The elegant and distinctive format has changed little since the show's inception. Unlike the multi-arc structure of Steven Bochco dramas such as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue, each episode of Law & Order focuses upon the criminal and legal processes of a single homicide case, beginning as bystanders accidentally discover a murder victim, and ending after the disclosure of the jury's trial decision. Episodes are devised as discrete units, with closure and without season cliff-hangers. Although Law & Order shares with the Bochco crime dramas an extensive use of the hand­ held camera, the series emphasizes stability and direction over distraction: signposts guide the viewer through the intricacies of the investigation, including the intertitles that punctuate the narrative to identify location changes on the Manhattan streets comprising the show's setting (several early episodes also included closing taglines documenting the fate of the criminals). The scales of justice featured in the opening credit sequence resonate as a metaphor of the tightly balanced episodic structure. Half of each episode's segments comprise a criminal investigation conducted by two police detectives guided by their lieutenant. Upon identification of a suspect and the gathering of sufficient evidence, the case is handed over to two assistant district attorneys who regularly enlist the assistance of their DA boss. After the case is prepared, the final segments of the episode feature highlights of the trial. So plot-focused is the narrative that the police and attorneys exist as a rule only in their professional capacities; the viewer's knowledge is structured to maximize identification with the point­ of-view of the police and attorneys, at least one of whom remains present in every scene after the murder discovery.

     The stability of narrative structure has overridden the numerous cast changes among the six principal roles, none of which are currently played by original cast members. George Dzundza left the series after the first season due to conflicts over the quality of the writing. His replacement Paul Sorvino departed after the start of the third season, complaining that the outdoor street shooting was compromising the vocal cords he wanted to preserve for opera singing. Michael Moriarity re-signed in 1994 after heated network conflicts concerning his publicized disagreement with Attorney General Janet Reno on television censorship issues. In NBC's effort to introduce female characters, S. Epatha Merker­ son and Jill Hennessy were hired to replace Dann Florek and Richard Brooks after the end of the third season. Three female assistant district attorneys have succeeded Hennessy since her departure in 1996. The involuntary contract termination of Chris Noth in 1995 remains a mystery to viewers (as well as the actor).

     In the tightly structured, case-focused narrative of the series, intimacies between principals emerge through a number of strategies. Backstory is occasionally introduced to motivate the departure of a major character, as with the increasingly frequent references to Detective Reynaldo Curtis's wife's multiple sclerosis in the ninth season, and ADA Jamie Ross's custody battles in season eight. As the police officers and attorneys debate suspects' guilt and innocence, intimacies arise when case issues strike personal chords. On religious grounds, Sgt. Max Greevey asks to be removed from a case involving sadomasochism; past trauma inflects the perspectives of Detective Mike Logan and ADA Abby Carmichael in cases of child abuse and rape (respec­tively); the liberal-minded Detective Lennie Briscoe and Lieutenant Anita Van Buren clash with the conser­vative Curtis on child discipline and abortion cases; Briscoe's alcoholism renders him empathetic with sus­pects and criminals who share the affliction. Less frequently, reactions to a difficult case elicit vulnerabilities that demonstrate the tenuous "order" of these professionals' personal lives. Such crises are taken to an extreme in the sixth season finale episode "Aftershock." unique in its reworking of the established episodic structure as it begins with a murderer's execution and develops by tracing its effects upon the police and lawyers, who are driven to infidelity, drunken stupor, and tragic, accidental death. The fact that such instances occur only rarely in the series makes the intention of character backstory all the more resonant.

     Law & Order has experienced a steady gain in pop­ularity since the mid- 1990s, surpassing NYPD Blue in the Nielsen ratings since the 1999-2000 season, and ranked in the top ten since 2000. It received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 1997 and has been nominated ten times in this category. The series is in syndication on the Arts & Entertainment Channel and the TNT network. Dick Wolf also produced the made-for-TV Exiled: A Law & Order Movie in 1998 and two series spin offs, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999- ) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001- ), both of which focus more intently upon criminal investigation than prosecution. In its opening segments, the latter of these spin-offs alters the format of the original series by revealing information to which the investigators are not privy. Special Victims Unit, which treats the most "heinous" of criminal homicides, reintroduces Dann Florek in his role of Captain Donald Cragen. NBC renewed Law & Order through May of 2005.