456 episodes, 52 Emmy nominations, 6 spin-offs (and counting), and it’s back for more. It’s been a little over a decade since the original Law & Order completed its 20 year run on NBC, but after 11 years off the air, the series returns for its 21st season tonight at 8/7c. During a recent TCA press conference, the cast and creative team joined together to talk about “The police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.”
(NBCUniversal)
“In 1990, Brandon Tartikoff had a belief in the viability of Law & Order,” series creator Dick Wolf said of the historic run. “When Sam Waterston joined the show in 1994, the ratings grew and the show earned the Emmy Award in 1997. For the next 16 years, Sam was the face of the show. As you know, we were abruptly canceled in 2010 and for 11 years it was my dream that one day the show would return and break the 20-season tie with Gunsmoke. The talks with Universal and NBC, which were ongoing for the past seven years, heated up in 2020. My first call was to Sam, who graciously agreed to return, and I called Rick Eid, who has a long history with me and is the ideal showrunner. So not only did my dream come true, I have my dream cast: Sam, Anthony, Hugh, Jeffrey, Camryn, and Odelya. As always, we will be ripping crimes from the headlines while also reflecting the zeitgeist of present-day America.”
“I don't think he's ever stopped talking about it,” Sam Waterston said of Dick Clark’s desire to bring the original series back. Sam joined the cast of the original Law & Order during its 5th season as Jack McCoy. “One of the reasons that we're back is because of his persistence and determination and his complete conviction that it was a terrible mistake to stop in the first place. The other reason that we're coming back, though, I think is because we stopped making the shows, but the audience never stopped watching them. So the audience's persistent appetite for Law & Order is a major reason why we're back.”
For longtime fans who have been eagerly awaiting the return, the revival promises both new and familiar faces. “You'll definitely see some familiar faces along the way,” showrunner, writer, and executive producer Rick Eid promised. “We're going to keep those names quiet right now. But there's so many great actors who have been involved in the show, and the opportunity for them to come back in some capacity is really exciting. So I think we definitely want to find ways to bring back several of our alumni.”
One of the new faces to the show may be familiar to eagle-eyed viewers for a number of reasons. “My first job out of NYU was on Law & Order back in 1991, 30 years ago,” Camryn Manheim revealed, who joins the series this season as Lt. Kate Dixon. “I came back as three different characters on Law & Order through the years… It was a badge of honor to be able to be in an off-Broadway play or a Broadway play and say that you'd been on Law & Order and then how many times you'd been on Law & Order… This is a huge full circle for me to come back and play Kate Dixon. I do want to say that everything has been updated and very current in terms of storyline except for the precinct. It is still that same old precinct. Nothing is updated. I mean, the phones are still from, you know, Edison's time. So it just feels like you are home for me… I feel like the luckiest person in show business right now, and I just can't wait for the viewers to see it because we really are bringing back the same precinct, the same courts, the same amazing show with contemporary and really fascinating storylines that I'm really proud to be a part of.”
Hugh Dancy also joins the series this season as Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price. “One of the first things that Dick said when he addressed this all is how well the engine of the show applies or can be used to kind of accommodate that whatever the conversational debate is, more importantly, of any given moment,” Hugh explained about how the show adapts real stories from the headlines. “Every single episode takes the stories out of the headlines and then uses that as an entryway into the arguments that are being had across the country right now.”
“It felt like no time had passed at all,” Anthony Anderson said of returning to play Detective Kevin Bernard, a role he originated in season 18. “I called Dick once I found out the show was coming back, and he was excited to hear from me, to hear that I would be interested in doing it. And returning to the streets of New York, returning to our sound stages and that squad room and donning that badge, Badge No. 1901, was like sitting in a well-worn saddle. It gripped you just right and was comfortable. So it was fairly easy for me. The hard part is working with someone like Jeffrey Donovan,” he joked, demonstrating a playful rivalry with one of his new costars. “What people don't know is Jeffrey and I are making ‘Law & Order: The Comedy.’ So you'll see that on screen. It's going to be a bit different.”
“You won't see any of that on screen,” Jeffrey Donovan promised, who plays Detective Frank Cosgrove and promises these moments are all on the cutting room floor. “It's no secret, I am actually the biggest fan of this show, of this cast. I've watched almost every episode. I watched it when I was a college student at NYU in the '90s, and my dream was always to be a guest star on it. And I was always envious of all of my friends who were getting on, and now I'm walking on the hallowed grounds of the squad room with Camryn and Anthony. It's just a dream come true.”
Joining the cast had an element of wish-fulfillment for another new cast member. “Ever since I was a kid growing up in a foreign country, I've been watching the show in the '90s with my mom,” Odelya Halevi shared, who was born in Israel and plays Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun. Watching the show made her want to be a lawyer, but Odelya’s mother recognized that what she really wanted to do was play a lawyer. “Years later I find myself the ADA on this show that I used to watch every day, so it's a dream. That's all I can say. I'm learning so much from my co-stars and I'm enjoying every minute and I just can't wait for a lot more of this dream.”
Whether you’re a longtime fan of Law & Order or looking to get into it for the first time, the revival with season 21 promises to be a great place to start. The adventure continues tonight on NBC at 8/7c.