# A Brief Tribute to Law & Order **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355 "2020-01-13T15:45:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/41 "2020-01-15T02:51:21Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I was watching a rare episode I either missed in its original run or only saw once and completely forgot and she was distractingly bad. You can see it sometimes on the faces of the actors in her scenes. No matter how good they are, a brief moment of confusion passes over their face and then they read their lines. > > Anyway, I love the series and still watch it and I still get mad at NBC for canceling it. I watched the first season of SVU and hated it. I watched CI and I mostly enjoyed it, despite it being wildly different in tone and style from time to time. I didn’t mind the LA one, but that got canceled quick and I don’t think I ever saw any of the other versions. My true favorite “spin off” is “Basic Lupine Urology” from Community. > > I don’t love the first few seasons, but I liked Paul and the two cops and early Claire. I am more likely to watch something else if that’s the block on WETV on the weekends. I don’t like the guy who took over as ADA when Jack when full DA. And most of all I hate the episode where it turns out he’s maybe not really a lawyer and that episode seems to be in the heaviest rotation. His accent is terrible and distracting, but I’d rather watch him all day every day than one Rohm episode. Judging from your post, I just get the feeling there is one movie that I think you might really enjoy. As a matter of fact, I think most everyone in this thread would enjoy it. I loved it. Fracture (2007) - starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. > **[Fracture (2007) ⭐ 7.2 | Crime, Drama, Thriller](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0488120/)** > > 1h 53m | R This was the film that made me realize just how great Ryan Gosling was. But the best thing about this film is the terrific legal story and the twists and turns. Also Rosamund Pike was terrific in this one. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/42 "2020-01-15T02:57:31Z")
I dont know if its still around but one of the tv boards used to have a "repeat offenders " list of everyone who’d guested and L&O more than once and who tye played each time actually, he claimed all he did for L&o was play a more serious version of a character hed played on murder she wrote and even had an ill-fated spin-off that lasted maybe 3 episodes … supposedly the character was supposed to be more serious but he lightened it up because MSW wasn’t a “hard” toned show ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/43 "2020-01-15T03:12:06Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > After Lenny Briscoe, I wanted to see Logan and Green team up. A really kick-ass team! For a show that had so little to do with the characters personal lives, I always notice the episodes that are the first or last appearance of a long-running character, or when a departed character is referenced. I read somewhere that there were three references to Briscoe’s death, once by each of his partners. Green and Curtis (in town for his wife’s funeral) mention it on _L&O_, and apparently Logan says it once on _CI_, but I haven’t seen that. I think it was also mentioned once that after retirement Lennie would go to the opera with Dr. Rogers. > [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I was just watching an episode from Season 7 and saw a perfect example of that. > > Lennie said words to the effect, “I really felt bad about that. My sleep will be disturbed for minutes.” > > I actually LOL’d. I almost never do that when watching this show. The best ever was when Briscoe and Curtis are at the home of an elderly man who’s been murdered. They see a picture of the victim with a young woman in a wedding dress and disagree whether she’s his wife or his granddaughter. They wager a hot pastrami sandwich from the Carnegie Deli. When she arrives and says she’s his wife, Curtis tells her that her husband is dead. Then Lennie leans over to him and says “extra mustard, and don’t trim the fat.” ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/44 "2020-01-15T05:13:16Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > For a show that had so little to do with the characters personal lives, I always notice the episodes that are the first or last appearance of a long-running character, or when a departed character is referenced. I read somewhere that there were three references to Briscoe’s death, once by each of his partners. Green and Curtis (in town for his wife’s funeral) mention it on _L&O_, and apparently Logan says it once on _CI_, but I haven’t seen that. I think it was also mentioned once that after retirement Lennie would go to the opera with Dr. Rogers. > > The best ever was when Briscoe and Curtis are at the home of an elderly man who’s been murdered. They see a picture of the victim with a young woman in a wedding dress and disagree whether she’s his wife or his granddaughter. They wager a hot pastrami sandwich from the Carnegie Deli. When she arrives and says she’s his wife, Curtis tells her that her husband is dead. Then Lennie leans over to him and says “extra mustard, and don’t trim the fat.” I remember that episode well. It was one of the very best. A former stripper aged 22 married a wealthy 74 year old man. The young girl has a mother who looked remarkably like her daughter. The best line of that show came at the very end when the mother was busted for the murder and she looks at her daughter who had set her up and says, “You are just as dumb as a bag of hair!” I had never heard that before and thought it was just great. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/45 "2020-01-15T10:27:16Z")
One of my favorite Briscoe moments was as follows. Lennie and his partner go to a businessman’s office to place him under arrest. When they walk in, the suspect is talking on the phone. Lennie grabs the handset out of the businessman’s hand and says into the mouthpiece, “He’ll call you back in 25 years!” ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/46 "2020-01-15T20:17:26Z")
As A New Hampshirite, I always laugh when Lennie’s quipped “New Hampshire? I spent a **year** there one weekend.” after hearing a suspect visited my state. Also I remember when they were investigating a murder in a dive hotel, one of the cops asked if the room has been cleaned and the hotel owner replied, “Not since 1957.” After finding a body in a store dressing room, Briscoe—“Well it finally happened. She shopped til she dropped.” A crime scene tech gives Brisco a cane and tells hims he’s looking for a suspect with a limp. The ME examining tells Lenny the victim had a bad knees and the cane belonged to **her**. Briscoe—“That’s the problem with crime scene guys; they all think there cops.” (An obvious jab at _CSI)_ ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/47 "2020-01-15T20:32:06Z")
> [@LLCoolL](#): > > One of my favorite Briscoe moments was as follows. Lennie and his partner go to a businessman’s office to place him under arrest. When they walk in, the suspect is talking on the phone. Lennie grabs the handset out of the businessman’s hand and says into the mouthpiece, “He’ll call you back in 25 years!” I always liked, “They’ll be growing tomatoes on Mars by the time you get out of jail.” Also: “My fourth wife used to say I drink too much.” ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/48 "2020-01-16T01:16:54Z")
I can’t believe I forgot to mention how much I loved (at the time) the Homicide crossover episodes. The characters, especially Briscoe and Munch, had such great chemistry. I said at the time because now those episodes are skipped in reruns or just the L&O parts are shown. And my favorite L&O joke on 30 Rock > [@](#): > > Jack: I would point to, um… Sunday Night Football which features many black players and coaches, oh and uh, we have Anthony Anderson, the star of Law and Order, which is entering its twenty first — > > Jonathan > [whispers in Jack’s ear] > > Jack > [whispering] What? Why did we cancel that? That doesn’t make any sense! I was still salty about the cancellation and that joke just burned my soul. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/49 "2020-01-16T02:02:31Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I remember that episode well. It was one of the very best. A former stripper aged 22 married a wealthy 74 year old man. The young girl has a mother who looked remarkably like her daughter. The best line of that show came at the very end when the mother was busted for the murder and she looks at her daughter who had set her up and says, “You are just as dumb as a bag of hair!” > > I had never heard that before and thought it was just great. Also gave us the line, _“Are we gonna be the ‘Dancing Naked Idiot Family’?”_ Hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/50 "2020-01-16T03:19:14Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Elisabeth Rohm is the worst actor in the entire franchise. Period. Or pretty much _any_ franchise. There are KFC cooks who can act better than her. Did you guys watch The Last Ship? She was in Season 4, and what happened to her in the end was verrrry satisfying. It didn’t make up for all the pain she inflicted during her stint on L&O, but it helped. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/51 "2020-01-16T03:45:20Z")
