Law & Order: Season 1

1990 · 22 episodes · ★ 7.4

What Season 1 of Law & Order

The first season is set in New York, where the police and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office work on two fronts. Homicide detectives, such as Sergeant Max Greevey and Detective Mike Logan, follow the clues in each crime until they track down a suspect. Then, prosecutors Stone and Robinette build the case and bring it before a court. The 22 episodes move case by case through varied themes: medical negligence, murders with hidden motives, municipal corruption, the mafia, or racial tensions. The protagonists' personal lives barely factor into the plot.

22episodes

Sep 13, 1990premiered

Jun 9, 1991latest episode

17.3 hrtotal runtime

Season 1 Episodes

1x01 Prescription for Death
Sep 13, 1990 · 48 min · ★ 7.2
When a young woman dies during a hectic emergency room night shift, her father claims the hospital was negligent, and an investigation leads the detectives to believe that the doctor treating her may have been drunk on duty.
Directed by: John Whitesell · Written by: Ed Zuckerman · Starring: John Spencer, Erick Avari, Ron Rifkin, Rocky Carroll
1x02 Subterranean Homeboy Blues
Sep 20, 1990 · 47 min · ★ 7.8
The shooting of two black men by a white woman in a crowded subway initially appears to be a case of self-defense, but further investigation reveals revenge as a possible motive.
Directed by: E.W. Swackhamer · Written by: Robert Palm · Starring: Tonya Pinkins, Mimi Weddell, Lorraine Toussaint, Cynthia Nixon
1x03 The Reaper's Helper
Oct 4, 1990 · 46 min · ★ 6.8
The death of a man with AIDS appears to be the work of a serial killer who may have been motivated by mercy.
Directing: Vern Gillum · Writing: Thomas Francis McElroy, David Black, Robert Nathan · Starring: Peter Frechette, Francis Guinan, Jesse Corti, Frank Girardeau
1x04 Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die
Oct 11, 1990 · 47 min · ★ 7.5
Stone has difficulty prosecuting a privileged preppie with a history of abusing his girlfriends after one of them dies at his hands.
Directing: Charles Correll · Writing: Robert Nathan · Starring: Priscilla Lopez, Haviland Morris, Thomas Calabro, Jacqueline Brookes
1x05 Happily Ever After
Oct 23, 1990 · 48 min · ★ 7.4
Greevey and Logan have a hunch that robbery is a cover for the real motive in the death of a millionaire in a parking garage.
Directing: Vern Gillum · Writing: David Black, Robert Nathan · Starring: Richard Poe, Roxanne Hart, Aida Turturro, Chip Zien
1x06 Everybody's Favorite Bagman
Oct 30, 1990 · 45 min · ★ 7.5
The mugging of a councilman leads the detectives to arrest a mobster, who in turn leads Stone and Robinette to corrupt city officials.
Directing: John Patterson · Writing: Dick Wolf · Starring: Trey Wilson, Paul Guilfoyle, William H. Macy, Roy Thinnes
1x07 By Hooker, By Crook
Nov 13, 1990 · 47 min · ★ 7.7
When Logan and Greevey investigate how a family man came to be found unconscious in Central Park, they uncover a very high-class call girl operation run by a well-educated socialite.
Directing: Martin Davidson · Writing: David Black · Starring: Christine Dunford, Bernard Barrow, Jenny Robertson, Robert LuPone
1x08 Poison Ivy
Nov 20, 1990 · 47 min · ★ 7.5
The shooting of a black honors student stirs up racial tensions, especially after it becomes apparent that the cop responsible for the death may have planted a gun on the body to excuse the shooting.
Directing: E.W. Swackhamer · Writing: Jacob Brackman · Starring: Erik King, Al Freeman Jr., Minnie Gentry, John Capodice
1x09 Indifference
Nov 27, 1990 · 48 min · ★ 8.2
During the investigation into the death of a little girl in a respectable, middle-class family, Greevey and Logan uncover a myriad of family secrets involving abuse, molestation, and murder.
Directing: James Quinn · Writing: Robert Palm · Starring: David Groh, Diane Salinger, John Rothman, Lorraine Toussaint
1x10 Prisoner of Love
Dec 4, 1990 · 46 min · ★ 7.1
A city arts commissioner and a socialite come under investigation when an artist noted for his sadomasochistic themes is found dead under suspicious circumstances.
