30 Years of Law & Order: Part VI - Old Timers and One Liners

The following is part 6 of a 51 part series on "Law & Order". Other parts can be seen here:

• 30 Years of Law & Order
• Who's the Real McCoy?
• Aye Cap'n
• Let's Make a Deal
• Young Guns
  

When Law & Order hits the airwaves, we are usually witnessing a collection of folks who are just living their lives but stumble upon a crime. Usually a dead body. Yuck! Through the magic of TV, police are on the scene in seconds. No matter if it is morning, noon or night the same two detectives are always dispatched to the scene. Displaying unnerving calm, these two superior dressed cops have talked to witnesses, got the rundown from CSU and managed to crack numerous one-liners all before your clock hits 9:02pm. It is with this diligence that we are launched into an hour of gripping drama with a really hot assistant district attorney.

DUH-DUH!

This duo is lead by the senior detective. I guess. Until we researched for this series, neither of us had any idea of the classification of the two. It does make our job a lot easier.

The first senior detective was actually a senior sergeant. Max Greevey (1990-1991) is about as old school as it gets when it comes to police. Tough. Honest. Smart, but not in a wake-up-smart kind of way... more like blue-collar smart. And the most old school trait of all? His name is Max. The role was already very likable, but actor George Dzundza (God Bless You!) deserves some credit for that.

Max and Mike Logan had a father-detective / son-detective type of relationship. They were men from different generations but they respected each other's work. Their partnership came to an abrupt and fatal end when Greevey was unable to recover from a fatal shot from which he died fatally.

Phil Cerreta (1991-1992) had the arduous task of replacing Greevey. Logan and Cerreta didn't get along initially, as Logan was "greeving" his partners death (Billy would have killed me if I missed that pun opportunity), but they eventually got along well.

Cerreta starred in one of the better scenes in early L&O, when posing as someone interested in buying stolen guns he was shot by the seller who, on what seemed like enough speed to kill a horse, panicked in the middle of the deal.


Mike Logan's 3rd partner in as many years was Lenny Briscoe (1992-2004). There isn't one person on earth who can sum up a situation in less than 10 words better than Lenny. Never fleet of foot, he made up for it with wit, charm, a good nose for investigation and sound interrogation.

One of the most surprising / least known facts about Briscoe is his role as passenger in the car that killed Claire Kincaid. The driver, drunk, was giving Lenny a ride home from the bar, who was also too drunk to drive.

Jerry Orbach left the show in 2004, most likely during his bout with prostate cancer. He made a few appearances with some L&O spin offs in the year following, but passed away soon after that.

Briscoe's unceremonious retirement leads to the addition of Joe Fontana (2004-2006) who came to the 2-7 from none other than the Chicago Police Department.

Although of the same generation as Greevey, the personality pendulum swings far away from Max, with Fontana making numerous references to the value of his shoes, suit or Mercedes.

Fontana's flashy appearance and somewhat brash personality matched his bend-the-rules style. He left the show after a couple years for unknown reasons, written off on the show as retirement. I'll bet he's down in Florida complaining about how much he sweats when he wears his suit to the beach.

Ed Green is promoted to Senior Detective after Fontana retired. You can read more about Ed in the previous L&O entry Young Guns.

DUH-DUH!

Roller's take: If I were to say anyone other than Lenny Briscoe I couldn't look myself in the mirror. I almost want to get divorced a few times just so I can always have a one-liner handy about an ex-wife. Because he paints it as a really happy life, right?

Because this is a one-horse race, I'll rank them so as to show some kind of appreciation for the rest. 1) Lenny 2) Lenny 3) Greevey 4) Cerreta 5) Farina 6) Green. I would actually put Green higher but he still needs to cut his teeth as the Sr. Detective. Greevey may be one of the more underappreciated characters on Law & Order. Coovo you agree/disagree?

Coovo's take: At first I was like, "What is that annoying Dad from Dirty Dancing doing on Law & Order?" It was the last time I ever doubted Dick Wolf (until Criminal Intent came out). You sympathized with, you admired him and you cried with him. I loved how he always had an old friend from back in the day who they could call on for some assistance. I'm pretty sure the biggest chapter in a coffee table book of famous TV one-liners would be of Lenny Briscoe.

Max Greevey's one year may have been better than any one of Briscoe's. Yet we must consider the brilliant decision of George Dzundza to leave what has become the longest running drama on TV for such career changing roles as Leo Lemke in The Butcher's wife and Hal Griffith in Dangerous Minds. He came back to TV in Jesse, with Christina Applegate. Nice move George. You showed them.

Fontana--had to be mobbed up. Cerreta--so you got shot, get back to work. That's what Green did. Green--he's got my respect.

Note: Law and Order is back on the airwaves in its old Wednesday night slot: 10 ET/9 CT. I've seen one show. Afterwards, I took out my stuffed teddy Briscoe and cried myself to sleep.