Law And Order At It's Best !!!

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My most favorite seasons are 7 and 8, the ones with McCoy and Ross along with Briscoe and Curtis. Those seasons, along with surrounding Seasons 5, 6, and 9, are a larger group of my favorites.

After Season 9, L&O gradually slid downhill through Season 17, the one which had Nina Cassady, until rebounding upward somewhat, albeit slowly, through the last few years of its run. The show never got back to its peak in the late 1990s but at least it was on an upward trend when it got canceled.

It's difficult to single out just one season. I enjoy watching the early ones and seeing how police work was successfully done prior to one nation under surveillance. A bonus here was Ben Stone, notably his use of the term "Sir".

One moment that stands out to me was the episode when Lenny was retiring and how Green commented on them getting Blackberries next year and after that Lenny telling him he was putting in his papers.

Seeing as how Joe Fontana was among my favorite detectives (my favorite scenes usually involved the use of the term "authorized") and I liked Ed Green as well, those seasons were always good ones.

A year-by-year rating would take up too much space IMO.

Dean: I am wearing sunglasses at night. You know who does that? No-talent douche bags!

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I think season 4 had the best cast, but seasons 1, 6, and 10 had the best quality episodes.

Any season with Michael Moriarty, but currently Season 3.

Every season had great episodes. Enjoyed all of the major players until Season 13--I couldn't stand Fred Thompson. Ick!!! But I stuck with the show until Jerry Orbach left at the end of Season 14. His replacement, Dennis Farina, seemed too harsh by comparison, though in reruns I'm able to tolerate him.

The awful irony is that once they solidified the cast with Linus Roache et al, the writing picked up and I really started to enjoy the show again. So what did the network do? THEY CANCELLED IT. I thought Wolf would have fought a little harder for it, considering he wanted to beat Gunsmoke as the longest-running TV series in history, but he bailed, I guess. None of the actors knew in advance that the end was coming. In my opinion, that's a damned shame. How many shows that have aired since that time have lasted as long with such generally well-sustained quality as Law & Order?

Let's start with cast. My favorite ensemble cast is that of seasons 7-8 (McCoy, Ross, Briscoe, Curtis). Let me explain that statement.

For me, McCoy and Briscoe define Law & Order -- so much that I have a hard time seeing the Ben Stone era or the post-Lennie era as the same show. (If you disagree, you may as well stop reading now).

Now, Ross and Curtis are not necessarily the most sympathetic characters, but I feel their contrasting personalities bring the best out of McCoy and Briscoe respectively. Logan was perhaps a stronger character than Curtis in vacuo, but I feel Logan's too similar to Briscoe, while Curtis challenges him more. Likewise, Kincaid was an interesting character (and, Oh my God, so drop-dead gorgeous) but I like Ross because she stands up to McCoy more than any other ADA.

I should also mention Green, Carmichael, and Southerlyn, since they all appear within the Briscoe/McCoy era. Green and Southerlyn are both solid, OK characters, but, for me, short on the last ounce of interest (at least until Southerlyn's last-minute lesbian confession). Carmichael I simply cannot stand, I'm afraid. I'm not sure if it's the Southern-fried stick-em-all-in-jail conservatism or the vocal fry -- I have to mute the TV when she's on. Sorry.

Of seasons 7 and 8, I feel that 7 has the stronger writing.There are so many outstanding scripts in season 7, including my all-time favorites: "I.D." and "Survivor" (you can probably tell that I'm more into wit and elegance than hard-hitting realism). Honorable mention should go to "Causa Mortis", "Double Blind", "Deadbeat", "Legacy", "Menace", "Passion", "Past Imperfect", and the entire Hollywood trilogy of "D-Girl", "Turnaround" and "Showtime".

Basically, in season 7 outstanding episodes are the norm. I could pick a random episode and a random line from the script of that episode, and there's a pretty good chance it would be worthy of a "Memorable Quotes" mention in IMDB. Excellent acting and writing make this by far the best season for me.