# Your Favorite Law & Order Partnership **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954 "2014-07-12T23:11:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/21 "2014-07-13T16:26:52Z")
Favorite ADA Jack McCoy with either Carmichael or Borgia. I voted Curtis and Briscoe…but Briscoe with anyone.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/22 "2014-07-13T17:20:07Z")
My favorite pairing on L&O goes back a long way – I really enjoyed the Kincaid/McCoy matchup (Jill Hennessy and Sam Waterston). ---
**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:** [July 13, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/23 "2014-07-13T18:01:33Z")
I liked Briscoe with Green, probably because he was “softer” than Logan. Even though Briscoe really was a softy too. I hated all of the wife and kids bullshit with Curtis. My favorite thing about _L&O_ was lack of personal stories! ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/24 "2014-07-13T18:27:55Z")
After Briscoe left, I would have liked to see them bring back Logan, & team him with Greene. THAT would be a kick-ass pairing! ---
**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:** [July 13, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/25 "2014-07-13T19:42:41Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > My favorite pairing on L&O goes back a long way – I really enjoyed the Kincaid/McCoy matchup (Jill Hennessy and Sam Waterston). Yeah, but Kincaid with anybody would be okay with me. Maybe team her up with Novak from _SVU_. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/26 "2014-07-13T21:02:57Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > Which one was played by Paul Sorvino? He was the best. He was Phil Cerretta. I liked him to, but for some reason Sorvino didn’t like it and chose to leave. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/27 "2014-07-13T21:08:56Z")
Darn. I came in here for the cheesecake, but there wasn’t any. Where’s a Skald poll when you need one? 🙂 ---
**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:** [July 13, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/28 "2014-07-13T21:15:28Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > He was Phil Cerretta. I liked him to, but for some reason Sorvino didn’t like it and chose to leave. Of all the cops on that show, he was the one that I thought was the most menacing, in a very under-stated way. Yes, Logan would smash your head with the lid of a garbage-can, as needed, but Ceretta just had a look in his eyes on occasion which gave me the willies. I would not have wanted Detective Ceretta on my tail. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/29 "2014-07-13T21:29:24Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Don’t know if Noth was fired or left on his own, but he didn’t leave the character behind. There was a made-for-TV movie ([Exiled (1998)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164023/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_34)) in which he was working in Staten Island and trying to crack a big case so he could be transferred back to Manhattan, and then he was on _Law & Order: Criminal Intent_ from 2005 to 2008. And now he’s Governor of Illinois. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/30 "2014-07-13T22:03:57Z")
Went from catching crooks to being one, as per the job description. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/31 "2014-07-13T23:11:06Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > He was Phil Cerretta. I liked him to, but for some reason Sorvino didn’t like it and chose to leave. Most of the sources I’ve read state that he was a classically trained singer, and he thought the grueling schedule of a 1-hr. weekly show was damaging to his voice. Apparently he was friends with Jerry Orbach, though, and had said that he (Sorvino) thought the show itself was very good, and Orbach should audition once more. Orbach had auditioned for roles in the original cast (I’m not sure which ones he was being considered for), and then the Ceretta role after George Dzundza left, and both times was turned down. Orbach played a recurring character on _Murder, She Wrote_ named Harry McGraw, a PI, who was similar to Briscoe-- IIRC, MSW tried to do a backdoor pilot for a “Harry McGraw” series starring Orbach, but I’m nor sure whether any episodes aired. Orbach also appeared once as a defense attorney in the first or second season. Anyway, I’m glad Orbach listened to Sorvino and gave L&O one more try. I think of all the characters associated with the show, he is the one that really personifies it. ---
**Author:** ![Garula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Garula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garula)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/32 "2014-07-14T04:17:22Z")
My favorite cast was Briscoe/Greene/Carmichael/McCoy. I seem to recall that the previous cast of Briscoe/Curtis/Ross/McCoy was very heavy on the personal plots. Briscoe dealing with his daughter, Curtis with is MS stricken wife, Ross with her family situation, and I don’t remember what McCoy was up to. But none of that really worked for me, and I was relieved when the show got back to keeping the characters’ personal lives in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/33 "2014-07-14T14:49:11Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Don’t know if Noth was fired or left on his own Noth was fired. I don’t recall the exact circumstances, but I remember he was very outspoken and clashed quite a bit with Dick Wolfe. I’m glad to see the collective wisdom of the SDMB in evidence on this question. Logan and Briscoe are **the** definitive L&O pairing. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/34 "2014-07-14T17:31:15Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Noth was fired. I don’t recall the exact circumstances, but I remember he was very outspoken and clashed quite a bit with Dick Wolfe. > > I’m glad to see the collective wisdom of the SDMB in evidence on this question. Logan and Briscoe are **the** definitive L&O pairing. Dann Florek and Richard Brooks were fired for no other reason than Dick Wolf thought the show needed some female characters. The writers had added Elizabeth Olivet as a police psychologist, but they weren’t managing to work her in as much as Wolf had hoped, so finally Wolf decided that some of the core six characters had to go. Brooks and Florek went. Apparently not with so much bad will that Brooks wouldn’t come back a few times as a defense attorney, and Florek wouldn’t take a major role in _Law & Order: SVU_ when it was offered. But nonetheless, Noth was mad over what he thought was shabby treatment of hard-working actors. His relationship with Wolf deteriorated from there on. The official reason for firing Noth, though, wasn’t that Wolf didn’t like him, but that the Logan and Briscoe characters were too much alike. Wounds heal, I guess, though, since Noth came back for _Law & Order: CI_. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/35 "2014-07-14T18:14:04Z")
Logan & Briscoe. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954/36 "2014-07-14T23:39:30Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Orbach played a recurring character on _Murder, She Wrote_ named Harry McGraw, a PI, who was similar to Briscoe-- IIRC, MSW tried to do a backdoor pilot for a “Harry McGraw” series starring Orbach, but I’m nor sure whether any episodes aired. Yes, it aired, but got cancelled mid-way through its first season: _The Law and Harry McGraw_. > **[The Law & Harry McGraw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Law_%26_Harry_McGraw)** > > The Law & Harry McGraw is an American mystery crime drama television series created by Peter S. Fischer and a spin-off of Murder, She Wrote that aired on CBS from September 27, 1987, to February 10, 1988. > Harry McGraw had been a recurring character in Murder, She Wrote, having appeared in six episodes, beginning with "Tough Guys Don't Die" (season 1, episode 16). > The series stars Jerry Orbach as a loudmouthed, uncouth, old school private detective who continually finds himself solving mysteries... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-law-order-partnership/692954.md?page=1)