Linus Roache, Alana De La Garza, and Sam Waterston
After 19 years, how do you keep a TV show fresh? For Dick Wolf, executive producer of Law & Order (Wednesday, Nov. 5. 10 pm/ET, NBC), the season starts with a fortuitously, albeit coincidentally timed episode about a stockbroker who gets beaten to death. The circumstances surrounding the murder - street-fighting, a YouTube surrogate, a Gangs of New York reference - thrust DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) and Executive ADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) into a heated stand-off about, among other things, the definition of the word terrorism, believe it or not. Read on to find about the ever-more-youthful cast, which series vets might return to the show, and why it's always a good idea to hire obsessive-compulsives.
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Katee Sackhoff by Billy Tompkins/Sci Fi Channel Photo
Battlestar Galactica's feisty and beloved Starbuck, played by Katee Sackhoff, will now be Lost and Found on NBC.Sackhoff has snagged the lead role in the new Dick Wolf-produced pilot, which was created by L&O scribe Chris Levinson, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The hour-long drama centers on offbeat LAPD detective Tessa (Sackhoff), who, after butting heads with her bosses, is sent — Fox Mulder-style — to the basement to work on John/Jane Doe cases.After playing the tragically flawed Starbuck for four seasons on Sci Fi's Battlestar, "offbeat" will probably be a breath of fresh air for Sackhoff. Are you excited to see Sackhoff in a down-to-Earth role? — Erin FoxRelated• Sackhoff on BSG Finale• BSG Movie Casting News• Catch Up on Episodes of Battlestar Galactica
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Dick Wolf by Chris Haston/NBC Universal Photo
A new pilot from Law & Order guru Dick Wolf is in the works for NBC, featuring "an unconventional female detective" who solves the murders of anonymous victims, according to Variety .Lost and Found will be written by Law & Order alum Chris Levinson, and pick up is contingent upon who they cast to headline the show.Sound familiar? I thought so, too. The first thing that comes to mind when the words, "unconventional female detective," are pitched is the plethora of successful shows already containing that dynamic. The Closer has quirky southerner Brenda Leigh Johnson, Cold Case has flashbacking Lilly Rush, and Saving Grace has self-destructive, angel-talking Grace Hanadarko. How do you think Dick Wolf and Co. can distinguish this show from so many others already on our radar? — Erin FoxRelated• Dick Wolf Seeks Profit Justice• Use Our Online Video Guide to Watch More Law & Order
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Dick Wolf by RJ Capak/WireImage.com
Dick Wolf and NBC Universal have had an extremely successful marriage of the minds and pocketbooks over the 19-years of the multiple Law & Order series' runs. However, now the two powerhouses are locking horns over profits from the procedural mega-hits. According to the Wall Street Journal, Wolf's friends and employees say he "believes he has been systematically cheated by NBC." Apparently, Wolf thinks the company "sold the show at a cheap in-house price to its own cable outlets rather than getting the best deal possible by letting other networks bid on it." Wolf's not the only one in Hollywood to cry foul regarding show profits — David Duchovny also filed a lawsuit in 1999 alleging Fox had cheated him out of syndication profits from the long-running X-Files series — and went on to win a rumored $20 million.The Wolf-NBC negotiations, which were held behind closed doors, fell in favor of the network. But, that was just one of the issues on the table. Wolf is also upset...
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Dick Wolf by Maury Phillips/WireImage.com
NBC has sued Law & Order creator Dick Wolf, seeking no monetary damages but instead asking the Los Angeles Superior Court for an interpretation of a contract provision that both sides have been disputing since September.According to Variety, NBC contends that an agreement inked in 2004 provides Wolf with one additional year of executive-producer fees after any L&O incarnation is granted its final one-season order. Or, if the last order from NBC is for two seasons, Wolf gets no extra coin. Wolf, though, believes he is entitled to a full two-year severance package once a L&O is not renewed. Says a Wolf rep, "NBC Universal is trying to rewrite an existing contract."
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Dick Wolf is teaming with director D.J. Caruso (Disturbia) and writer J.H. Wyman (Keen Eddie) on a comic-book-style drama that will use the same green-screen effects as the hit feature film 300. The subject matter: Johnny Dynamite, a graphic-novel character who discovers Satan living in Las Vegas. (Gee, surprise.).... Also per Variety, Fox has given a pilot order to a procedural centered on an ex-cop with the uncanny ability to suss out a liar. No, his name is not Angela.... Comedy Central has ordered new seasons of Mind of Mencia and Lil' Bush, each to premiere next spring.
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Law & Order auteur Dick Wolf has set up his first project under NBC chair Ben Silverman, teaming with Friday Night Lights scribe David Hudgins on a "medical-legal hybrid" revolving around two brothers who are senior partners in a medical malpractice law firm. Until about five years ago, variety notes, Hudgins was just such a lawyer.... NBC isn't afraid of The Interrogator, a quiz show from Biggest Loser e.p. J.D. Roth. premise: Five contestants campaign for peeks inside one of five safes, one of which holds big money. The title character then grills the players on what they saw.... Bravo has greenlit Step It Up, a reality competition in which dancers from across the country are challenged to master "every conceivable dance style, from ballet and Broadway to ballroom and burlesque." Britney, step away....
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Question: I'm baffled. Why would a seasoned actor like Sam Waterston essentially accept a demotion to be the DA on Law & Order? It makes no sense for a veteran actor like Waterston to be reduced to a minimal role. The DA, even when the excellent Steven Hill was on the show, usually has only a few scenes, if that, discussing the case and advising on strategy or when to cut a deal. As DA, Waterston won't have his usual scenes bickering with defense lawyers, grilling hostile witnesses and suspects, and making courtroom appearances to argue arcane points of law, much less trial scenes with juicy cross-examinations. It strikes me as absurd for Waterston to agree to be relegated to a walk-on role. It would be like making Dennis Franz lieutenant prior to the end of NYPD Blue. Franz would never have agreed to such a move. So why did Waterston?
Answer: You're assuming he had a choice. The show is going through what Dick Wolf calls "one of its major renovations of the past 10 years." Earlier this
...
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Rainn Wilson, Neil Patrick Harris and Sally Field are among this year's Emmy nominees.
We know what you think about the nominees for this year's Primetime Emmy Awards, but what do the lucky nominees have to say about their good fortune? Some of your favorites reveal what went through their minds as the good news got out.
Doug Ellin, executive producer of Entourage (Outstanding Comedy Series nominee) "The New York Times called Entourage the best show in its first season. If for some reason [the voters] appreciate it more and we win this time, there's nothing we've consciously done to change it.... I spoke to Jeremy [Piven], who's in London doing a movie, and I'm playing golf with Kevin [Dillon] in about two hours. Jeremy is kind of our home-run hitter, I knew he was going to get nominated, and when Kevin and Martin Landau also got nominated, it was just great."
Tim Kring, executi
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Sam Waterston by Virginia Sherwood/NBC Photo, Linus Roache by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com
NBC and Law & Order executive producer Dick Wolf announced on Tuesday that British thesp Linus Roache (Kidnapped, Thomas Wayne in Batman Begins) will join the long-running procedural this season in the capacity of executive assistant district attorney — the office formerly held by Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy, who is now the full-on DA. "I've known Linus' work for several years. He is an actor who totally gets inside his roles," Wolf says in a statement. "I think he and Sam are going to raise the bar and add intellect and passion in the back half of the show." RELATED: Law & Order pulls reruns featuring Fred Thompson.
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