episodes (Mariska Hartigay of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is always welcome!), deleted/extended scenes, cast profiles, set tour and more.