The good scientists over at Overthinking It have taken on the Herculean task of analyzing and quantifying the first ten seasons of beloved TV show Law & Order. They may be too humble to call themselves heroes, but they (and reader/obsessive viewer Josh Kyu Saiewitz) certainly are to us. In their database, they breakdown the outcomes of the cases by season (36.7 percent result in plea bargains), and the conviction/"success" rates.
Most intriguingly, they compare those conviction rates on the show with the real life NYC murder rate, and come to an interesting conclusion regarding the election of Rudy Giuliani, his "strong public perception" of law and order, and the way it was reflected on the show. But we certainly don't think it's much of a coincidence that the conviction rate in L&O jumped to a high of 82.6 percent the same year that a certain silver-haired, headstrong DA was brought on board.