Directing: Michael Fresco · Writing: Robert Nathan · Starring: Frances Conroy, Marjorie Monaghan, Larry Keith, Ted Marcoux
1x11 Out of the Half-Light
Dec 11, 1990 · 47 min · ★ 6.6
Greevey and Logan's investigation into a black teenager's claim that she was raped by white policemen is hampered by a publicity hungry, black politician who will not grant the detectives access to the victim.
Directing: E.W. Swackhamer · Writing: Michael Duggan · Starring: Harold Perrineau, Frankie Faison, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Tichina Arnold
1x12 Life Choice
Jan 8, 1991 · 48 min · ★ 7.4
Stone faces pressure from the public and from Schiff as he prepares to prosecute the person accused of bombing an abortion clinic.
Directing: Aaron Lipstadt, Dick Wolf · Writing: David Black, Robert Nathan · Starring: Camryn Manheim, Julie Halston, Kevin Cooney, LaTanya Richardson Jackson
1x13 A Death in the Family
Jan 15, 1991 · 46 min · ★ 7.1
Police start a citywide manhunt for a man suspected of killing a cop during a rooftop pursuit.
Directing: Gwen Arner · Writing: David Black, Joe Viola · Starring: Susan Batson, Jerome Preston Bates, Louis Guss, Wendy Makkena
1x14 The Violence of Summer
Feb 5, 1991 · 47 min · ★ 7.4
Greevey and Logan reopen an investigation to help Stone and Robinette build a stronger case against three boys accused of gang-raping a TV reporter.
Directing: Don Scardino · Writing: Michael Duggan · Starring: Megan Gallagher, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Gil Bellows, Samuel L. Jackson
1x15 The Torrents of Greed (1)
Feb 12, 1991 · 48 min · ★ 7.6
An assault on a candy storeowner leads Stone and Robinette to build a case against a powerful mafia don.
Directing: E.W. Swackhamer · Writing: Michael S. Chernuchin · Starring: Charles Cioffi, Stephen McHattie, Christine Baranski, Luis Antonio Ramos
1x16 The Torrents of Greed (2)
Feb 19, 1991 · 47 min · ★ 7.7
Stone tries to salvage his prosecution of the Masucci family when Beigel faces bribery charges and seems willing to turn against his brother-in-law.
Directing: E.W. Swackhamer · Writing: Michael S. Chernuchin · Starring: Charles Cioffi, Stephen McHattie, Christine Baranski, Bruce Altman
1x17 Mushrooms
Feb 26, 1991 · 48 min · ★ 7.7
The accidental shooting of two children by a 14-year-old hired killer leads to a drug dealer and a real estate agent.
Directing: Daniel Sackheim · Writing: Robert Palm · Starring: Brad Sullivan, James McDaniel, Thomas Kopache, Eugene Byrd
1x18 The Secret Sharers
Mar 12, 1991 · 48 min · ★ 7.2
Stone faces a flashy Texas lawyer and a hostile community as he tries to prosecute a young man accused of killing a drug dealer.
Directing: E.W. Swackhamer · Writing: Robert Nathan · Starring: Susan Browning, Sully Díaz, Lorraine Toussaint, Miriam Colon
1x19 The Serpent's Tooth
Mar 19, 1991 · 48 min · ★ 7.4
Two brothers appear to be the logical suspects in the murder of their wealthy parents.
Directing: Don Scardino · Writing: Robert Nathan, René Balcer · Starring: Norman Rose, George Morfogen, Frances Sternhagen, Jonathan Hadary
1x20 The Troubles
Mar 26, 1991 · 47 min · ★ 7.6
Logan is forced to face his cultural biases when both a Cuban drug dealer and an Irish terrorist are suspected of killing a Lebanese gunrunner.
Directed by: John Whitesell · Written by: Robert Palm · Starring: Alan North, Kevin J. O'Connor, Paxton Whitehead, Donal Donnelly
1x21 Sonata for Solo Organ
Apr 2, 1991 · 47 min · ★ 7.6
Stone and Robinette prosecute a surgeon and the wealthy father of a transplant patient for illegally obtaining a kidney.
Directing: Fred Gerber · Writing: Michael S. Chernuchin, Joe Morgenstern · Starring: Dominic Chianese, Marcella Lowery, Zach Grenier, Roger Robinson
1x22 The Blue Wall Season Finale
Jun 9, 1991 · 48 min · ★ 7.8
Cragen comes under suspicion when his mentor in the department is investigated for laundering drug money.
Directed by: Vern Gillum · Written by: Robert Nathan · Starring: Robert Lansing, John Doman, John Christopher Jones, Gerry Bamman