This is the original cast of Law & Order, the cast that made up the first season, from left to right: Chris Noth as Detective Mike Logan, George Dzundza as Sergeant Max Greevey, Michael Moriarty as Executive A.D.A. Ben Stone, and Richard Brooks as Assistant D.A. Paul Robinette. Dann Florek as Captain Don Cragen and Steven Hill as District Attorney Adam Schiff are missing.

At the end of season one, George Dzundza left the series due to heated disputes with creator Dick Wolf over where to film the show. His character, Max Greevey, was murdered at the start of the second season and Paul Sorvino was hired to replace Dzundza, playing Sergeant Phil Cerreta.

Through the first half of season three, the cast remained intact. Then in late 1992, Paul Sorvino left amicably, claiming the cold New York air was hurting his singing voice. Cerreta was shot and wounded in the middle of   season three and took a desk job. Jerry Orbach, seen on the far left, replaced him, playing Detective Lennie Briscoe.

At the end of the third season, NBC pressured Dick Wolf to get more women into the cast. He reluctantly fired Dann Florek (not seen in the pictures) and Richard Brooks, and hired Jill Hennessy (left) as Claire Kincaid and S. Epatha Merkerson (right) as Anita Van Buren. Cragen was said to be in the Anti-Corruption Task Force, and Robinette became a defense attorney.

From late 1993 to early 1994 Michael Moriarty fought a battle against Attorney General Janet Reno and her violence on television policy. He resigned in early 1994 and was replaced by Sam Waterston, who was hired to play Jack McCoy for season five. Ben Stone resigned at the end of the fourth season after a witness he forced to testify was murdered. Click on one of these people to see the next page.