History YMMV / LawAndOrder

** ''Multiple'' actors from ''Series/TheSopranos'' make ''at least'' one appearance on the show, including Creator/EdieFalco, Creator/MichaelImperioli, Creator/VincentPastore, Creator/SteveSchirripa, Creator/VincentCuratola, Creator/FrankVincent, Creator/AidaTurturro, Creator/JohnVentimiglia, Creator/KathrineNarducci, Creator/JerryAdler, and Creator/MichaelRispoli— just to name a few. You could really make a DrinkingGame out of it.

** ''Multiple'' actors from ''Series/TheSopranos'' make ''at least'' one appearance on the show, including Creator/EdieFalco, Creator/MichaelImperioli, Creator/VincentPastore, Creator/VincentCuratola, Creator/FrankVincent, Creator/AidaTurturro, Creator/JohnVentimiglia, Creator/KathrineNarducci, Creator/JerryAdler, and Creator/MichaelRispoli— just to name a few. You could really make a DrinkingGame out of it.

** ''Multiple'' actors from ''Series/TheSopranos'' make ''at least'' one appearance on the show, including Creator/EdieFalco, Creator/MichaelImperioli, Creator/VincentPastore, Creator/FrankVincent, Creator/AidaTurturro, Creator/JohnVentimiglia, Creator/KathrineNarducci, Creator/JerryAdler, and Creator/MichaelRispoli— just to name a few. You could really make a DrinkingGame out of it.

** ''Multiple'' actors from ''Series/TheSopranos'' make ''at least'' one appearance on the show, including Creator/EdieFalco, Creator/MichaelImperioli, Creator/VincentPastore, Creator/AidaTurturro, Creator/JohnVentimiglia, Creator/KathrineNarducci, Creator/JerryAdler, and Creator/MichaelRispoli— just to name a few. You could really make a DrinkingGame out of it.

* SpoiledByTheFormat: Generally, if the case has been resolved with ten or more minutes left, expect a new trial, a whole new suspect, a TwistEnding or some combination of the three. Additionally, if Carolyn McCormick or J.K. Simmons are listed in the opening credits, expect the defendant to assert either an insanity defense or significant mitigating factors that require an evaluation.

** ''Multiple'' actors from ''Series/TheSopranos'' make ''at least'' one appearance on the show, including Creator/EdieFalco, Creator/MichaelImperioli, Creator/VincentPastore, Creator/AidaTurturro, Creator/JohnVentimiglia, Creator/JerryAdler, and Creator/MichaelRispoli— just to name a few. You could really make a DrinkingGame out of it.

** ''Multiple'' actors from ''Series/TheSopranos'' make ''at least'' one appearance on the show, including Creator/EdieFalco, Creator/MichaelImperioli, Creator/VincentPastore, Creator/AidaTurturro, Creator/JohnVentimiglia, and Creator/JerryAdler— just to name a few. You could really make a DrinkingGame out of it.

** ''Multiple'' actors from ''Series/TheSopranos'' make ''at least'' one appearance on the show, including Creator/EdieFalco, Creator/MichaelImperioli, Creator/VincentPastore, Creator/LorraineBracco, Creator/AidaTurturro, Creator/JohnVentimiglia, and Creator/JerryAdler— just to name a few. You could really make a DrinkingGame out of it.

* Creator/TimotheeChalamet appears in Season 19's "Pledge".

* SpoiledByTheFormat: Generally, if the case has been resolved with ten or more minutes left, expect a new trial, a whole new suspect, a TwistEnding or some combination of the three. Additionally, if J.K. Simmons is listed in the opening credits, expect the defendant to assert either an insanity defense or significant mitigating factors that require an evaluation.

** If the Special Guest Star isn't the victim or defense attorney, (s)he's the perp (or a major accomplice).

** Nick Falco. Although he didn't get ''quite'' the level of hatred as some of the other scrappys due to his limited tenure on the show, as he was only temporary until Creator/JesseLMartin was finished shooting ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'', many still found him underwhelming of a character and [[WhatTheHellCastingAgency felt he was a poor fit to the show]], namely due to viewers not being able to dissociate Michael Imperioli from his [[Series/TheSopranos most famous role.]]

** The revival episodes starting with Season 21. Some feel like the episodes are just as good as the latter episodes of the original run, others feel it lacks the magic the original had and has many of the problems later ''SVU'' episodes had. Others believe that one of, if not ''[[TropeCodifier the]]'' the foremost example of "copaganda" should not have been brought back at all given the political climate surround police officers.

** Two major Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse examples: Creator/SebastianStan in "Sheltered" and Creator/ChadwickBoseman in "Can I Get a Witness?"

** Abbie Carmichael. Many love her for being played by Angie Harmon and for being a brash, no-nonsense ADA to contrast Claire and Jamie. Others find her to be heavily hypocritical and can often be the DesignatedVillain of the episode.

** The revival episodes starting with Season 21. Some feel like the episodes are just as good as the latter episodes of the original run, others feel it lacks the magic the original had and has many of the problems later ''SVU'' episodes had. Others believe that one of the foremost examples of "copaganda" should not have been brought back at all given the political climate surround police officers.

