Order in "Law and Order" The Detectives Quiz

The first season of "Law and Order" opened with Sergeant Max Greevey as the senior partner and Detective Mike Logan as the junior partner. Greevey, experienced and even-keeled, contrasted with Logan's hot-headedness. Greevey had a good relationship with their Lieutenant, Donald Cragen, as they had been partners for a long time before Cragen was promoted.

Mike Logan was paired with another veteran detective when he joined forces with Sergeant Phil Cerreta, played by the brilliant Paul Sorvino. At first, Logan resented having a new partner after the sudden loss of his first, but Cerreta's good-nature and extreme competence won him over before long. Too bad it was another short pairing, due to Cerreta's injury and move to a desk job.

Detective Lennie Briscoe joined Mike Logan partway through the third season, taking over when Cerreta stepped away. Briscoe, played to acclaim by Jerry Orbach, was the longest-running detective in the series' first 20 episodes, working with three junior detectives along the way.

When Mike Logan was removed from the precinct due to misbehavior, Rey Curtis stepped in, representing a new breed of New York police detective: college-educated, crisp-suit-wearing, and committed not to bending any rules, a contrast to the shoe-leather, neighborhood-focused, brother-in-blue detective like Lennie. Nonetheless, they were good partners to each other, especially as they both faced personal problems.

Ed Green stepped in as Lennie's third and last junior partner. Ed was very focused on victims; more than once, he had to force himself to lower his firearm when he had a suspect in custody. He was close to Lennie and had troubles when Lennie retired.

When Lennie retired, Joe Fontana, Chicago native and veteran detective, stepped in as Ed Green's senior partner. Joe was a charmer and managed to glean a lot of information by using the phrase, "We're authorized" on an untold number of witnesses, clerks, and secretaries. He dressed in expensive Italian clothes and carried a wad of cash.

When Ed Green was shot in the line of duty, Joe Fontana took on a new partner, Nick Falco. Their first case together, "Publish and Perish," related to a high-ranking official and a scandalous actress. Fontana once referred to Falco as "square," in a good way, referring to his law-abiding nature.

In turn, Falco referred jokingly to Fontana as "high-maintenance," since Fontana never wanted to soil his expensive clothes and made Nick dig into dirty places like dumpsters and chimney vents.

When Ed returned to duty after his shooting -- when the actor Jesse L. Martin finished his role in "Rent" -- he stepped right back into his partnership with Fontana. Fontana did not like to get physically dirty, but he was not afraid to play a little dirty; he was accused of using excessive force to make a kidnapper reveal where he was hiding his young victim.

He retired in good standing.

After Fontana retired, Ed Green moved into the senior detective role, taking on Nina Cassady, a green, newly-promoted officer, as his second. Their Lieutenant, Anita Van Buren, was not happy being forced to take on Cassady, and she and Green did their best to train her. Cassady had some good moments: she spotted a payphone that tied a lawyer to his dirty clients and she took down a combative suspect on her own.

But she didn't last and was gone by the next season.

Cyrus Lupo came up through NYPD with a detour into military intelligence before he joined Ed Green as homicide detective. Ed gave him the nickname Loops which stuck even after Ed left the force and Lupo got a new partner.