Someone jogging in Manhattan stumbles across a body. Two cops, one older and grizzled, the other younger and idealistic, take the case. They start questioning known acquaintances of the victim, and they find a likely suspect early on. However, new evidence indicates that clues pointing toward that person is a red herring.
When the likely perpetrator is apprehended, a lot of wheeling and dealing goes on with his or her lawyer and the assistant district attorney. The case may or may not go to court, and even if victory is achieved (through a plea bargain or a sentencing), it leaves the viewer hollow and angry that such a horrific crime even took place at all.
The above describes just about every episode of Law & Order ever. However, while that might seem rote and boring at first glance, it's actually the most appealing part of the series and its spin-offs. If people want to see something dynamic and different, they should watch The Wire. For comfort and reliability, Law & Order can't be beat.
Thankfully, the folks at Overthinking It have plowed through that reliability and given us a wonderful graph of every outcome from the original Law & Order. Take a look (via Vulture) and draw your own conclusions.