September 25 is a special day for Law & Order and its fans, as this is when the 2025 TV schedule will usher in Season 25 of the beloved crime procedural. With over 500 episodes under its belt across 35 years (the L&O pilot aired way back in 1990), these ripped-from-the-headlines stories of love, loss, deceit, murder, and mayhem have certainly given viewers lots to look forward to week after week. But, the man behind the far-reaching franchise, Dick Wolf, recently admitted that the “perfect” episode of the drama has yet to happen.
What Does Dick Wolf Think Will Make The Perfect Law & Order Episode?
When Law & Order debuted so many years ago, I don’t really think anyone, even Dick Wolf, could have predicted how the series would go on to change television. Not only did the original become one of the longest-running scripted dramas, but it also led to not just the wide-ranging L&O franchise, but a whole Wolf TV Universe that includes One Chicago and a (recently lowered) number of FBI shows.
When talking about the drama that started it all with the Los Angeles Times, Wolf revealed that while it (somehow) hasn’t happened yet, he does believe that there’s a “perfect” L&O episode fans have yet to experience. When talking about how the writing on his shows have led to their longevity, he said:
Once again, the reason we’re still here is because of the writing. We’re not lecturing, we’re not teaching. The perfect Law & Order episode has not been done yet, and I push for it every year. It would be where all six of the regulars have different points of view on the same issue, and as you listen to them, you realize every one of them is right.
Now, this is an intriguing idea. As much as the cast of characters has always included a number of cops and district attorneys at varying levels, they do all tend to basically agree on the right and wrong of the cases they’re collaborating on, as well as the motives and actions of suspects/criminals.
While there have always been real life issues that cause all of us real folks to live in undefined and sometimes icky gray areas of morality, Wolf’s franchise has likely mostly stuck to the lawyers and detectives in his franchise agreeing on things to make it easier to craft stories. But, as he also points out, one of the things that keeps the series strong is what most of the episodes end up being about when all the murky issues are boiled down:
The basic underlying principle — and everyone on the shows know this — is that you can forgive in writing almost anything, but not murder…It’s a never-ending story. People will not stop killing each other in new and unique ways. I never worry about running out of stories.
While he didn’t reveal why he thinks his “perfect” episode idea always gets shot down, I do appreciate his honesty in opening up about how he butters his crime-drama bread (as well as that of the L&O franchise’s many, many employees). It’s doubtful that we’ll see his vision come to fruition any time soon, but whenever it does happen, it’ll be an episode for the record books.
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