The sting comes from Law & Order, the NBC police procedural created by Dick Wolf that premiered in 1990, with its music composed by Mike Post. The two-note hit originally marked scene transitions between the investigation and the trial, and it became the franchise's audio signature across its many spin-offs. Online it escaped that context and turned into a universal punchline in meme edits, sitting alongside sounds like the game-show buzzer whenever creators want an instant verdict. Its two-second length makes it perfect for short-form video, which is why it never faded.