MovieChat Forums > Law & Order (1990) Discussion > Favorite/least favorite seasons and favo...

Favorite/least favorite seasons and favorite/least favorite episodes.

posted 8 years ago by dan-brame
4 replies | jump to latest

Greetings,
First post here. Seen every episode of the series, most several times. So I have my favorites and least favorites and was wondering what others think.
Favorite season: 7. I'm a huge Michael Moriarty/Ben Stone fan so it pains me to pick a season not from the first 4, but 7 to me is the most consistent in its quality throughout, excellent cast, plots and guest stars.
Least favorite: 17. Not a huge reach here, this was the height of the post-Orbach malaise. Too many bad plots, Milena Govich was not well cast, Waterston had been the EADA too long by then and was stale in the role. I liked Talking Points though (Charlotte Ross was great in it).
Favorite episodes: 1) Sanctuary. As relevant today as it was in 1994, which is very troubling really. Excellent acting and script. 2) Pro Se. Denis O'Hare was one of their best guest stars (even in Nullification, though the episode was frustrating) and he was amazing here. 3) Indifference. One of Moriarty's finest moments, David Groh was amazing in his role. Top season 1 episode. 4) Whose Monkey Is It Anyway? Interesting, thought-provoking plot with some great lines in the episode. 5) Girl Most Likely (I'm a Caroline Dhavernas fan). 6) Pledge (season 19).
Least favorite: People have mentioned Damaged from Season 8. I can't watch that episode, it's awful. Fame, Avatar and Release from Season 17, episodes from that season showing how they were getting so far away from what I liked about the show (being embedded in the fabric of New York). Smoke at the end of Season 13 is another example of this. Doubles from season 4 is a weak episode. Switch in season 5 is laughably silly, though Francie Swift does as well as she can with it. Love the season 5 cast but there are a lot of clunker episodes in season 5.

[–] Xeliou66 8 years ago

Good post.

I loved most seasons of the show, I would say 10 is my favorite though, it had my favorite cast and lots of great episodes.

Season 17 was the worst for me as well, Milena Govich was an awful casting choice and the writing was bad, very trite and preachy.

Best episodes : Well there are too many great ones to name all of them. Specific episodes I loved include Teenage Wasteland from season 11, Sanctuary from season 4, Thinking Makes It So from season 16, Prince of Darkness from season 3 and almost all of the episodes in seasons 7 and 10. There are really too many great episodes to name, most L&O episodes are very good.

Worst episodes : Hands down, Aftershock from season 6. That episode split the fanbase, and I'm on the half that hates it. It went against everything that made L&O great and threw it out in soapy fashion. Thankfully the only one of its kind. Other bad episodes include Release, Melting Pot and In Vino Veritas from season 17, Just a Girl in the World from season 20, The Sixth Man from season 15 and I agree about season 5 having some weaker scripts. They had some great episodes in that season but some weaker ones as well.

[–] dan-brame 8 years ago

Thanks. One thing I liked about Teenage Wasteland, in addition to showing the struggle of personal convictions v. application of the law as it stands, was that it was one of the few episodes where they showed that other people actually worked in the DA's office (when they had the group conference about the decision to seek the death penalty). I did like Purple Heart in season 5, probably my favorite episode of the season. Thinking Makes It So and Prince of Darkness are also excellent episodes, good calls there.

[–] Doug-Oh 8 years ago

Maybe someone could rank all the seasons & episodes by great/average/bad, as someone did with The Twilight Zone vs. Magnum PI and Star Trek (three totally unrelated shows, which don't make for good comparisons).

The TZ is one of my favorite shows, up there with The Andy Griffith Show & Leave It To Beaver, three other unrelated shows but in the same era.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052520/board/nest/262727579

Twilight Zone
Season 1-Great(13),Average(17),Bad(6)
Season 2-Great(12),Average(11),Bad(6)
Season 3-Great(14),Average(16),Bad(7)
Season 4-Great(9), Average(7), Bad(2)
Season 5-Great(11),Average(16),Bad(9)

Totals-Great(59),Average(67),Bad(30)

....

Star Trek
Season 1-Great(26),Average(2), Bad(1)
Season 2-Great(14),Average(11),Bad(1)
Season 3-Great(8), Average(15),Bad(1)

Totals-Great(48),Average(28),Bad(3)

Magnum P.I.
S1-G(14),A(4), B(0)
S2-G(7), A(15),B(0)
S3-G(10),A(13),B(0)
S4-G(10),A(10),B(1)
S5-G(13),A(8), B(1)
S6-G(8), A(11),B(2)
S7-G(12),A(9), B(1)
S8-G(5), A(7), B(1)

Totals-G(79),A(77),B(6)

[–] maryrosenkranz 8 years ago

I love L&O, so it's hard to narrow down. I would put all the eps with Lenny ahead. And the 3 crossovers with Homicide: Life on the Street, I really liked, because it put 2 of my favorites together.