The Law & Order franchise is one of the most interesting franchises ever. It consists of Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Law & Order: Los Angeles, Law & Order True Crime, and Law & Order: Hate Crimes. Some of the biggest actors from the franchise include Mariska Hargitay, Sam Waterston, Jerry Orbach, and Chris Noth. Each episode is so much different from the next that it is easy to get hooked!
What people love the most about this franchise is the fact that we get to watch crimes get solved right before our eyes. We get to see detectives investigate crimes that take place in various cities. No one likes the idea of a bad guy getting away with theft, murder, assault, or anything else. These types of shows create a feeling of gratification.
15 Law & Order Was Almost Called Night & Day
Law & Order is a name that most people know and recognize. Even people who have never seen the show can recognize the name for what it is. Imagine this awesome show being called Night & Day instead of Law & Order. That would honestly look and sound way too weird!
14 Mariska Hargitay Got Hurt Doing A Stunt On Set
Mariska Hargitay is an incredible actress with so much talent. The fact that she went all out and did her own stunts on the side of the show proves how amazing she really is. Unfortunately, she accidentally hurt herself doing a stunt and it caused the partial collapse of one of her lungs.
13 NBC Almost Cancelled Law & Order For Not Having Enough Female Actresses
NBC decided that they would cancel Law & Order if they didn’t have enough female actresses on the lineup. After that threat, the show added more female actresses to the cast in order to keep NBC, as a network, completely happy with the results of the show. Keeping things fair when it comes to gender and casting is important.
12 Michael Madsen Was Almost Cast As Detective Mike Logan
Michael Madsen is an actor who almost got cast to play the role of detective Mike Logan. He didn’t end up moving forward with the part. Chris Noth is the actor who ended up taking it on, appearing in 148 episodes of the franchise. It would have been interesting to see Michael Madsen instead.
11 Jerry Orbach Battled And Passed Away From Cancer While Filming Law & Order
Jerry Orbach was an actor from Law & Order who joined the cast in its third season. He battled cancer and ended up passing away from his illness while he was still part of the show. His time on the show was very much worthwhile and the episodes that he starred in are still nice to look back on.
10 Before Dick Wolf Created Law & Order, He Did Toothpaste Commercials
Dick Wolf is the creator of Law & Order but before he was making Law & Order come to life, he was doing toothpaste commercials! It is so interesting and crazy to hear how some people get started on their career paths. Law & Order is such a big deal, but Dick Wolf had other stuff going on before he hit it big.
9 Steven Hill Loved His Time On Law & Order
Steven Hill is another actor who starred in Law & Order. He was part of the show for 10 seasons from 1990 to 2000! That is quite a long time. He enjoyed his time on the show and was very vocal about that. Sadly, he passed away in 2016. His time on the show made an impact.
8 Before Law & Order Was On NBC, It Was Almost On Fox & CBS
Before Law & Order was on NBC, it was almost on the Fox network. It also nearly landed on the CBS network as well! Law & Order made a comfortable home on the NBC network where it has remained for years. NBC probably doesn’t regret their choice to air Law & Order episodes at the very beginning.
7 The "Thunk-Thunk" Sound Is Supposed To Be A Judge's Gavel
The sound effect that everyone can easily identify when they think of Law & Order is supposed to be the sound of a judge's gavel in a courtroom. The sound sounds like a “thunk-thunk” noise. It is very similar to what we would hear in a real life courtroom so the person in charge of sounds did a great job!
6 Law & Order: Los Angeles Was A Failure
Law & Order: Los Angeles ended up being an epic failure. For some reason, fans and viewers prefer to see Law & Order takes place in the city of New York rather than Los Angeles. There is something so much different about New York in comparison to Los Angeles and we can’t quite put our finger on it!
5 Olivia Benson & Elliot Stabler Were Never Meant To Hook Up
The characters of Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler were never meant to hook up with each other. They were always meant to keep things 100% professional and focused on solving crimes. They were always meant to be nothing more than friends outside of the workplace, even though fans wanted them to end up together.
4 The Character Of Sonny Carisi Was Hated At First
Peter Scanavino is the actor behind the character of Sonny. He addressed the hate his character received when he said, "It was my first TV show, but I've also done a lot of plays and I've been panned in plays, but you don't let it affect you. You can't get bogged down in that." He didn't let critics get him down.
3 Mariska Hargitay's Husband Peter Hermann Guest Starred On SVU
Mariska Hagerty's husband, Peter Hermann, ended up guest-starring on Law & Order: SVU at one point! It seems really cool that her husband in real life was able to make an appearance on her show! Peter Hermann played the character of Attorney Trevor Langan.
2 Christopher Meloni Left The Show In 2011 Because He Wasn't Being Paid What He Wanted
Christopher Meloni ended up leaving the show in 2011 because he felt he wasn’t being paid fairly. He wanted to get paid more for every episode he appeared in, but the show creators were not on his side when it came to giving him more money. He decided he wanted to walk away from the show entirely.
1 Mariska Hargitay Is One Of TV's Highest-Paid Actresses
Paid around $450,000 per episode, Mariska Hargitay is one of TVs highest-paid actresses ever! Other highly paid TV actresses include Sofía Vergara, Kaley Cuoco, Ellen Pompeo, and Julie Bowen! What a great lineup of beautiful actresses for Marisela Hargitay to be part of!