Dennis Farina To Law & Order?

ugh. they should just cancel the show. really.

I second that!! Cancel the show. I'm sick of Green talking spanish everytime he goes to a Bodega or smacking someone. My Nana is tougher then him!

YES! The only guy on the planet as cool as Jerry Orbach!!!

"Don't puke on my shoes, Harry." -- GET SHORTY

"Anything to declare?"
"Yeah. Don't go to England." -- SNATCH.

I'm in shock. I thought I was among a small number who remember the short-lived "Crime Story". I loved the Del Shannon theme song, the Miami Vice-like colors, and its over-the-top plotlines and performances.

And Gothamist is right, it was home to a number of soon-to-be stars and great character actors.

Who else remembers it?

Isn't Farina a little old? My impression is that most NYC cops opt for early retirement so they can get another job and double dip their pension and salary. So a 60-year-old detective is something that just doesn't happen very often.

I personally thought this is an excellent move if it turns out to be true. Dennis Farina is a perfect fit, especially being a former cop himself. He was a big reason "Crime Story" was as successful and as good as it was.

Given Jeff Zucker's reputation for trying to maximize revenue and the unhealthy obsession advertisers have with trying to get those under-25, this is a real surprise. I honestly thought that Zucker might try to force Dick Wolf to bring in someone like Shannen Doherty or Tiffani Thiessen, who both as I understand have considerable under-25 fan bases (Zucker has been the Entertainment Head at NBC, though he is about to be promoted to a new position overseeing NBC and Universal Television).

"They say the F'in smog is the F'in reason you have such beautiful F'in sunsets" - Dennis Farina will rock in NY!!!! He is the Real Deal and not some loudmouth with nothing to back it up.
Can't wait til fall - this guy is perhaps the most underrated character actor ever!
When Crime Story was out, he could have kicked Crockett AND Tubb's ass at the same time - he was nicknamed The Great Wounder when he was a Chicago cop and detective. Too bad L&O isn't on HBO - they could let him really talk the talk and walk the walk there. Just let Dennis do his thing, guys, and stand back in amazement.

In response to Sterling about Farina being to old to portray an NYC cop - if I'm not mistaken I think Jerry Orbach had a lot more years on Farina while he was on the show. So if age is a problem with Farina it should have been a problem with Orbach too!

Farina is a great addition to the cast! He was superb in Crime Story, Midnight Run, Get Shorty, et al, and he'll be a perfect fit for L&O.

Dennis - sooooooooooooo glad to see you back on TV - You are a great actor - senusal sexy man - personable - and soooooooooo good looking!

I had your phone number and lost it!!!! - Remember me from Carmines in Santa Monica?

Would love a personal email to talk old times at Carmines?

