Pop Culture Happy Hour: The 'Law & Order' Universe

The original Law & Order lasted 20 seasons. Law & Order: SVU just finished its 19th. That's not even the whole shebang. There was Criminal Intent, there was Conviction ... you'll just have to listen to the show.

Glen Weldon and Stephen Thompson have the day off while I sit down with Previously.TV editor (and Television Without Pity founder) Sarah D. Bunting and Pop Culture Happy Hour pal Margaret H. "Hulahoop" Willison to talk about the world of detectives and lawyers, weirdos and guest stars who will one day be famous. We talk about "Mothership," by which we mean the original show, where Lenny Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) is simply accepted as our leader, and about SVU, where Olivia Benson is someone who should spend less time talking to us about her personal life, because work is what Law & Order is supposed to be all about. (Also, she might try to become a slightly better detective, even though she's a kind person, don't get us wrong.)

We also talk about what's making us happy this week, from the book I'm reading and the podcasts that have Margaret's ear to the songs Sarah is listening to. And both Sarah and Margaret have more where all that came from: Margaret's podcast Appointment Television is available for your listening pleasure, as is Sarah's podcast Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs.

Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.