When "Law & Order" creator/ executive producer Dick Wolf needed music for his new show, there was only one logical name to draw: Mike Post. Beginning with the "Rockford Files" theme in 1974, Post has carved a niche in cop-and-lawyer show themes. From such notable TV series as "Magnum, P.I." (which began its run in 1980) to "Hill Street Blues" (1981) to "NYPD Blue" (1993), Post has long been the man for music to back up flying bullets and closing arguments alike. Notes Post, who scores all three "L&O" series, a theme should be instantly identifiable, "If you're in the other room and you hear this thing, you should think, 'That's "Law & Order."'"

The Hollywood Reporter: How did you get hired for "Law & Order"?
Mike Post: In the last year of "Hill Street," there was this writer working on that show named Dick Wolf. When he went to do "Law & Order," he either made the mistake or did something right and called me to do the music. It's been a great relationship ever since.

THR: What is it about cop shows that appeals to your muse?
Post: It just seemed that the shows that have become the most famous are the cop shows. These guys I'm friends with keep creating these shows that have to do with cops.

THR: What was your method for putting together the "L&O" theme?
Post: Dick said: "Look, this is all going to take place in New York City. There's a slickness, a sophistication about New York; it's got to have something streety about it and sophisticated at the same time." So the streety-ness is obvious in the guitar and the sophistication. And I listened to "Rhapsody in Blue"; (George) Gershwin doesn't have a copyright on the clarinet. So I put those two elements together and tried to design a piece of music that would speak both halves of the show.

THR: And what is that scene-changing "chunk-chunk" sound?
Post: I found a sample of a jail door closing, and I put it with a couple of little other sounds and made this ching-ching thing. The official name of it is the "ching."

THR: "Special Victims Unit" and "Criminal Intent" have similar themes, don't they?
Post: That was Dick's marching orders: Give me a variation. They're different pieces. They use the same basic music, but the licks are different, the setting is different and the orchestration is different.

THR: "L&O" doesn't have a lot of scoring, does it?
Post: No, it's atypically short. Dick and I agreed 13 years ago that this doesn't need a lot of score -- it's almost a documentary. I go to work as a scoring person when it needs a little underlining emotionally. There's probably only three, four, five cues per show.

THR: Do you get any fan feedback about the theme?
Post: I don't get a lot of fan mail, but I do get some, and a lot of it has to do with the "Law & Order" theme. I've never had anybody send me a hate note.