Editing Law & Order (section)

==Production==
===History and development===
In 1988, [[Dick Wolf]] developed a concept for a new television series that was going to depict a relatively optimistic picture of the American criminal justice system. He initially toyed with the idea of calling it ''Night & Day'' but then hit upon the title ''Law & Order''. The first half of each episode was going to follow two homicide detectives (a senior and a junior [[detective]]) and their commanding officer as they were investigating a violent crime.

The second half of the episode was going to follow the district attorney's office and the courts as two prosecutors, with advice from the district attorney, were attempting to convict the accused. ''Law & Order'' was going to be able to investigate some of the larger issues of the day by focusing on stories that were based on real cases making headlines.{{sfn| Courrier | Green |1999|p=17}}

Wolf took the idea to then-president of [[Universal Television]] [[Kerry McCluggage]], who pointed out the similarity to a 1963 series titled ''[[Arrest and Trial]]'', which lasted one season. The two watched the pilot of that series, in which a police officer ([[Ben Gazzara]]) arrested a man for armed robbery in the first half, and the defense attorney, played by [[Chuck Connors]], gets the perpetrator off as the wrong guy in the second half; this was the formula of the show every week.

Wolf decided that he wanted a fresh approach to the genre. His detectives occasionally were going to be fallible. He wanted to go from police procedural to prosecution with a greater degree of realism. The prosecution was going to be the hero, a reversal of the usual formula in lawyer dramas.{{sfn| Courrier | Green |1999|pp =17-18}}

[[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] initially ordered 13 episodes based on the concept alone, with no pilot. Then-network head [[Barry Diller]] reversed the decision. He did not believe it was a "Fox show", although he loved the idea. Wolf then went to [[CBS]], which ordered a pilot, "[[Everybody's Favorite Bagman]]", written by Wolf about corrupt city officials involved with the mob. The network liked the pilot but did not order it because there were no breakout stars.

NBC's top executives, [[Brandon Tartikoff]] and [[Warren Littlefield]], screened the pilot and liked it in the summer of 1989. They were concerned that the intensity of the series was not going to be able to be repeated week after week.{{sfn| Courrier | Green |1999|pp =17-18}} NBC executives had enough confidence by 1990 that the innovative show may appeal to a wide audience, and they ended up ordering the series for a full season.{{sfn|Courrier | Green |1999 | pp =21-22}}

===Filming===
The series was shot on location in New York City and is known for its extensive use of [[wikt:local color|local color]].<ref name="APMercury">{{#invoke:cite|news|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2008/10/31/can-law-order-outlive-gunsmoke/ |title=Can "Law & Order" outlive "Gunsmoke"? |last=Carlson |first=Erin |date=October 31, 2008 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[San Jose Mercury News]] | issn = 0747-2099 |
oclc = 145122249 |access-date=February 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923025125/http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainmentheadlines/ci_10868230 |archive-date=September 23, 2012 }}</ref> The interior sets were located at [[Chelsea Piers]]. For the revived version starting with Season 21, sets were reconstructed in Brooklyn.<ref>{{Cite web |last=BWS |date=2022-02-28 |title=Dick Wolf's "Law & Order" is "Like Time Travel" at Broadway Stages |url=https://www.broadway-stages.com/news/2022/2/28/broadway-stages-thrilled-to-partner-with-dick-wolf-on-the-return-of-law-amp-order |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=Broadway Stages |language=en-US}}</ref> In early episodes courtroom scenes were shot at [[Tweed Courthouse]] before a courtroom set was built.<ref>"Set Tour with Jerry Orbach"</ref> The exterior of the fictional 27th precinct police station was shot outside the New York County Surrogate's on Chambers St, while hospital scenes were filmed at the VA New York Harbour Medical Centre on East 23rd St, and Goldwater Memorial Hospital before its demolition.

