My Law & Order Love Affair

I have loved Law & Order since birth.  For me, it has truly been a life-long love affair.  What can I say?  I am a one-show woman.  In soothe, I cannot even recall a life wthout Law & Order.  It’s like…a part of me.  And though I cannot remember the first episode I ever saw,  I like to think that from  the first one; I just knew.  I just knew there would never by anyone else for me like Law and Order.  There are so many things to love about the show…

Consider the opening narration:

“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.”

I mean it’s just a simple thing, a silly thing really, but every time I hear those words, I know that an hour of Law & Order bliss is before me.

I love the intro segment, which shows a little slice of New York life with non-reaccuring characters, who usually either discover the body or becomes a witness to a crime.  One of my favorites involved one garbage man complaining to another that his kid wanted two hundred bucks to spend on Pokemon cards. 

I love the detectives and attorneys fighting to pursue justice, struggling with their own demons, frustrated by the restrictions of the law.  For a long time I loved this so much I thought I wanted to be an attorney.  But later I realized  I really loved good stortelling.  I wanted to be apart of what was going happening on that screen, oh yes.  But I really wanted to be the one telling the story.  Real life isn’t dramatic enough for me.  What I wanted was to be an actress. 

I absolutely adore the character of Detective Lennie Briscoe.

He is hands down my favorite character.  Such a fantastic wise-cracker, I loved his cynical attitude toward marriage, and endless compaints about his ex-wives… 

Let’s review some of his most amusing quotes:

(after being told a killing was the work of the devil): “No, this was done by someone who knows the neighborhood. Satan’s not a local.”

Briscoe: “Johnson’s the 43rd cabbie killed in the last 12 months. These guys have shorter life spans than fruit flies.”

Briscoe: “I specifically asked for him to be put on suicide watch. Apparently here at Riker’s that mean that they watch you commit suicide.”

Briscoe: “Even though you are a taxpayer, you know, we don’t actually work for you personally.”

Briscoe: “Love – a dangerous disease instantly cured by marriage.”

Policeman, regarding a child’s kidnapping: “I called the father. Gary Silver. Know the name?”
Briscoe: “Yeah. Big Broadway producer. Got more Tonys than…southern Italy.”

How can you not love him?

And let’s not forget my second favorite character, the sensitive, sexy asian shrink of Law & Order: SVU.

Mmmm-hmmm.  He was  single-handedly responsible for my two year obsession with asian guys.  Which I am now–thankfully–past.  But I still have a crush on this sexy beast.

Despite the many things I loved about Law & Order, I am ashamed to admit I was not always faithful.  It’s true.  There was a time in my young life where I was seduced by another show, a younger, hipper, and I thought–though I was terribley mistaken–a sexier show.  Nothing could have been further than the truth.

It’s true.  At one time, I was a CSI fan.

Let’s not discuss it.

Suffice it to say, I saw the error of my ways.  After a time, the truth became apparent to me.  CSI was full of gimmicks, while Law & Order was the real thing.

CSI is full of sleek, modern, sexy and unrealistic sets.  L&O doesn’t really on such things, and instead shows detectives and attornys in there natural–and frequently dismal–habbitat.

CSI is full of attractive, exotic people without trademark habits, but little depth.  The character’s relationships rarely change or grow over multiple episodes.  In fact, we frequently see inconsistent character developement over a single season, as the characters are adapted to the current episode.  L&O shows more realistic people, and they have much more depth.  There relationships build and develop over time, and their family members are frequently involved with the current story-arc.

Finally, CSI is full of exciting technology, and relies on science to solve the case.  While that aspect of the show may be a more accurate representation of today’s world, L&O focuses on people.  It shows detectives and attorneys working to learn the truth from people, and the reasons why they do the things they do.  For me, people trump science every time.

So, after learning a painful lesson, I bid CSI good ridance.  Law & Order, like the wise, classic, sexy thing it is, embraced me with open arms.  I never felt the urge of wanderlust again.  No more could I be tempted by the younger, hipper shows.  I knew that Law & Order was the one for me.