How many Law and Order spin-offs are there?

April 2024 · 5 minute read

NBC'S LAW & Order first premiered in 1990 and is arguably considered one of the network's biggest franchises.

Since the original series was released, there have been several spin-offs including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime.

How many Law and Order spin-offs are there?

The original Law & Order ran from 1990 to 2010 but was later brought back in 2021 after an 11-year hiatus.

During that time, fans were introduced to some iconic characters including Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), Anita Van Buren (S Epatha Merkerson), Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Ed Green (Jesse L Martin), Abbie Carmichael (Angie Harmon), Mike Logan (Chris Noth), Philip "Phil" Cerreta (Paul Sorvino), and Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson).

Due to the success of the show, NBC launched seven different spin-offs, including:

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit first premiered in 1999 and is still on to this day, making it the longest-running show in the Law & Order franchise.

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The show follows Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) as she investigates sexual assault cases alongside Sergeant Odafin "Fin" Tutuola (Ice-T) and ADA Dominick 'Sonny' Carisi (Peter Scanavino).

Previously, the show also starred Florek as Cragen, Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler, Richard Belzer as John Munch, BD Wong as George Huang, Kelli Giddish as Amanda Rollins, Tamara Tunie as Melinda Warner, and Danny Pino as Nick Amaro.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Law & Order: Criminal Intent ran from 2001 to 2011 and followed the NYPD detectives of the Major Case Squad, who would often use unconventional methods to solve crimes.

The series starred Kathryn Erbe as Detective Alexandra Eames, Vincent D'Onofrio as Detective Robert "Bobby" Goren, Jamey Sheridan as Captain James "Jimmy" Deakins, Courtney B Vance as ADA Ronald "Ron" Carver, and Leslie Hendrix as ME Dr Elizabeth Rodgers.

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Chris Noth, Eric Bogosian, and Jeff Goldblum also had recurring roles over the years.

Law & Order: Trial by Jury

In 2005, NBC launched Law & Order: Trial by Jury, which continued to follow the "ripped from the headlines" formula but gave fans a look at the legal side of things.

The show starred Bebe Neuwirth as Bureau Chief ADA Tracey Kibre, Amy Carlson as Deputy Bureau Chief ADA Kelly Gaffney, Fred Thompson as DA Arthur Branch, Kirk Acevedo as DA Investigator Hector Salazar, and Scott Cohen as DA Investigator Chris Ravell.

Orbach and Waterson also made a few appearances but the show only lasted one season.

Law & Order: UK

Law & Order: UK was shown on ITV from 2009 to 2014 and took the police story from the streets of New York City to London.

The show was executive produced by Law & Order legend Dick Wolf and starred Bradley Walsh as DS Ronnie Brooks, Robert Glenister as the narrator, Harriet Walter as DI Natalie Chandler, Freema Agyeman as Alesha Phillips, Jamie Bamber as DS Matt Devlin, Jessica Gunning as Angela, and Dominic Rowan as Jacob Thorne.

Law & Order: LA

Law & Order: LA took the beloved franchise to sunny Los Angeles, California, with Junior DDA Connie Rubirosa (Alana De La Garza) in 2010.

However, like Trial by Jury, the show was short-lived and only lasted a season.

Other stars included Corey Stoll as Detective Tomas Jaruszalski, Rachel Ticotin as Lieutenant Arleen Gonzalez, Alfred Molina as Detective and Senior DDA Ricardo Morales, Terrence Howard as Senior DDA Jonah Dekker, Skeet Ulrich as Detective Rex Winters, and Tamlyn Tomita as Miwako Nishizawa.

Law & Order: True Crime

Between 2014 and 2017, SVU was the only active show in the Law & Order franchise but Wolf tried again with Law & Order True Crime.

Typically, each episode of Law & Order tells a different story, but True Crime only focused on dramatizing the murders of José and Kitty Menendez, who were killed in their Beverly Hills home in 1989 by their two sons, Lyle and Erik.

The mini-series starred Edie Falco as Leslie Abramson, Gus Halper as Erik Menendez, Miles Gaston Villanueva as Lyle Menendez, Chris Bauer as Tim Rutten, Sam Jaeger as Detective Les Zoeller, Dominic Flores as Henry Llanio, Constance Marie as Marta Cano, and Irene DeBari as Maria Menendez.

Like LA and Trial by Jury, True Crime only lasted one season.

Law & Order: Organized Crime

In 2021, NBC launched Law & Order: Organized Crime and reunited Meloni's Elliot Stabler with Hargitary's Benson after a 10-year hiatus.

The show follows Stabler's journey as a detective in the NYPD organized crime unit but also features several guest appearances from the SVU cast.

Organized Crime stars Meloni, Danielle Moné Truitt as Sergeant Ayanna Bell, Ainsley Seiger as Detective Jet Slootmaeker, Tamara Taylor as Angela Wheatley, Dylan McDermott as Richard Wheatley, and Nicky Torchia as Eli Stabler.

Mike Cannon, Rachel Lin, Nona Parker Johnson, Guillermo Diaz, and Rick Gonzalez have also had recurring roles over the years.

Organized Crime premiered in 2021 and is still on the air.

Who created Law and Order?

The man responsible for the Law & Order franchise is film and television producer Richard "Dick" Anthony Wolf.

He created the original show in the 1990s and has since made it into a television empire, making him one of the most famous faces in the entertainment industry,

“Wherever I go in the country, wherever I go in the world, people reference Dick Wolf shows,” TV producer Greg Berlanti said of Wolf's career during an interview with Variety.

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“Sometimes folks in New York and L.A. get so focused on shows that get a ton of Emmy nominations. But the priority is telling stories that move an audience. The real value of any show is ultimately its relationship with an audience. Dick Wolf makes shows that people love and love to talk about.”

Shortly before the launch of Law & Order, he created the production company Wolf Entertainment, which is also responsible for the Chicago and FBI franchises.

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