Details

Release year: 1990

Storyline

Two Part drama which focuses on the New York criminal Justice System by showing a violent crime investigated by police detectives in the first half and then the trial of the accused in court by the prosecutors in the second half.

Top credits

Cast

Jerry Orbach — Detective Lennie Briscoe, Defense Attorney Frank Lehrman
Jesse L. Martin — Detective Ed Green
Dennis Farina — Detective Joe Fontana
Sam Waterston — Executive ADA Jack McCoy, DA Jack McCoy, Interim DA Jack McCoy

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Awards

6 wins & 46 nominations

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Did you know

• The distinctive "thunk-thunk" sound effect used in between scenes was created by combining close to a dozen sounds, including that of a group of monks stamping on a floor. The sound is intended to be reminiscent of both a judge's gavel and a jail cell door slamming.

• Steven Zirnkilton, who narrates the opening credit sequences, only appeared on-screen once. He played a detective in the pilot episode, Everybody's Favorite Bagman (1990). He had one line of dialogue: "Look at that. Do you believe these guys?".

• Prior to becoming an actor, Dennis Farina (Detective Joe Fontana) was a Detective in the Chicago Police Department for eighteen years. He got into acting through his former partner and police commander, Chuck Adamson, who had retired and became a police consultant on movies and television shows.