My fella, who has a really good eye for such things, had never seen the The Stand, the first one. I had him watch is and pointed out the bad guy, saying, it’s funny, I never saw that guy anywhere else. Shit, he said, Law and Order, that’s Jamey Sheridan. Ah, but Lenny. Adore. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/52 "2020-01-16T05:09:22Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Also: “My fourth wife used to say I drink too much.” Maitre D’: [referring to the victim and her husband] She gave him a big hug. Lennie Briscoe: No kiss? Maitre D’: You married? Lennie Briscoe: I’ve toyed with the notion. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/53 "2020-01-16T15:31:10Z")
I like seeing all the now-famous actors who show up in the early seasons…William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Huffman, James Earl Jones\*, Allison Janney, Hayden Pannettiere, Amanda Seyfried…the list goes on and on. Is it streaming anywhere? I’ve looked on Prime, Netflix, and Hulu and I can’t seem to find it. I gave up on SVU after Stabler left. He left a big hole. \*Well, JEJ was famous before L&O, but it was fun to see him pop up. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/54 "2020-01-16T23:20:29Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Is it streaming anywhere? I’ve looked on Prime, Netflix, and Hulu and I can’t seem to find it. Not yet but it looks like NBC’s new streaming service is going to have it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/55 "2020-01-17T14:32:28Z")
My favorite Law & Order line, when the team was investigating the bombing of a women’s health clinic: Pro-Life Person: We favor birth. We think frozen embryos should be carried to term by volunteers and then put up for adoption. Finn: A lot of gay men and lesbians will be glad to hear that. P-L P: No, we only favor adoption to the right people. Finn: Yeah. Straight, white, Christian couples P-L P: Oh, we’re not prejudiced. Christians come in all colors. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/56 "2020-01-17T16:28:27Z")
I’m finally getting around to watching the later seasons. > [@](#): > > Green: Piece of cake. We just look for a black guy and a white guy together in New York City. > Lupo: Well, there’s us. And later when they’re tailing a suspect: > [@](#): > > Lupo: Look, One white guy, one black guy. > Green: And it’s not us. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/57 "2020-01-17T16:51:06Z")
The cold open always seemed to feature someone walking somewhere in New York and stumbling on a dead body. And then when the person was being interviewed by the police, they’d continue to do their job (moving boxes, shelving books, whatever). At some point, they’d seem to get annoyed and ask, “Are we done? These flowers aren’t going to arrange themselves.” It gave the impression that New Yorkers were really blasé about dead bodies. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/58 "2020-01-20T07:30:22Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I’m finally getting around to watching the later seasons. I really enjoyed the later seasons when Dennis Farina played one of the detective Joe Fontana. I think he and Jerry Orbach (Lenny Briscoe) were my two favorite characters in the entire series. It always seemed to me that Fontana was a highly unrealistic char who would have been fired within about ten seconds for appearing to have a huge fortune. The way he dressed and the car he drove both seemed to me to require a millionaire’s budget. But the best thing about him - IMO - was his attitude. I loved watching him. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/59 "2020-01-20T08:00:17Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I really enjoyed the later seasons when Dennis Farina played one of the detective Joe Fontana. I think he and Jerry Orbach (Lenny Briscoe) were my two favorite characters in the entire series. > > It always seemed to me that Fontana was a highly unrealistic char who would have been fired within about ten seconds for appearing to have a huge fortune. The way he dressed and the car he drove both seemed to me to require a millionaire’s budget. But the best thing about him - IMO - was his attitude. I loved watching him. He was a Chicago PD cop for 18 years so I would guess he would know better than most what was realistic and what wasnt. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355/60 "2020-01-20T09:06:07Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > He was a Chicago PD cop for 18 years so I would guess he would know better than most what was realistic and what wasnt. Heh Heh. I’m sure you are correct. But I’m fairly certain he didn’t make the decisions as to how the character would act or what characteristics he possessed. That sort of thing just isn’t under the control of the actor. Of course, I could be mistaken. I often am. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-tribute-to-law-order/846355.md?page=4)