Law & Order: An Overview

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm driving the van for Law & Order this month. It's not a huge fandom, but it does inspire some lovely fic. And as it appears there is no fandom overview for the fandom as a whole (although an excellent one was prepared for Law & Order: Criminal Intent a few years back), I'll start with that.

There have been four incarnations of Law & Order to date:

1. Law & Order (1990-present) (original)
   
   Introductory voiceover: 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.
   
   Description: Almost every episode follows the same format: discovery of a crime (usually a murder, usually by a horrified jogger or tourist), a police investigation to find the perpetrators, and prosecution of the crime.
   
   The police are represented by the police lieutenant of Manhattan's fictional 27th Precinct and two homicide detectives, a senior partner and a junior partner. The prosecutors are represented by the district attorney, the executive assistant district attorney, and an assistant prosecutor. The stories are all told from the point of view of the police and prosecutors, and show not just the courtroom scenes but also the background research, interviews, arraignments, etc, skipping only such details as stapling or photocopying court documents. The crimes are often ripped from the headlines, although their details differ from the real-life cases. New York is often showcased; not only do the crimes take place in New York, but the episodes often include local actors and personalities.
   
   The characters' personal lives are not usually touched upon. This does not discourage fanfic writers in the least.
   
   Cast and characters: There have been 26 regular cast members of the show in the last 18 years. I would love to describe them all. But I won't. For a look at their names and character bios, see the list of characters at Wikipedia.
   
   
2. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-present)
   
   Introductory voiceover: In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.
   
   Description: This spin-off is about the work of the Special Victims Unit of the fictional 16th Precinct. It also uses crimes "ripped from the headlines." In contrast to the original show, this show focusses mostly on the police investigations and on the characters' personal lives, particularly those of two main detectives, Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson. There's troubled childhoods and anger issues and marital difficulties and partnership angst and all sorts of goodies to grab on to here.
   
   Cast and characters: There have been fifteen regular cast members of the show in the last ten years. Again: would love to do each one justice, but will spare you. For a look at their names and characters, see the list of characters at Wikipedia.
   
   
3. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001-present)
   
   Introductory voiceover: In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad. These are their stories.
   
   Description: The Major Case Squad investigates high-profile cases, such as those involving murder, VIPs, government officials, etc. The episodes typically alternate between two teams of detectives. The show also shows the crimes from the point of view of the perpetrators, and do not follow the crimes into court, but usually end with a confession or arrest. There is also more emphasis on the characters' personal lives here than in the original (there's more emphasis on characters' personal lives in an average phone book than in the original show, but I digress), including fun stuff having to do with psychotic mothers and surrogate pregnancies and corruption and bizarre intriguing partnership dynamics.
   
   Cast and characters: The show has had eleven regular cast members in its history. For a look at their names and characters, see the list of characters at Wikipedia.
   
   Note: For a much more detailed fandom overview, please see crack_van's Law & Order: Criminal Intent Overview from 2005.
   
   
4. Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005)
   
   Introductory voiceover: In the criminal justice system, all defendants are innocent until proven guilty, either by confession, plea bargain, or trial by jury. This is one of those trials.
   
   Description: This show was based on the process of taking a case through to trial, including prosecutors' investigations, interviews, bargaining, and trial itself. It lasted only thirteen episodes before it was cancelled. No fair.
   
   Cast and characters: The show had six characters. For a look at their names and characters, see the list of characters at Wikipedia.

Some Fandom Resources:
apocrypha: the Law & Order fanzine
lawandorder100 - Weekly drabble fiction challenges for the Law & Order fandom
crim_int_fans - L&O: Criminal Intent Fans
lawandorderfic - Law & Order Fanfiction
thursday100plus - Fiction challenges for the Law & Order fandom
lawandorder_siu - Law & Order: Special Issues Unit
svu_media - Law & Order: SVU Media
svu_fiction - Law and Order: SVU Fan Fiction
svuslash - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Slash