Law and Order

Law and Order is an American crime drama television franchise created by Dick Wolf, beginning with the original Law and Order series, which ran on NBC from 1990 to 2010 and pioneered a two part episode structure following first the police investigation and then the criminal prosecution of a crime in New York City. Its success led to several spin off series, most notably Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, which began in 1999 and has become one of the longest running scripted television series in American history, along with Law and Order: Criminal Intent and other short lived and international spin offs, together making the Law and Order franchise one of the most extensive and enduring brands in American television. The original series was revived in 2022 after a twelve year hiatus, and across its various series the franchise has produced well over 1,500 episodes, drawing storylines loosely from real news events under Wolf's own signature ripped from the headlines approach to crime television.