NBC's procedural drama has become such an institution that it's easy to forget how innovative it originally was. Before ''NYPD Blue'' and ''Homicide: Life on the Street,'' Law & Order: The First Season shook up TV crime-story conventions with taboo story lines (assisted suicide for AIDS patients, abortion clinic bombings) and verite-ish visuals (mostly shot by Spike Lee's then cinematographer, Ernest Dickerson). Though they've all since exited the series, the first-year cast members -- including the pre-Mr. Big Chris Noth (as the hotheaded Det. Mike Logan), eternally intense Michael Moriarty (monkish ADA Ben Stone), and offhandedly brilliant Steven Hill (dyspeptic DA Adam Schiff) -- formed its strongest lineup. If only the minimalist aesthetic didn't extend to the DVD set's extras: a 15-minute docu-short and a trailer for an ''L&O'' CD-ROM game. At least the chung-chung! scene-change cue sounds great in Dolby surround.
Image credit: Law and Order: Kobal Collection
YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST Watching ''L&O'''s first season (starring Noth, George Dzunda, Moriarty, and Richard Brooks) presages its longevity
EW's GRADE
BDetails Release Date: Oct 15, 2002; DVD Release Date: Oct 15, 2002; Movie Rated: Unrated; Genre: Drama; With: Richard Brooks, George Dzundza, Michael Moriarty, Chris Noth and Steven Hill
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