Thanks to a splashy relaunch on Hulu, new generations have their first encounter with the soapy, sax-heavy legal drama that made its debut in 1986.

“L.A. Law,” an Emmy-winning NBC drama that generated almost constant buzz during its run three decades ago, returned to the cultural spotlight this month when Hulu rereleased its 172 episodes in remastered high-definition format.

Until the streaming relaunch, the show was hard to find, existing in DVDs at junk shops and in the depths of Amazon Prime Video. And so, unlike “The Golden Girls,” “Friends,” “Seinfeld” and a few other series from the 1980s and 1990s, it had remained all but unknown to anyone born in the last 40 years or so.

In recent days the Styles journalists Melissa Guerrero, Sadiba Hasan, Callie Holtermann and Louis Lucero — all members of the Millennial or Gen Z generations who had never seen “L.A. Law,” much less heard of it — watched the first three episodes on Hulu. They shared their observations with the editors Minju Pak and Jim Windolf, who were fans of the show in its heyday.

Produced by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, and starring Harry Hamlin (Michael Kuzak), Corbin Bernsen (Arnie Becker), Jill Eikenberry (Ann Kelsey), Jimmy Smits (Victor Sifuentes) and Susan Dey (Grace Van Owen), “L.A. Law” made its debut in September 1986. It was the subject of workplace conversation and countless think pieces, and it won 15 Emmys before the final gavel in 1994.