Law & Order Power Rankings, Order edition has been chopped into two parts for convenience – you can find the first part here.
4. George Dzundza (as Max Greevey, season 1) – Dzundza has had the most time to work, participating in a mere 1/20th of the series. After he left, he appeared in Basic Instinct, Dangerous Minds, That Darn Cat, Species II and several episodes of the Batman animated series as Scarface and several of the Superman animated series as Perry White. He was a regular in Christina Applegate’s one season Jesse and appeared on episodes of Matlock, Touched by an Angel, Third Watch and The Agency. He was in films Instinct and City by the Sea in the early ‘00s and was a main cast member in one season Hack. He was in seven episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and episodes of October Road and Stargate SG-1.
3. Dann Florek (as Donald Cragen, season 1-3) – After his role on classic L&O ended, Florek bounced around, appearing in episodes of Wings, Ellen, The John Laroquette Show, Roseanne, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, NYPD Blue, The Pretender and The Practice. He was in two episodes of astronaut miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. In the short-lived The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, Florek played Abraham Lincoln. In TV movie Exiled, he reprised his role as Captain Kragen, and he was in six episodes of Smart Guy as a gym teacher and basketball coach. In 1999, he got what he’s now best known for, a role as his old Law & Order character Captain Kragen, this time working with the Special Victims Unit. He’s been doing it for 13 years so far. He’s been a main character on a 13 season show but I’m deducting a little bit because he’s playing the same character as on regular Law & Order and it’s kind of cheating.
2. Benjamin Bratt (as Rey Curtis, season 6-9) – He’s appeared in many movies since his term on Law & Order ended, such as Red Planet, Miss Congeniality, Traffic, Abandon, The Woodsman, Catwoman, Thumbsucker and as a voice in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. He starred in the one season E-Ring on NBC in 2005 about the Pentagon and in the two season A&E show The Cleaner about a recovering drug addict who helps other drug addicts recover (there are a thousand better shows that could be made based on the title “The Cleaner”). He starred in a miniseries based on The Andromeda Strain and he has become a regular as of current season five of Private Practice as Dr. Jake Reilly. He’s also appeared in two episodes of Modern Family as Manny’s dad and Gloria’s ex-husband.
1A. Jerry Orbach (as Lenny Briscoe, season 3-14) – he deserved a spot on the list. This is merely an honorary spot and conveys no true ranking except to specifically note that Jerry Orbach is awesome.
1. Chris Noth (as Mike Logan, season 1-6) – His first couple of years post Law & Order were filled with TV movies, including Nothing Lasts Forever, Abducted: A Father’s Love, Born Free: A New Adventure, Rough Riders, Medusa’s Child, and Exiled, in which he starred as his Law & Order character. In Castaway, he plays the man who marries Tom Hanks’ wife, while Hanks is, well, castaway. In 1998, he got his biggest post-Law & Order role as Mr. Big in Sex and the City. Mr. Big is Carrie’s most important love interest over the course of the series, and they get together several times before finally getting married at the end of the first movie and they remain married through the second movie through some difficulties. He was in a couple of episodes of Crossing Jordan with former Law & Order co-star Jill Hennessy and TV movies The Judge, This is Your Country, and Bad Apple. He returned to the Law & Order franchise in Criminal Intent for a couple of seasons as his old character Mike Logan. Since 2009, he has been a recurring cast member, as the bad husband of the titular The Good Wife, now in its third season, appearing in the majority of the episodes of the series.
Leave a Reply