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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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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Question: I just read an interview with S. Epatha Merkerson in which she was asked about being the senior cast member of Law & Order. Has Sam Waterston been removed? It's bad enough to lose Fred Thompson, but if Sam Waterston goes, I will no longer watch, in spite of the other good cast members. He is the show!
Answer: I don't think she was talking about age. She was referring to the fact that she has the most longevity of any remaining cast regular. She joined L&O a season before Sam Waterston, although I agree it's almost hard (repeats aside) to remember a time when either one wasn't on it. For the record, Waterston is staying on the job, but he's taking over Thompson's DA position. There's more casting to be announced, clearly, but they have time, since the show isn't scheduled to return until after football season is over in January ...
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ABC's Masters of Science Fiction anthology series, announced what seems like light-years ago, will finally hit the airwaves during the dog days of August. The lineup — slashed from six installments to four — is as follows:August 4: "A Clean Escape," based on Nebula Award-winning author John Kessel's short story about a postapocalyptic psychiatrist (Judy Davis) determined to solve a man's (Sam Waterston) apparent memory lapse.August 11: "The Awakening," based on a short story by Howard Fast, starring Terry O'Quinn, Elisabeth Rohm and William B. Davis, and concerning Baghdad-based soldiers' discovery of a "mysterious casualty."August 18: "Jerry Was a Man," based on the Robert Heinlein story about an affluent couple (Anne Heche and Malcolm McDowell) who acquire an anthropoid.August 25: "The Discarded," based on the short story by seven-time Hugo Award winner, three-time Nebula Award winner, and Science Fiction Grand Master Laureate Harlan Ellison, directed by Jonathan Frakes,...
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Sam Waterston has officially been "promoted" to New York District Attorney on Law & Order, as longtime prosecutor Jack McCoy fills the vacancy dictated by possible presidential candidate Fred Thompson's exit from the role of Arthur Branch. Though he may, as a result, see less screen time, Waterson puts the best spin on the sitch, saying that while the career move is "a logical step" for McCoy, "politics isn't his game." As such, "There'll be fireworks," the actor predicts. "I'm looking forward to it."
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