History RippedFromTheHeadlines / LawAndOrder

* Season 16, Episode 2 "American Disgrace" scored a trifecta: The Solange Knowles elevator rampage (sudden attack on a famous African-American) combined with the Ray Rice elevator attack (very serious allegations of abuse by an African-American sports star) with a Sterling racism rant on top (rich, older white man slagging off on the very African-Americans who earn him money while being secretly recorded).

* Season 7, episode 10: “Legacy,” based on the murder of [[https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.inquirer.com/philly/news/local/20080314_Doctor_guilty_of_murder_in_1976_love-triangle_case.html%3foutputType=amp]], Martin Dillon.

* Season 7, episode 13: "Matrimony", which featured yet another blond bombshell being investigated for the murder of her octogenarian millionaire husband.

* Abed on ''Series/{{Community}}'' also points out ''Series/LawAndOrder'' has an ongoing arc about a lawyer with a fake degree--total ripoff of Jeff.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'''s third season opened with an episode with a plot reminiscent of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger murder of James Bulger]], which had been rendered topical again by one of the murderers being arrested for child pornography offenses in early 2010 when the episode would've been written and filmed.
** The show also occasionally tweaks episodes of the original ''Series/LawAndOrder'' to deal with this. The adaptation of "Promises to Keep" (focused on a psychiatrist whose relationship with a client crosses the line and results in the death of the client's pregnant fiance) moved the focus onto the patient, who reveals he was involved in a James Bulger-style murder as a child and is out on a life license under a new identity, like Bulger's killers would have been at the time.

** the history of the murder victim in ''Echo Park'' is an obvious {{Expy}} of the Manson Family.
** Plus, of course since it is a ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'' series, episodes 1, 4, 5 and 6 are based in headlines as well.

Season 13, episode 3: "True Crime" combined Music/CourtneyLove's coked-up exploits, Music/KurtCobain's suicide, and the Dave Mustaine/Metallica split (with a layer of The Beatles/Yoko Ono thrown in for good measure). [[spoiler:The Cobain {{Expy}} didn't [[NeverSuicide actually kill himself]]]]. The dispute between the Courtney Love Expy and the surviving band mates was based on the dispute which was happening in Real Life at the time.

* Season 13, episode 3: "True Crime" combined Music/CourtneyLove's coked-up exploits, Music/KurtCobain's suicide, and the Dave Mustaine/Metallica split (with a layer of The Beatles/Yoko Ono thrown in for good measure). [[spoiler:The Cobain {{Expy}} didn't [[NeverSuicide actually kill himself]]]]. The dispute between the Courtney Love Expy and the surviving band mates was based on the dispute which was happening in Real Life at the time.

* John Tagman, the character played by Creator/NeilPatrickHarris in "Want" cannibalizes one woman and keeps her remains in a bodega freezer, then lobotomizes another in his quest for a compliant love slave, making him an AdaptationalSexuality variant on Jeffrey Dahmer.

* The first season episode "Poison" is strongly inspired by the Stella Nickell case. She had initially killed her husband with cyanide-tainted Excedrin capsules on June 5, 1986, though his death was ruled to be by natural causes. Nickell, however, would get a higher payout on his life insurance if he died from accidental causes, so she planted 4 more bottles of tainted capsules in local stores. When a woman, Sue Snow, was reported as having died from cyanide poisoning, Stella told police she thought her husband might also have used Excedrin. Further examination showed he did have cyanide in his body. Her story fell apart, however, and she was sentenced to 90 years in prison. [[note]]Nickell's crime itself was essentially a copycat of the "Tylenol Murders" in Chicago from 1982 -- seven people died in that case and it remains unsolved.[[/note]] Some minor differences were that in real life only one person (other than the killer's husband) died, there was no 'Angel of Death' to complicate matters, and Stella wanted to open up a fish store, instead of a baby clothing shop.

* The Season 8 episode "Burned" is based on the attempted murder of [[https://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/a-horrific-crime/all Yvette Cade]], although it's sensationalized to a significant extent; the true story is appended onto a fully fictional plot arc involving a FalseRapeAccusation, which never happened in the Cade case.

* "Family Values" is based on the crimes of John List, right down to the detail of the killer's daughter wanting to be an actress and the killer fearing it would lead her into sin. However, the episode does (presumably for reasons of storytelling expedience) omit one of the most memorable details about List's case, namely that he assumed a false identity and wasn't caught for decades; the "Family Values" killer is caught in the middle of his crime spree.

* “Pas De Deux” was inspired by the Brian Wells bombing case.

