Yep, this is a thing I did.
JACK MCCOY – In the summer when I
was a kid, I would stay up late to watch the San Francisco Giants
play if they were on TV. I wasn't a Giants fan but getting an
opportunity to watch Barry Bonds swing a bat, even on TV, was great
and worth staying up for.
The same thing goes for Jack McCoy,
the G.O.A.T. television lawyer. Even in Law and Order's crummiest
days, Sam Waterston was awesome to watch as McCoy. He was '01 Bonds.
The man could preach in a courtroom and did whatever it took to win
the case he believed in, for good and bad. If the show was called Law
or Order and I could only pick one part to watch, I'd go with Order
because of Jack.
The slow, slow evolution of McCoy
from reckless prosecutor, to less reckless prosecutor, to District
Attorney was acted and written greatly looking back upon the series.
And now the baseball analogies are
out of the way.
LENNIE BRISCOE – Lennie was the
Law's answer to Order's Jack. Even when the writing squandered after
Rene Balcer left the writer's room around Season 13, Briscoe brought
it every episode with his humour around his detective partners,
suspects, and lawyers. The most memorable lines spoke in series came
from Lennie and he even feels under valued at number two.
ADAM SCHIFF – I don't think a
Jack/Lennie combo as the top two would surprise anyone who watched
the show but I would lump District Attorney Adam Schiff in with that
upper echelon. I've heard this before but the beautiful thing about
Schiff was he knew the law and he knew politics, but you never knew
what angle was motivating him.
He supported Jack when he needed
support and kicked his ass when it needed to be kicked. Terrific
fictional boss. Bonus points for his facial reactions when that
week's case was going the wrong way.
ABBIE CARMICHAEL – I liked Abbie
but I'm not sure she deserves to be so high. Still, out of all of
Jack's assistants, she was my favourite. Her line in her first
episode (“No deals for anyone, let's hang 'em all”) really set
the tone for the character, a strong conservative viewpoint which
hadn't been on the show much before. And she could go toe-to-toe with
Jack. And win.
MIKE LOGAN – One day he used his
fists, the next day he used his head to solve cases. He really
carried the early seasons. A shame we didn't see more of him with
Lennie.
ED GREEN – A workhorse; he'd be the
Mark Buehrle of the L&O universe (nope, not done with the
baseball analogies).
REY CURTIS – Rey was a bit of a
pain in the ass sitting up on his high horse but he might have been
my favourite partner of Lennie's for the same reason Jack and Abbie
were my favourite lawyer combo: real contrast. Plus, he was there for
one of my favourite stretches of the show (season 7: Double Down, the
Hollywood murder trilogy, and Mad Dog).
JAMIE ROSS – I liked Jamie. Like
her successor, Abbie, she kept Jack in check while in the assistant's
chair. She was the ADA when Jack was bending every rule in the
criminal code and Adam was running for re-election. She was the voice
of reason for many episodes in the DA's office.
CYRUS LUPO – It's too bad the
writing went to crap for a chunk because when the last cast of actors
came in, people had stopped watching. But the last cast was really
good and Lupo was the best of them: a sometimes gruff, smart
detective who was so likeable in the ilk of a Mike Logan.
ANITA VAN BUREN – The solid,
tells-her-detectives-what-they-already-know-so-the-viewer-now-knows
lieutenant. Plus, she nailed her cancer storyline in the last season.
That cast rocked.
BEN STONE – Some people like Stone
the way I like McCoy. I'm not one of them but Stone was good. He
really knocked it out of the park in a few early season episodes
before he was replaced by McCoy.
PHIL CERRETA – Paulie from
Goodfellas as a cop? Paulie from Goodfellas as a cop.
CLAIRE KINCAID – Like Ben, Claire
is probably another character other people would have higher on their
lists. She was a good assistant to Ben and Jack; I just liked Abbie
and Jamie more, OK?
MICHAEL CUTTER – It was fun to see
Jack ascend to the top of the DA's office, only to have to manage
Michael Cutter, a younger version of himself. You loved him in some
episodes and you didn't in others. His habit of carrying a baseball
bat like Tom Cruise did in A Few Good Men was a minor annoyance
because Tom Cruise did it in A Few Good Men.
But Cutter was really good as a part
of that cast that grabbed me back into the show. Plus I totally
'shipped him and Connie.
MAX GREEVEY – People will tell me
Max is listed too low and I need to re-watch the first season.
They're probably right.
PAUL ROBINETTE - “You're the
biggest bad ass on the block Jack.” I loved that line when he
returned as a defence attorney. He was good as Ben's assistant too.
DONALD CRAGEN – You might remember
Donald Cragen from such roles as Donald Cragen on SVU. But
he was once on the Mothership. That's what IMDB says.
CONNIE RUBIROSA – Who is Connie you
asked a few paragraphs ago? Oh, well, she was the assistant district
attorney when Mike was around. When it was her turn for a Connie
episode, she was really good.
NORA LEWIN – Oh right, she was the
district attorney once. Rudy Guliani liked her!
JOE FONTANA – The impossible task
of replacing Lennie Briscoe.
ARTHUR BRANCH – Foghorn Leghorn
somehow ascended to the top of New York's district attorney's office.
No one needs to hear a five minute monologue why a story about your
grandmother's daffodils tells you that Jack should proceed with a
murder two indictment instead of manslaughter. However, he did fire
Serena.
KEVIN BERNARD – Saint Bernard.
ALEXANDRIA
BORGIA – She had a short visit; not too memorable.
NICK FALCO – Remember when Green
was shot and Tony Soprano's nephew replaced him for four episodes?
Not much more then a guest star but he was in the credits once so we
rank him.
ALFRED WENTWORTH – Had CBS picked
up the show, we would have had him instead of Adam Schiff. Alfred
Wentworth would have been a lousy DA in comparison.
NINA CASSIDY – It's not a good sign
when you piss off your lieutenant five minutes into your screen debut
and your whole storyline revolves around why you aren't a good
detective. It was like the writers hated the Cassidy character as
soon as they green-lit her for air.
SERENA SOUTHERLYN – Jamie Ross
served as a voice of reason to Jack's wild, rebellious approach to
the law. Abbie and Jack clashed because her conservative politics
clashed with Jack's more liberal views. Then came Serena, who just
argued against Jack for the hell of it. And she wasn't very good at
it.