No it's not, the American ones are far and away the best crime programmes i have seen for a long time, i have watched much of the early series, always loved Sam Waterston.
Well it's uncomplicated for a tired brain on a Sunday night...and with Bradley Walsh (even though he looks downtrodden) and Paul Nicholls to look at I love it.
All the stories are based on the original American ones.You can compare them on Wiki . Last nights episode Mortal was based on Golden Years.
They say that Ronnie Brooks is based on Lennie Brisco .Two ex wives ,estranged daughters ,recovering alcoholic.
Trouble is once you've seen the original version you will make comparisons .
Our police and justice system isn't like America .There are bound to be differences.
I love both versions .
The storyline scripts for Law & Order UK are based on the same script of the US Law & Order episodes. Last night's story was based on the US episode "Golden Years". Series 4 episode 11. You can blame the American scriptwriters if you think the stories are poor.
the USA stories are far superior, their cop shows usually are better than ours, we have George Gently, they had shows like Hill St Blues, still the best in my opinion.