"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." About Law & Order Law & Order is currently the longest running drama series on U.S. television. Every week since 1990, the show has given viewers a glimpse inside the legal system. Often, the plots are "ripped from the headlines," exploring the legal and moral ramifications of social issues such as abortion rights, hate crimes, and violent crimes (to name a few). How Each Show Begins In the opening scene of each episode, a crime has been committed and after the opening credits, the body of the episode begins. While it is most often a homicide, it sometimes is a different breed of violent crime. The police detectives are called in, and during the next half hour, New York's finest are on the job following leads and working with whatever evidence they may be lucky enough to have. Being qualified detectives, they sometimes go on their gut feelings. They also confer with the district attorney's office while trying to build their evidentuary case. Once they have apprehended their suspect, they turn it over to the able hands of the prosecution. During the second half of the show, the district attorney's office takes over and prepares their prosecution against the defendant. Often, they have to contend with uncooperative witnesses, over the edge judges, plea bargaining and manipulative defense lawyers to make their case.  Every now and again, one of the prosecutors have a personal axe to grind and things can get a bit tense. The show concludes with the courtroom scenes and strategy meetings between the DA and his prosecuters. Nearing the end of the episode, the jury returns a verdict, and it is not always in favor of the people. Usually at the shows conclusion, District Attorney Shiff, along with McCoy and Carmichael ponder the verdict with memorable antidotes. Well done as always. Law and Order History Law & Order originally began in 1988 as the brain child of producer Dick Wolf (whose credits include Players, New York Undercover, and Miami Vice). A pilot episode was shot and presented to CBS, but they turned it down. Two years passed before the show surfaced again, this time on NBC. NBC picked up the show, and on Thursday, September 13, 1990, the series premiered. The show has just been renewed until 2005. Hooray for NBC!!! Over the past nine years, the show has undergone several cast changes. In fact, not one of the cast members in the original pilot remains with the show, and only one cast member remained from the series premiere (Steven Hill as D.A. Adam Schiff). Steven Hill will no longer be the District Attorney at the start of the 2000 season but will be replaced by Dianne Wiest. Many of the cast changes are the results of fine tuning over the years. Meet the shows characters and read about the actors who portray them on The Cast page. The show's success relies upon the talents of the writing and production staff. The stories are interesting and believable, and great attention is paid to character development (even for characters who no longer appear on the show). The production values have always been top-of-the-line, and continue to improve with each season. The show consistently receives nominations for industry awards. The show has received a record seven straight Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, and in 1997 won its first Emmy Award in that category.