Mykelti Williamson Responds to John Oliver's 'Law & Order' Critique

Mykelti Williamson says John Oliver's dissection of 'Law & Order' as pro-cop propaganda is too serious for his own good -- 'cause at the end of the day ... it's showbiz, baby.

We got the veteran actor -- who recently had a starring role on "Law & Order: Organized Crime" -- responding to JO's anti-Dick Wolf rant while he was leaving LAX ... and his response to John's very serious critique of the long-running franchise is a dash of real talk.

The truth, according to Mykelti, is that DW -- the creator of 'Law & Order' -- is a class act ... especially when it comes to telling authentic stories about POC, so there's that.

On the issue of 'L&O' depicting police in too rosy a light, Mykelti is sorta giving an eye roll here -- first noting the show has attempted to tackle real-world issues within their plots (which is true) and secondly ... rightly pointing out 'L&O' is good old-fashioned entertainment.

As he explains to our photog, the truth is ugly and complicated -- with people already getting their fill of reality in their day-to-day lives ... and looking to TV for some escapism.

He also suggests that people aren't tuning into 'Law & Order' for virtue signaling ... they just want a tight 43 minutes of a cop chasing down a bad guy and cracking the case -- a formula John thinks has been rinsed and repeated for far too long, unrealistically.

But, Mykelti -- who, BTW, is also doing big things outside of TV with his Warrior Recovery Program for vets/first responders -- thinks this debate's more simple than John's making it.