* Season 13, episode 3: "True Crime" combined Courtney Love's coked-up exploits, Kurt Cobain's [[strike:murder]] suicide, and the Dave Mustaine/Metallica split (with a layer of The Beatles/Yoko Ono thrown in for good measure).

*** A few episodes pull a RFTH trifecta: The 5/2/10 episode featured guy who (along with his sister) crashed a party at an executive mansion and jumped the security line at an airport. The third part implies that a senator is having an affair with the sister and his assistant takes the blame [[spoiler: but it's actually his wife who's having the affair with the aforementioned party-crasher/gate-jumper guy]].

** One episode ("True Crime") featured a Music/KurtCobain {{Expy}}, [[spoiler: who didn't [[NeverSuicide actually kill himself]]]]. The episode focused on a dispute between a Music/CourtneyLove Expy and the surviving band mates, which was happening in Real Life at the time.
** This actually had very, very serious legal ramifications once. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates Andrea Yates]] was a woman who drowned her five children in 2001, and was found guilty and sentenced to 40-to-life in prison. However, during her first murder trial, one expert testified on the stand that a ''Law & Order'' episode had aired that was very similar to the Andrea Yates case, and that this may have inspired Yates to commit this crime. This, in fact, '''never happened'''.[[note]]A 1994 episode, "Precious", was a similar case where a woman smothered four of her children and cited "crib death", but this relationship wasn't conclusive.[[/note]] For this reason, the expert was forced to recant his testimony, and the jury decided that it was swayed enough by that fact to retry the case. Andrea Yates was then found Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity.
*** In a hilarious TakeThat move, however, Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent aired an episode based on the Yates case, "Magnificat", in November 2004, a year after the verdict was overturned.

** Their disclaimer: "[[ThisIsAWorkOfFiction The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event]]."
*** On some occasions, they've even had to doubly stress that the story that's just been on is fictional, even if they do acknowledge that viewers may find similarities to a real life case.
*** Some stations have been known to air a disclaimer of their own when the case the episode was ripped from was local, warning viewers that the story ''may'' be based on an incident that traumatized the area.
*** One episode, which demonized the Brooklyn DA's office, explicitly stated that the episode in no way reflected on the actual Brooklyn police department or DA's office.

** Sometimes it gets out of hand. They've covered the Jon Benet-Ramsey case on three separate occasions, each with a different outcome.
*** The Paul Bernardo/Karla Homolka murders have been covered at least 3 times between the main series and the spinoffs.

* Season 1, episode 9: "Indifference" is so obviously inspired by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Steinberg Lisa Steinberg]] case that it concludes with a long disclaimer both displayed and spoken about how the real case differed from the story just shown. It is easily the creepiest moment of the entire series considering they used the same title sequence narrator to tell the audience that the horrific case and the depraved criminals involved have some basis in real life.

The Trope Namer via NBC's promos in the early 2000s. Almost all the stories are loosely based on real incidents, with things like the characters and outcomes changed.

** And then there's the "Melting Pot" episode in season 17, based on the murder of actress/director [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Shelly Adrienne Shelly]]. Adrienne Shelly guest starred in the Season 10 episode "High & Low".
** Subverted in the first season episode "The Serpent's Tooth." The case of the week strongly resembles that of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyle_and_Erik_Menendez Menendez brothers]]. The detectives are [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall aware of that case]] and [[WrongGenreSavvy focus on the kids to the exclusion of other suspects]]. As it turns out, the real killer is [[spoiler:the father's business partner, who's in TheMafiya]].

** Season 1's "Indifference" actually ended with a disclaimer specifically detailing the differences that separated the episode from the real-life story it was based on. It remains the only episode in any series in the franchise to do anything of that nature.

* In late 2006, ''Criminal Intent'' fictionalized the already-fictional character of the [=YouTube=] "celebrity" WebVideo/Lonelygirl15 as "[=WeepingWillow17=]" and made her the victim of a kidnapping, and by the end it's as hard for the detectives to tell what's real and what isn't as it is for the viewers.

* The Season 3 episode "The Saint" (yes, [[WTHCastingAgency the one with]] Creator/StephenColbert) was based on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hofmann Mark Hofmann]] case, centering on a forger who targets a religion institution and uses a bomb to get rid of the person that could help to unravel his scheme.
* Another episode had an upcoming Broadway musical based on [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the legend of Icarus]] plagued by injuries on the set, culminating in the death of its lead actor when his rigging snapped and he fell during a stunt. This was based on the many problems surrounding the infamous [[Theatre/SpiderManTurnOffTheDark Spider-Man musical]]. Goren even compares the two shows at one point.
* In the episode "Poison", the plot is extremely close to the Stella Nickell case. Some minor differences were that in real life only one person (other than the killer's husband) died, there was no 'Angel of Death' to complicate matters, and Stella wanted to open up a fish store, instead of a baby clothing shop.
* "Smothered" is pretty closely based on what happened to Pati Margello. The step-father of her boyfriend, Dean [=MacGuigan=] hired hit men to kill her. This was with full knowledge and consent of Dean's mother, Lisa Moseley, heir to the [=DuPont=] fortune.

