I Still Don't Like the First Two Seasons

Season 4 really marked the end of the "boys club." The regular cast for the first 3 seasons was still all male, and Olivet appeared not in every episode and was a relatively minor character throughout the series. Claire and Anita didn't appear until the start of Season 4.

The producers made a mistake in the first two seasons by making it a "boys' club" with no women in the primary cast.

Many consider the early seasons the series' best (like MASH's first 3-5 years).

I like McCoy, Lennie, Carmichael, Detective Rey, et. al., but prefer the earlier seasons, the ones which won Emmys.

DA Ben Stone seems more serious and has a more determined or dedicated view on prosecutions compared to McCoy's often flambouyant and over-the-top antics.

Paul Robinette is my favorite assistant to the asst. DA. Maybe it's because the network forced the show to replace a black with women. His character stands-out in comparison to the all-women ("males need not apply") DA clique.

Essentially, my favorite years are seasons 1-8, okay, maybe the first 10 years, the ones before and with Lennie.

While being a woman, I liked that they changed things up. However there was something "raw & gritty" about those seasons. The ever-changing cast made it refreshing. If they did that today though, people would be in an uproar.

I’m watching the early seasons, I’m up to season 3, episode 5. The second season is better than the first, and the third season so far is better than the second. The show improved with Paul Sorvino over Max Greely.

"Law & Order" is one of my favorite all-time shows. I was a senior in college when it first came out and I thought it was so interesting to watch. The format was really unique and there is such a "grittiness" to those first couple of seasons that I just love.

I remember watching the opening episode of Season 2 and being shocked by those first few minutes. I really thought the show was going to be canceled (ratings weren't good) and I thought it was a shame, because it's such a great show. It ended up running over 20 years!

That was also the first time I'd ever seen George Dzundza and Paul Sorvino in anything. I never saw "The Deer Hunter" until a few years ago and saw"Goodfellas" on a VCR tape after Sorvino was on "L & O."

I still love watching any of the episodes from 1990-2004. However, I have a lot of nostalgia for the first two seasons.

I liked most of the women after Season 2, but I didn't mind or even notice their absence in the first couple of seasons. It just didn't matter.