(Photo: Paul Drinkwater/NBC)

Network: NBC
Episodes: Ongoing (hour)
Seasons: Ongoing

TV show dates: September 13, 1990 — May 24, 2010,
February 24, 2022 —
Series status: Cancelled, Revived

Performers include: S. Epatha Merkerson, Sam Waterston, Jerry Orbach, Steven Hill, Jesse L. Martin, Leslie Hendrix, Fred Dalton Thompson, Chris Noth, Benjamin Bratt, Michael Moriarty, Elisabeth Röhm, Angie Harmon, Dann Florek, Richard Brooks, Carolyn McCormick, Jill Hennessy, John Fiore, Carey Lowell, Alana De La Garza, Dianne Wiest, Dennis Farina, J.K. Simmons, Annie Parisse, Paul Sorvino, Jeremy Sisto, David Lipman, Linus Roache, John Cariani, and Steven Zirnkilton.

TV show description:
A long-running procedural crime drama that focuses primarily on the legal cases, rather than regular characters’ personal lives. Each episode is typically split between a criminal investigation and the trial that follows.

Police detectives include Lennie Briscoe (Orbach), Joe Fontana (Farina), Ed Green (Martin), Mike Logan (Noth), Rey Curtis (Bratt), Nina Cassady (Govich), and Cyrus Lupo (Sisto). Police lieutenants are Don Cragen (Florek) and later, Anita Van Buren (Merkerson).

From the district attorney’s office are Adam Schiff (Hill), Nora Lewin (Wiest), Arthur Branch (Thompson), Jack McCoy (Waterston), Ben Stone (Moriarty), and Michael Cutter (Roache).