In later seasons, New York City mayors [[Rudy Giuliani]] and [[Michael Bloomberg]], attorney [[William Kunstler]] and Bronx Congressman [[José Enrique Serrano|José Serrano]] all appeared on the show as themselves. Local personalities also had recurring cameos as fictional characters, such as [[Donna Hanover]] and [[Fran Lebowitz]] as judges. On September 14, 2004, in New York City, a road leading to Pier 62 at Chelsea Piers (where the series was mostly shot) was renamed "Law & Order Way" in tribute to the series.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Andreeva |first1=Nellie |title='Law & Order: SVU' Leaves New Jersey Over Nixed Tax Credit; May Move Into Old 'Law & Order' Digs| place=North Bergen NJ |url=https://deadline.com/2010/06/law-order-svu-leaves-new-jersey-over-nixed-tax-credit-may-move-into-lo-set-49433/ |work=Deadline Hollywood|publisher=Mail.com Media Corporation |date=June 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202035613/https://deadline.com/2010/06/law-order-svu-leaves-new-jersey-over-nixed-tax-credit-may-move-into-lo-set-49433/ |archive-date=December 2, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Street">{{#invoke:cite|web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/news/091604_commissioner_oliver_presents.shtml |title=Commissioner Oliver Presents "Law & Order Way" |website=NYC.gov |access-date=September 14, 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041024054944/http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/news/091604_commissioner_oliver_presents.shtml |archive-date=October 24, 2004 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

===Music and sound effects===
{{listen
|type = music
|pos = left
|filename = Law And Order theme.ogg
|title = Opening Theme
|description =
|filename2 = The Clang.ogg
|title2 = The ''Law & Order'' "clang" sound
|description2 =
}}

The music for ''Law & Order'' was composed by veteran composer [[Mike Post]] and was deliberately designed to be minimal to match the abbreviated style of the series.<ref name="Courrier and Green 69">Courrier and Green (1999), p.&nbsp;69</ref> Post wrote the theme song using electric piano, guitar, and clarinet. In addition, [[scene (fiction)|scene]] changes were accompanied by a tone generated by Post.  He refers to the tone as "The Clang",<ref name="Entertainment Weekly 1993-02-26">{{Cite magazine |author-link=Lisa Schwarzbaum|url=https://ew.com/article/1993/02/26/law-orders-tune/ |title=''Law & Order''{{'s}} tune |last=Schwarzbaum |first=Lisa |date=February 26, 1993 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=October 24, 2020 |url-status=live|df=mdy-all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526005120/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305720,00.html |archive-date=May 26, 2010 | issn = 1049-0434 | oclc = 21114137 |location = New York City | publisher = Time Inc. }}</ref> while ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' critic [[Ken Tucker]] has referred to the sound as the "ominous ''chung CHUNG''",{{sfn| Courrier | Green |1999|p=69}} actor [[Dann Florek]] (in a promo) as the "doink doink",<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Ryan|first=Maureen|date=January 7, 2008|title=Thunk-thunk! 'Law & Order' is back in a big way|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/01/thunk-thunk-law.html|url-status=dead|access-date=May 13, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710160011/http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/01/thunk-thunk-law.html|archive-date=July 10, 2012|df=mdy-all|quote=It's not "Thunk Thunk." It's "Doink Doink". Ask Dann Florek. He named it on the TNT promos. — comment by 'dr J', January 08, 2008}}</ref> and [[Richard Belzer]] as "the Dick Wolf Cash Register Sound".<ref name="Belzer On the Media">{{#invoke:cite|news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97905053 |title=Richard Belzer: 'I Am Not A Cop' |last=Simon |first=Scott |date=December 6, 2008 |work=[[Weekend Edition Saturday]] |author-link=Scott Simon |access-date=October 24, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211013327/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97905053 |archive-date=December 11, 2008 |publisher=[[NPR]] |location=Washington, D.C.|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

According to writer David Allan, 2021:

"The tone moves the viewer from scene to scene, jumping forward in time with all the importance and immediacy of a judge's gavel – which is exactly what Post was aiming for when he created it. While reminiscent of a jail door slamming..."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allan |first1=David |title=Super Sonic Logos: The Power of Audio Branding |date=22 July 2021 |publisher=Business Expert Press |isbn=9781637420829}}</ref>

But according to authors Susan Green and Randee Dawn:

"...it is actually an [[wikt:amalgamation|amalgamation]] of 'six or seven' sounds, including the sound made by 500 Japanese men walking across a hardwood floor."<ref name="Entertainment Weekly 1993-02-26" /> The sound has become so associated with the ''Law & Order'' brand that it was also carried over to other series of the franchise."<ref name="Green and Dawn 60">Green and Dawn (2009), p.&nbsp;60</ref>

The British-aired [[Channel 5 (British TV channel)|Channel Five]] versions of seasons 7–16 of ''Law & Order''<ref>{{YouTube|Q5vOprCQ8a4|Law & Order Season 13 opening (Five)}} (February 16, 2007). Retrieved on September 12, 2012.</ref> feature the song "I'm Not Driving Anymore" by [[Rob Dougan]] in the opening credits, while seasons 17–20 used the American theme.