# What's your favorite 'Law & Order' version? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [March 24, 2023, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599 "2023-03-24T16:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599/21 "2023-05-01T05:21:33Z")
If we’re talking about re-cycling actors for different roles, I wonder if James Hong was ever on? [SI7d1PBUZojCZ0o4x7v1qtnEfyw9If.jpg (1200×632) (moviewebimages.com)](https://static1.moviewebimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/article/SI7d1PBUZojCZ0o4x7v1qtnEfyw9If.jpg?q=50&fit=contain&w=1200) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599/22 "2023-05-01T11:43:49Z")
[As a sweatshop owner, in an episode with Ming-Na Wen](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0629639/?ref_=nm_flmg_eps_tt_1) (who, much like your link suggests, can likewise apparently shrug off the ravages of time). ---
**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:** [September 29, 2024, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599/23 "2024-09-29T10:03:46Z")
> [@solost](#): > > This thread would not be complete without a link to the classic Mulaney L&O bit. I know Mulaney is probably talking about general tropes here, but has anyone else kept an eye out for the exact “guy continues to unload crates from a truck” episode, as I have? SVU, season 10, episode 7 _Wildlife_ Stabler goes undercover with a group that smuggles exotic animals. At one point, they track the gang by discovering where they get the deer carcasses to feed the animals. They question the owner while he continues to load coolers of meat onto a truck. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2024, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599/24 "2024-12-29T00:01:25Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I know Mulaney is probably talking about general tropes here, but has anyone else kept an eye out for the exact “guy continues to unload crates from a truck” episode, as I have? _SVU_ episode “Baggage”; someone is loading boxes into the back of a van while being questioned. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599/25 "2024-12-29T00:12:27Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Jerry Orbach might be the best tv cop ever. I agree. He nailed it in a way no other tv cop does. One little glimpse has always stayed with me. Jerry is interviewing a young woman who is a witness, and whose boyfriend may have come close to killing her. She’s trying to explain it to Jerry, and says something like, “I knew he had issues, and could be a bad guy, but I loved him, and just hoped things would get better. You know?” And Jerry says two words: “I know”, with all the world-weariness, and sympathy, of a cop who has seen that pattern over and over, and maybe in his own personal life. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599/26 "2024-12-29T01:10:55Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I agree. He nailed it in a way no other tv cop does. > > One little glimpse has always stayed with me. The one Lennie-the-Cop line I can never get out of my head is from the episode where he and Logan investigate the death of a gay politician, and we see Logan grudgingly but gradually coming to acknowledge just how danged _sensible_ the guy was: so, he and the Bible-thumper he debated were, like, putting on the equivalent of a rehearsed nightclub act, worded to set up this or that memorable zinger? And, as good as he was at publicity-stunt stuff, he was slightly _better_ at quietly putting in the behind-the-scenes work when it came to bringing in federal funds for the community, and helping out people _today_ that the folks on the zoning commission will want a favor from _tomorrow,_ and lining up private donors in between effectively advocating for public health benefits, and, well, let’s just say _“my respect for Durban is growing by the hour.”_ “Yeah, he’s so smart he’s dead,” replies the homicide detective who (a) has _heard_ of being impressed, but (b) is just here to do his job. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599/27 "2024-12-29T02:10:30Z")
> [@solost](#): > > So I tried ‘L&O: SVU’ (Special Victims Unit) but that one just felt icky to watch- nothing but one rape and murder victim after another. Yeah, it is icky, and Benso has severe ethics issues. > [@solost](#): > > t’s up to Lt. Goren and his partner Eames to put the puzzle pieces together, It’s kinda like ‘Columbo Lite’. Vince D’Onofrio is great as part pit bull / part Columbo / part Sherlock Holmes, first deducing clues and then cajoling, belittling, and pissing off the suspects until they slip up. Yeah,Gorens whole tactic is to guess at the perp, then trick, cajole and threaten them until they 'slip up" as you say. He has no real investigative skills, and since nearly all of his suspects are wealthy, they can end his whole game by one word- lawyer. Which is why his skills slip into the realms of fantasy. However, in season 8&0 Goern/D’Onofrio is replaced by Nichols/Goldblum who actually compiles evidence thru police work. I like the OG the best, but McCoy went off on a few crusades, like to get the death penalty or in one case to harass a paroled rapist. > [@DCnDC](#): > > The original. I liked that we know almost nothing about these people’s personal lives. I know, we get snippets of some personal stuff every now and then, but for the most part the show is all business and I appreciate that. Right. It is all police procedural and legal drama. No “and this time, it’s personal” (except mcCoy once in a great while) and hardly ever do their spouses or family appear. > [@minor7flat5](#): > > This is what causes me to stop watching a series: when they start injecting relationships and annoying innuendo in the tiny group of regulars, and when they start making each member of the main cast become victims of crime (“it’s personal now!”). Yep. And just to repeat myself- If it does become personal. they have to take you off the case- as every bit of evidence you find can be thrown out for that very reason. Not to mention - it causes 'reasonable doubt" in the minds of a jury. Your partner gets killed or shot? That is a maybe. But not your spouse, relative etc. Never. > [@Loach](#): > > I know It’s a bit contradictory to say CI because D’inofrio isn’t exactly realistic but he’s so good. It’s my favorite for that reason. He is a great actor, but also i became suspicious that maybe sometimes he badgered some innocent man into a false confession, not to mention me yelling “say LAWYER!” at the screen. > [@Loach](#): > > Jerry Orbach might be the best tv cop ever. He is real, with demons, but they are under control and arent a big issues in the show. (ex-wives, reformed alcoholic, and a gambler) > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > And Jerry says two words: “I know”, with all the world-weariness, and sympathy, of a cop who has seen that pattern over and over, and maybe in his own personal life. Yep. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2024, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599/28 "2024-12-29T04:20:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > He is real, with demons, but they are under control and arent a big issues in the show. (ex-wives, reformed alcoholic, and a gambler) > [@](#): > > Maitre D: She gave him a big hug. > Detective Lennie Briscoe: No kiss? > Maitre D’: You married? > Detective Lennie Briscoe: I’ve toyed with the notion. That episode has so many great lines for Lennie. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599/29 "2024-12-29T13:38:24Z")
I remember when Lennie bad-mouthed my home state: "New Hampshire? I spent a _YEAR_ there one weekend." ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599/30 "2024-12-29T13:39:50Z")
Another favorite one liner from “Law & Order”: They are investigating a murder at a dive hotel: Detective: " Has anyone cleaned the room?" Desk clerk: “Not since 1959!!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-law-order-version/981599.md?page=1)