# Who's your favorite Law & Order character?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 30, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429 "2012-04-30T17:10:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/1 "2012-04-30T17:10:49Z")

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Favorite senior detective? Junior detective? DA? ADA? EADA?

Let’s confine this to the original series.

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**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/2 "2012-04-30T17:20:05Z")

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Favorite detectives - Briscoe, Curtis.  
Favorite DAs - Schiff, McCoy, Robinette.

Sadly, not a team that ever actually happened. Swap Kincaid for Robinette, and you get my favorite set that actually existed. (Robinette and Kincaid were the only ADAs that weren’t part of an indistinct blur for me.) I stopped watching not long after Schiff retired.

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**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/3 "2012-04-30T17:29:07Z")

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Jack ‘Eyebrows’ McCoy.

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**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/4 "2012-04-30T17:29:46Z")

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Briscoe and McCoy are the best cop and lawyer, with everyone else a pretty distant second.

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**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/5 "2012-04-30T17:30:15Z")

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> [@CandidGamera](#):
>
> Jack ‘Eyebrows’ McCoy.

Yeah, McCoy. Rarely have I enjoyed righteousness so much.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/6 "2012-04-30T17:33:27Z")

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Briscoe was favorite detective, and my favorite partnership was Briscoe and Green. I thought the best district attorney’s office lineup was Schiff, McCoy, and Carmichael. I thought the discussions in the DA’s office worked best when McCoy was being pushed from the right, and I just enjoy Schiff’s rumpled, Charlie Brown persona.

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**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/7 "2012-04-30T17:40:37Z")

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> [@drastic\_quench](#):
>
> Yeah, McCoy. Rarely have I enjoyed righteousness so much.

I swear I can watch episodes I’ve seen a hundred times, just to watch Sam Waterston act the hell out of his scenes.

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/8 "2012-04-30T17:41:30Z")

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> [@hogarth](#):
>
> Briscoe and McCoy are the best cop and lawyer, with everyone else a pretty distant second.

Seconded. I’m not too fond of Linus “Cutter” Roache (perhaps his unnatural-sounding delivery stems from trying to suppress his accent), except to note that he keeps popping up in these weirdly random movies like _Chronicles of Riddick_ and _Priest_.

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**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/9 "2012-04-30T17:48:55Z")

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> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> Seconded. I’m not too fond of Linus “Cutter” Roache (perhaps his unnatural-sounding delivery stems from trying to suppress his accent), except to note that he keeps popping up in these weirdly random movies like _Chronicles of Riddick_ and _Priest_.

And he’s Batman’s dad.

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/10 "2012-04-30T17:52:29Z")

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Briscoe was definitely the king daddy of detectives, but my favorite has to be Lupo. I guess that I like everything that Jeremy Sisto has been in. As a team, Briscoe and Green.

There’s something to like about all of the EADAs, but Serena is by far my favorite. For ADAs I guess I have to go with McCoy. Cutter is good, but I’m not nuts about Stone. Lewin is my favorite DA.

For a team, let’s go with Schiff/McCoy/Kincaid.

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**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/11 "2012-04-30T17:57:42Z")

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McCoy as DA. I like that he was sometimes a stubborn asshole and just plain wrong. That indignant toss of the head and outraged glare at the jury-- gotta love it.

I like Lenny Briscoe and I also like Fontana, even though he was kind of the Lenny replacement after Jerry Orbach’s death. Briscoe & Green were my favorite team.

I didn’t care for any of the ADA’s (except McCoy when he was one). Don’t like Cutter. Don’t like any of the women. Serena’s okay, I guess.

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**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/12 "2012-04-30T17:59:52Z")

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I’ve always liked Logan. Briscoe is number one for me, though. Jerry Orbach always seemed like he actually was a cop instead of just playing one.

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**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/13 "2012-04-30T18:00:23Z")

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> [@hogarth](#):
>
> Briscoe and McCoy are the best cop and lawyer, with everyone else a pretty distant second.

Yep, if limited the original only.

Other well liked characters for the entire run include Van Buren, Stone, Fontana, and Carmichael

Outside of what the OP specifically asked, my fave for the entire L&O franchise is early Goren with Eames and Carver. But, I won’t post that as a response to this OP. 😛

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**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/14 "2012-04-30T18:03:41Z")

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Briscoe, Van Buren, Schiff and McCoy.

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/15 "2012-04-30T18:05:08Z")

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By the way, I’m kinda fond of Richard Brooks because he played that Carthaginian warlord escaped from Hell in _Brimstone_.

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**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/16 "2012-04-30T18:08:44Z")

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> [@NoClueBoy](#):
>
> Outside of what the OP specifically asked, my fave for the entire L&O franchise is early Goren with Eames and Carver.

Completely agree.

> [@](#):
>
> But, I won’t post that as a response to this OP. 😛

Ok. I won’t either.

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**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:** [April 30, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/17 "2012-04-30T19:15:37Z")

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> [@tdn](#):
>
> There’s something to like about all of the EADAs, but Serena is by far my favorite.

Is it because she’s a lesbian?

I’d have to go with Claire Kincaid. That was when I first got hooked on the show; I’d be curious to watch some of those episodes again to see how they compare. They don’t show up in the reruns very often.

Best detective? Briscoe, no one else is even close.

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/18 "2012-04-30T19:18:04Z")

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> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> Is it because she’s a lesbian?

No, but she’s the best looking. Claire is a close second. But it’s more than her looks. She was just a really good character.

Did we even know she was a lesbian before her last episode?

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/19 "2012-04-30T19:19:35Z")

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> [@tdn](#):
>
> Did we even know she was a lesbian before her last episode?

No. That’s why some people felt it was a stupid ending.

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**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-law-order-character/620429/20 "2012-04-30T19:22:01Z")

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> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> Is it because she’s a lesbian?

No.

… _uncomfortable pause_

No. No. No.

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