** Subverted in "Weeping Willow"; Willow, unlike [[WebVideo/Lonelygirl15 Bree]], turns out to be an actual girl. [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubversion Double Subverted]] when it turns out the kidnapping was a fake that had simply spiraled out of control.]]
** One noteworthy episode ("Want") is based on Jeffrey Dahmer, and includes things like the killer being employed in a candy-related job, his longing for a permanent companion, cannibalism of body parts, boiling water being poured into holes drilled in the victim's head, and [[spoiler: the killer being murdered in prison while on work detail]]. Creator/NeilPatrickHarris even looks frighteningly similar to Dahmer in the episode.
** "Smothered" is based on the murder of [[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/classics/dd_maternal_instinct_du_pont/1_index.html Pati Margello]].
** The killer from "Gone" is a murderous version of Bobby Fischer.
** In the episode "D.A.W.," the killer is an American version of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_shipman Harold Shipman]].
** The first character played by Jay O. Sanders was obviously based on famous mob hitman Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski.
** “Phantom” is based on the case of Frenchman Jean-Claude Romand, who for 18 years pretended to be a medical doctor and researcher for the World Health Organization (WHO) and conned relatives out of their money. In 1993, as his scam was about to collapse, he murdered his wife, two children, and his parents so they would never know about his deceit.
** The last two episodes are based on ''[[Theatre/SpiderManTurnOffTheDark Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark]]'' and the [[Website/{{Facebook}} Zuckerberg-Winkelvoss controversy]], respectively.
** The murderous group from "Slither" are based off the the Manson family. The episode even lampshades this.
** "The Good Doctor" is based off of Dr. Robert Birenbaum.
** The first season episode "Poison" is strongly inspired by the Stella Nickell case. She had initially killed her husband with cyanide-tainted Excedrin capsules on June 5, 1986, though his death was ruled to be by natural causes. Nickell, however, would get a higher payout on his life insurance if he died from accidental causes, so she planted 4 more bottles of tainted capsules in local stores. When a woman, Sue Snow, was reported as having died from cyanide poisoning, Stella told police she thought her husband might also have used Excedrin. Further examination showed he did have cyanide in his body. Her story fell apart, however, and she was sentenced to 90 years in prison. [[note]]Nickell's crime itself was essentially a copycat of the "Tylenol Murders" in Chicago from 1982 -- seven people died in that case and it remains unsolved.[[/note]]
** "The Saint" is based on Mark Hofmann, who sold forgeries to the Mormon church. Said forger is played by Creator/StephenColbert.
** "Happy Family" is based on the murder of Ted Ammon.
** “Faith” is a genderflipped version of the Anthony Godby Johnson hoax.
** “Tuxedo Hill” was obviously inspired by the Enron scandal.
** “Malignant” is based on the case of Robert Ray Courtney, a pharmacist who intentionally diluted 98,000 prescriptions to increase profit.
** “Pravda” is based on the Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal.
** “Sound Bodies” was partially inspired by the New Sweden, Maine, church poisoning case.
** “Mis-Labeled” is based on the case of Bayer’s Cutter Laboratories decision to continue to sell blood products contaminated with HIV because the financial investment in the product was considered too high to destroy the inventory.
** "Baggage" is based on the still-unsolved 1992 murder of Susan "Su" Taraskiewicz.
** "Monster" is based on both the so-called "Preppie Murder" case of Robert Chambers which coincided with his release for manslaughter in 2003 [[note]]only to be sent back to prison for twenty more years on drug charges[[/note]] and the Central Park Jogger rape case.
** "Acts of Contrition" is based upon the racially-motivated Howard Beach, Queens beatings of the 1980s.
** "Magnificat" was inspired by the Andrea Yates case.
** "Bedfellows" was based on the murders of Robert and Andrew Kissel.
** "Masquerade" was inspired by the [=JonBenet=] Ramsey case.
** "Neighborhood Watch" was taken off of the November 2007 brutal murder of Daniel Sorensen by Jean Pierre Orlewicz and Alexander Letkemann.

[[folder:Law And Order (Trope Namer)]]
Yes, ''Law & Order'' did this so frequently that it rates a separate section.

!!The Mothership

!!Special Victims Unit

!!Criminal Intent

!!Other Shows in the Franchise

[[/folder]]