THE BEST SUCCESS TO YOU ON LAW AND ORDER AND ALWAYS - YOU ARE A FANTASTIC PERSON TO KNOW!
Maryann

the first time I ever saw dennis farina, he was climbing in my living room window at 5 am one day in the late 60's. He was then a beat cop working out of foster ave. on the north side. The incident involved a kid from the neighborhood who had gone up to jonquil terrace to sell 3 lbs. to some ghetto types. this kid was a student from loyola, and didn't know any better,so the guys that ripped him off didn't have to beat him up so bad that he looked like a pizza. The guys from the neighborhood took it personal so a few of us found out where these clowns lived and we dreopped by there at 2 am kicked their door right out of the wall and ran in and evened the score "real well I might add ". Around 5am me and my friends were asleep at my apt. at 1127 pratt. the "pratt Shores", when I heard a noise that woke me . When I opened my eyes and looked across the room, there was dennis half into my living room with his hand balancing him and one leg still out the window. He had a chrome plated pearl handled, what looked like a 9mm in his hand. Turns out the cops were tipped off as to who took care of the revenge on the kid from the neighborhood, so the cops were raiding my apt. etc. etc. This was the first time I ever saw dennis, and didn't know who he was. Later on when the cops found out what had really happened, they never came back to court against us and after 3 continuances it was an automatic dismissal. After that I used to see Dennis and Nikeas, around the neighborhood a couple times a wk. etc. After dennis went to work out of 6th area, we used to see him and Nikeas all the time for over a decade. I had another incident I remember well when I was in the cook co. in 77. I had come back to Ill. to turn myself in on an escape charge from May 75. I had been the clerk in then warden Winston Moores office down at 26 & Cal. I vanished into thin air one day in May 75 when my kids were 3mos. and 1 1/2 yrs. Capt. Panush, who was then Sgt. panush will never forget that one I am sure, but I had to come back and turn myself in because I didn't want to accidentally get "caught" now that my kids were getting to school age, and end up with a lot more time. So Im in the county waiting to go to court on the escape, when one morning around 7am I'm talking to my friend craig and he says Al there's some guy trying to live up in your apt. The other night when wewere told it was time to go by your wife, this guy just kicked off his shoes like he didnt speak english and went to sleep on your couch. Craig said my old lady didn't know how to deal with this clown. My wife was from Oregon, and had no "street" in her to handle these idiots. I quick call 6th area and ask the capt. of the watch if I can speak to Farina and Nikeas. He says they don't come in til 8am, but he says as soon as they get there he will make sure they get my message. I tell him about the moron trying to live in my house, the wife from"oregon" and the 2 babies, she can barely deal with as it is, with no money, no family, etc. etc. Turns out that very same morning I get called out to go to court on the "escape" which I think I'm gonna get 1-10 on since I escaped from "inside" a major correctional facility, the penalty is worse than, say you walk off from work-release. Anyway, blow my mind I go to court and the judge gives me "time-served" [there's a story], behind that one , and before 9am I'm out on the street released from br. 29 on monroe and racine, and on my way home. I get back to my bldg on berwyn and as I enter the lobby here come Farina and Nikeas out of my elevator. They had just left my house, where my wife tell's me they had knocked on the door, and when she opened it they just walked in and threw the guys shoes out the window, then woke him up and made him jump out after them. Blew her mind I mean to tell you. Lucky for the dude I only lived on the 2cnd floor. Dennis,nikeas,certain others from 6th area, these guys were no one to fool around with. Guys like Sullivan, Cortez, Green etc. the word was out on the street that if they were on your case you were through. Yet these men weren't just cops. They knew not only what was happening on the street, but they also knew how hard life could be there especially in the winter, and they had a real sense of style and went out of their way at times to try to actually help people out. I got 15 years of similar story's. I noticed in the tribune article by nina metz that dennis made a comment about doing stakeouts at night in the "crown vic" in 20 below weather. Here's a perfect example. I was up in a pharmaceutical warehouse around 2am back in 69 or 70, I was sitting on the floor with a mayannaise jar with 10,000#"4" Dilaudids in it that I had just found on one of the shelves. Back then, a #4 dilaudid went for $50 on the streets and I had 10,000 of them. Do the math. I had found a bottle of whiskey on the desk, and since it was 20 below zero, I was in no hurry to leave. I was sitting there doing dilaudids, drinking whiskey, and singing along with the radio, as I knew for a fact that there was only an empty storefront below the 2 floor warehouse. Turns out there was some old man living down there behind the wall in what looked like a empty store from the street. Next thing I know I see this Italian loafer arrive in the periphery of my vision from the right. I,m so high by then, I don't even know the cops were in the room. The "loafer" toes me in the leg, I look up, and there's Dennis and a roomful of cops. I'll never forget it, he say's Albert don't you know we don't like to get out of the car when it's this cold out?? Again months down the road for whatever reasons they don't appear against me, and after 3 continuances the case is [SOL]. I walk, and I don't even know why as they never even tried to get me to rat", quyite the contrary we'd be driving down the street and Farina and Nikeas would roll up pull us over and instead of asking us for info, they'd whip out the notebooks, and start tellin us things like "hey did you know your friend Joe Ganci just moved over on Sheridan road last week ??? These guys were really class acts and acted like real men. Fact is because of the way they treated us over the years I actually ended up liking the chgo police. Don't get me wrong, I been to the co. 27 times over the years, but because I never got into violent crimes I never made it into the dirtbag side of their "book". They had the "law" book, and then they had "their" book. Trick was to never get over onto the dirtbag side, then you were in a whole different movie. I knocked around with the lieutenants younger brother Victor for over a decade, so I know these guys in a way not everyone could, and I can tell you having Farina to play these parts, is liking finding a diamond thats already cut and polished to work with. Dennis really was the guy he pretends to be in a lot of his film work. A class act. Money can't buy that, you either got it or you don't. When Michael Mann says Mr. Farina is the Pope of old Chgo. really that nails it, and it isn't hyperpholea [did I get that right?] I got about 15 more years of these incidents, but later for that.

Could someone tell me the first episode that Dennis Farina was on for Law & Order and the name of the episode.......Thanks alot.....Bill Ferra

I haven't seen you since "Crime Story" and "Bella Mafia" which several years ago You sure do look good for a man in his 60's I wish you the best on "Law & Order" I think you're on this show than Jerry Orbach