I'll never forget the first time I watched Law & Order. It was on at 10:00 p.m., in the middle of the week in the early 1990s. I was working very, very long hours, establishing a new business, and I arrived home, turned on the TV, and couldn't believe what I was seeing: a cop show with all of the fat cut out. This was the anti-Miami Vice: no Ferraris, no fun in the sun, no cops wearing silk suits, no wall-to-wall Jan Hammer soundtrack, no extraneous background B.S. from the characters. Heck, no extraneous B.S., period.
And then there was the structure! A half hour of cops, followed by a half hour of lawyers--Dragnet meets Perry Mason.
I think it was the structure that sucked me in at first. Being an obsessional Stanley Kubrick fan, I read numerous interviews where he talked about trying to change the three act structure of motion pictures--and backed that talk up with films with truly radical movies structures (at least when compared with almost everything out of Hollywood). And here was a TV show that did something really unique with structure!
Knocking Down the Dominos
Of course, it wasn't truly unique; nothing on television ever is. Hill Street Blues especially in its early years, was also designed to look harsh and gritty, to create a pseudo-documentary feel, as Todd Gitlin documented in Inside Prime Time. Hill Street also did away with transition shots--no wasting 30 seconds or a minute while the squad car rolls down the street, pulls up to the high rise, the cops jump out, the camera pans up and zooms into the window of the office building--a standard television cliche that wastes time and takes away from moving the plot forward.
Of course, in some respects, compared to Hill Street Blues, Law & Order is a dramatic swing backwards: back to the days of "police procedurals" such as Jack Webb's original, "just the facts, ma'am" Dragnet. Hill Street was all about the inner lives of its characters; what they felt and thought about what was going on around them was paramount. Law & Order is all about the plot--each scene pushes it relentlessly forward, like a series of dominos being knocked down, as Dick Wolf describes it in the box set's documentary.
Article comments
1 - Jan Vielehr
Is the "first year" of Law and Order" the only box set DVD available at this time?
2 - Eric Olsen
The first year of the various "Law and Order" series are all that is currently available.
3 - Ed Driscoll
Jan,
Eric's right--if you like the original Law & Order, only the first season is currently available on DVD.
Personally, I'm not as crazy about the recent glut of spin-off series as I was the first few seasons of the original show, but if you need an additional Dick Wolf fix, the pilots of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent are available on DVD, and Amazon says that collections of their first seasons are also coming soon on DVD.
Just click through the Law & Order box below to get into Amazon, and then search for "Law & Order" in their DVD section.
Regards,
Ed
4 - Sean DeMarco
I got the Law and Order season 1 dvd collection a year ago as a present and recently this along with a few other dvds have had this error where the picture fades in and fades out on the dvds. I was wondering what this problem could be and no it isn't because of any of the players I am using. I have many other dvds in mint condition and am quite concerned about this issue as how can one really invest $100 into The Sopranos or $50+ into Law and Order and other series when the dvd will go to crap over time. What do I do about this ? Does anyone have any ideas of what happened to my media ?
5 - Gab
Does anyone know if the sixth season of law and order was relesed on DVD or VHS?
6 - Sabrina
I would like to know when Law & Order Special Victims Unit year 3 and year 4 will be released. I already have the first, second and fifth year, but I would like the rest of the collection it is a wonderful show. My day's are always filled with watching all the Law & Order episodes regardless wich one it is.
7 - Aneta
I would like to know if they are going to release any more Law & Order SVU past season 5. I have been watching this show for a couple of years now and I like. Someone please let me know.
8 - Aneta
I meant to say past YEAR 5. Sorry
9 - Diane Wilmanski
I really enjoy those reruns of "Law and Order" on TNT. I agree with the other fans' comments, that Jerry Orbach was the best, but Dennis Farina is doing a good job as well.
I also admire the acting of Sam Waterston (McCoy). Keep up the good work. I hope the show runs for another 10 years.
10 - jason heath
SVU seasons 3 and 4....where you at?
11 - Sheila
I too would like to ask the question that Sabrina asked:
I would like to know when Law & Order Special Victims Unit year 3 and year 4 will be released. I already have the first, second and fifth year, but I would like the rest of the collection it is a wonderful show. My day's are always filled with watching all the Law & Order episodes regardless wich one it is.
12 - Jeanette
Same as everybody else...when is season 3 and 4 going to be available I have 1, 2 and 5!
13 - Angie
MORE SEASONS OF SVU RELEASED PLEASE!!!!!
14 - Tara
I know that season 3 just came out on dvd on jan 30th but what I really want to know is when is season 4 coming out. or season 6 or season 7.
15 - Stacy Wright
I am looking for law and order season 6. Is it available? Somebody please help!!!