** In season 2, episode "The Wages of Love", the VictimOfTheWeek was a [[{{Literature/Twilight}} Mr. Edward Cullen]].

* AcceptableProfessionalTargets:
** Paparazzi/tabloid reporters are almost always depicted as scumbag assholes, with even one episode depicting one as being shot dead at a restaurant where famous people dine and all the patrons ''applauding'' his death.
** Private investigators are also treated with much contempt by the detectives still with the police. Bounty hunters have it even worse.
** Celebrities are also fair game, in particular the ones who try [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections to use their money/power/connections/etc.]] to get away with something, those connected with reality television and if their fame overall begins to impede the case in question.
* AcceptableTargets:
** Child psychologists are depicted either wholly corrupt or totally incompetent.
** A surprising number of spoiled rich kids either go on killing sprees for the thrill of it or try to destroy their families when they stop taking care of them. The equally-privileged parents who try to get their guilty kids off the hook are treated as culpably blind at best and actively colluding against justice more often.
** The number of Christians in the show who aren't insane and/or hypocritical zealots can be counted on one hand.
** Non-New Yorkers tend to gain a lot of ire, be it justified or not, such as referring to Upstate New York as "Volvo land", tourists from Ohio who unwittingly sold video that showed the commission of a crime to a local news station as "Ma and Pa Kettle" and referring to Niagara Falls, ''Ontario'' as a "hick town".
** In "True North", Canada is portrayed as so ridiculously soft on crime due to the country's anti-death penalty stance that they actively try to sabotage the prosecution of Stephanie Harker, who murdered ''4'' people, including a child. While the country has a policy of advocating against the death penalty regarding Canadian citizens, the episode makes it seem like Canadians would rather she go unpunished.

** Many fans have noticed how the Mitch Carroll character that Creator/ChevyChase portrayed in season 17's "In Vino Veritas" was an earlier, PlayedForDrama version of his future Pierce Hawthorne character from ''Series/{{Community}}''.

** Jamie Yost from "Executioner". His only son and grandchild were brutally murdered by a crazy killer who was supposed to die on his death sentence. Instead, there was a problem with the injection site and Yost ended up witnessing something truly horrific. Shaken and desperate for answers, he tried to track down the doctor to ask him what what went wrong and ended up killing him -- except, it was the ''wrong'' doctor (he just happened to have the same name as the doctor from the botched execution).

** Molly Lasky in "Pledge" -- She was emotionally abused by her parents, especially her selfish father, and is a BrokenBird as a result. Just seeing recount how her own father call her "plain as a homemade pie" is hard to watch.

* GrowingTheBeard: For many viewers, there are roughly three periods of the show; the ones before Lennie Briscoe shows up, the ones with Lennie Briscoe, and the ones after Lennie Briscoe left. The second category tends to be immeasurably more popular.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** In the episode "Shangri-La", a teacher is murdered. During a interview with the collective faculty, one of the teachers says that it was likely done by a student. When the detectives ask him about it, he replies "You don't see many headlines about faculty out on shooting sprees." [[spoiler: The show's final episode is about a teacher who does just that.]]
** In ''Second Opinion'' (ep. 5-1), which featured a fake breast cancer cure [[spoiler: Van Buren tells the detectives if she got incurable (breast) cancer she'd rather spend her last days with a whole body and surrounded by family rather then working. Years later she gets diagnosed with cervical cancer and works through it the whole time; fortunately it's in remission.]]
** In "Stiff," Schiff jokes that the whole case is enough for him to check on his pension plan. Schiff retires between the next episode and the one after.

** In "[[Recap/LawAndOrderS5E1SecondOpinion Second Opinion]]", Van Buren being asked, "What would you do if you had cancer?" becomes harsher to hear since later seasons have her struggling with Stage 2 cervical cancer.

** “Mega”: Creator/AnnetteOToole plays the more ruthless LadyMacBeth half of a CorruptCorporateExecutive couple with far-reaching influence. [[Series/ThePunisher2017 Sound familiar?]]

** "Sundays In The Park With Jorge". It's the only episode in twenty years to be ''pulled from rotation''[[note]]Although Creator/{{TNT}} as well as other channels that have syndication rights to the series now show it along with the other episodes[[/note]] and made Dick Wolf and company look Hispanophobic.

** Benjamin "Bud" Greer (who was played by future ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' star Creator/CourtneyBVance) from the episode "Rage", which [[RippedFromTheHeadlines the basis of the story is taken from]] the Long Island Subway killer, Colin Ferguson. Even if he was on the snobbish side, his character was this because he was [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer unfairly rejected]] by both Black and White society for as long as he remembered and his [[MeanBoss boss/victim]] was an [[AssholeVictim unlikable, money-hungry, racist jerkass]] who it was difficult to care about, unlike Ferguson who slaughtered random people.

* FanNickname: "The Rohmbot", an "affectionate" reference to Elisabeth Rohm's [[DullSurprise acting style]] as Serena Southerlyn.

** In "[[Recap/LawAndOrderS5E1SecondOpinion Second Opinion]", Van Buren being asked, "What would you do if you had cancer?" becomes harsher to hear since later seasons have her struggling with Stage 2 cervical cancer.