Law And Order Was Almost Named Something Completely Different
It's not exactly uncommon for movies and shows to go through a few different titles during their development stage — and even later, as several movies have been forced to change their title after release. In the TV world, shows like "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "That '70s Show" have struggled to find their name. Even a seemingly surefire, ultra-catchy title like "Friends" wasn't as easy to come up with as you might think, seeing as the makers considered titles ranging from "Insomnia Cafe" to "Six of One" for the smash hit sitcom. Naming things: It's not as easy as you'd think!
However, surely there are some exceptions. Take "Law & Order," for instance. The show is a combined legal drama ("Law") and police procedural ("Order"), for crying out loud — what else could you possibly call it?
Something very, very different, it turns out. Let's take a look at the extremely strange original title "Law & Order" almost had.
Law and Order could have been Night and Day, or something even stranger
Per Susan Green and Kevin Courrier's book "Law & Order: The Unofficial Companion," "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf didn't immediately land on the iconic name, though the show's dual nature did lead him to tinker with ampersands very early on. The original title he considered was reportedly "Night & Day," though according to Complex, "Life & Death" was also on the table at one point. Somehow, these rather underwhelming titles weren't even the strangest he pulled out of the bag. As ex-president for Universal TV, Kerry McCluggage, told Forbes, the very first working title of the show was "Catch 'Em and Cook 'Em."
Ultimately, of course, Wolf landed on "Law & Order," and the iconic, punchy name probably didn't hurt when the show grew into a vast franchise. After all, "Night & Day: Special Victims Unit" or "Catch 'Em and Cook 'Em: Criminal Intent" just don't have the same ring to them.