Oh, Law and Order. Is there any better program to watch while sick or high or bored, except maybe Golden Girls? For years now Dick Wolf has managed to employ every actor that has ever come to New York, and the subject has been ripe with parody amongst NYC comedians whose only big break was being "brother of the victim" in one of the show's many incarnations.
But who could blame the public for poking fun at the dinosaur? Law and Order is 19 years old, meaning that the episode where Philip Seymor Hoffman plays a rich college asshole probably took place around the time PSH was actually in college. Scary! That man is ageless!
So is NBC finally sending America's favorite two-sided justice system melodrama out to the pasture for permanent syndication? Or does Mr. Big Chris Noth have one more shot at a comeback?
The casting of insanely hot Michaela McManus as Law & Order: SVU’s new assistant district attorney isn’t the franchise’s only major casting news. The spin-off Criminal Intent also has a roster change up — and it’s a doozy. Having cashed another decent pay day with Sex and the City and not liking the request to take a pay freeze instead of an increase, Chris Noth is ditching the TV show, where he plays Det. Mike Logan and has, since leaving the original Law & Order when it started 18 years ago before returning to CI, split his screen time with Vincent D’Onofrio, who swapped in every other episode. But Criminal Intent, whose ratings had NBC Universal moving the new episodes of the series off NBC proper and on to USA, isn’t moving to a standard format with only one set of regular detectives — Noth has a successor. And you might know him from a little movie called Jurassic Park.
Sad but true: One of the greatest Assistant District Attorneys in the history of the Law & Order franchise, Diane Neal as Casey Novak, has left the show. It was announced today that One Tree Hill alum Michaela McManus will be replacing her. One Tree Hill abstainers that we are, we can't attest to McManus' merits; but they better be plentiful, because she's got some big sensible heels to fill.
After the jump, every single ADA from Law & Order's history. Who's your favorite?
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Jesse L Martin, aka Detective Ed Green, last night appeared in his final episode of Law & Order, the gradually worsening drama in which he starred for nine wonderful seasons. His swan song revealed that the famously squeaky-clean Green had a secret history of violence and gambling addiction, and the narrative was pretty good until the kind-of-corny deus ex machina spoiled the ending. Since so many of you weirdos tape television now, we won't tell you what happens, but do give it a look.
DOINK DOINK "Ravi Batra, a Manhattan lawyer, filed a lawsuit in 2004 against Dick Wolf, the creator of [Law & Order], arguing that the plot of a November 2003 episode included an unsavory character, Ravi Patel, who is modeled on Mr. Batra. In a decision made public on Wednesday, Justice Marilyn Shafer of State Supreme Court in Manhattan rejected a motion by Mr. Wolf’s lawyers to dismiss the lawsuit."
SVU IS UNSTOPPABLE "Oscar winner Robin Williams will make a rare TV appearance on NBC's crime drama 'Law & Order: SVU.' On an episode slated to air April 29, he will play a law-abiding engineer whose life takes a tragic turn, he becomes an ardent believer in the necessity of challenging authority."
ED GREEN IS DEAD? "'Law & Order' veteran Jesse L. Martin is expected to leave the long-running NBC drama after nine years. Anthony Anderson is in final negotiations to come on board and fill the void left by Martin's departure."
"…ESPECIALLY HEINOUS. IN NEW YORK CITY…" They're filming Law & Order right outside Jossip's offices! Someone put their hands on me and said, "You can't go that way." I objected! Objection sustained.
Later, a co-editor heard, "It’s that black guy." Detective Green? Probably, but no visual proof.
Stabler, alas, nowhere to be seen.
Editor
