Dennis Farina, two seasons as Detective Joe Fontana on Law & Order, was arrested at LAX Airport when security found a loaded .22-caliber pistol in his briefcase. Oops! more ›

Hold on: Alana De La Garza, last seen as Horatio's dead wife on CSI: Miami, will be playing the new ADA in Law & Order. Which means that recently announced addition Milena Govich will actually be taking over for Dennis Farina, bringing Law & Order its first female detective. (Govich played an ADA on Conviction, so that's why we were confused...now we wonder if she'll reprise her character from Conviction or maybe play that character's detective twin sister!) So now it's clear what NBC and Dick Wolf are doing: Sexing up the show a bit with good-looking women to bring in men as well as female viewers who want someone to relate to. And let's say this much: De La Garza might be the hottest ADA ever, given the Google Images we've seen (they are pretty much SFW, as there's nothing naked, but we still caution you). more ›

as Law & Order SVU used to be on then (and we remember the good ol' Fridays when The X-Files was on at 9PM and then Homicide was on at 10PM). And maybe Govich's ADA character, Jessica "From the wrong side of the tracks" [the elevated train tracks?] Rossi, won't be that lucky - the lady ADA's have a mysterious way of leaving every so often. more ›

So, CSI: NY, the runty, yet still glossy, CSI spin-off, is apparently going to incorporate more NYC stories into the show. This comes after an entire season of trademark gross but sort of indentityless shows. CSI producer Anthony Zuiker told CSIFiles.com that CSI:NY's new season would include a "murder of a Red Sox fan, a very New York story" and also "a nanny park story, where a nanny dies in a nanny park." (Nanny park? Does he mean the park which happens to have a lot of nannies with babies? Or are there specific parks only for nannies out there?) He concludes, "So we're going to establish ourselves in a New York identity by telling stories that could only be done in New York." Duh - that's the successful formula Law & Order has been riding for the past fifteen years. And, puh-lease, a Boston Red Sox fan murder is so two years ago. Plus, Law & Order already covered the death of an overzealous Yankees fan (it was the episode that was filming when Gothamist visited the set). more ›

In other Law & Order news, Michael Imperioli, aka "Christufuh" on the Sopranos, will be guest-starring three of the last four episodes of the season. He'll be playing a detective who Detective Fontana, played by Dennis Farina, is paired with while Detective Green is filming Rent in San Francisco (yes, yes, it's actually Jesse L. Martin). This is the first time on Law & Order that there's been a guest detective (Law & Order: Criminal Intent did have a guest second banana detective to Vincent D'Onofrio's Detective Goren when Kathryne Erbe was pregnant), and we'll have to finally summon up the courage to bug Imperioli the next time we see him in TriBeCa. more ›

Chung chung! It's the moment Gothamist has been waiting for - at least since May 20 - it's the season premiere of Law & Order. And since it's the much ballyhooed CSI:NY vs. Law & Order smackdown on Wednesday at 10PM, NBC is rolling out TWO episode of L&O tonight, starting at 9PM. The first episode is "Paradigm":

Dennis Farina joins the cast as Detective Joe Fontana, a stylish veteran uneasily paired with Detective Green (Jesse L. Martin) when a former female Guardsman from the second Gulf War is found murdered -- and evidence points to the vengeful Iraqi sister of a an ex-inmate at infamous Abu Ghraib prison. However, when D.A.s McCoy and Southerlyn begin to prosecute, they discover that the suspect's lawyer boldly plans to defend his client as an "enemy soldier" -- subject only to the terms of the Geneva Convention. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg guest-stars as himself. .

...but it might be set at "Hudson University," or another fictional city school. Reader Nicola gave us the scoop and these great pictures from yesterday's downtown filming:

L&O was filming around NYU for what I can only assume was their 'Ripped from the Headlines: NYU student take the plunge' episode. Jesse L. Martin was there and Dennis Farina too. (Trailers also read 'Assistant ME', and a Sergeant who's name I couldn't place) First, they filmed a crime scene on 5th Ave, by Washington Square Park and the Washington Mews, then it was over to the Duane Reade on West 4th between Mercer and Broadway. This set I actually saw - a young blonde guy had jumped (or was he pushed???) out of window and had fallen spectacularly onto a new Jaguar, smashing the windshield. Now, they are filming over at 380 Lafayette...

Gothamist on: news of Farina's casting: Jerry Orbach's last episode and filming his last scenes; debate over the best L&O cast and a visit to the L&O set. And based on this NBC photograph, Gothamist surmises that the episoide may be Abu-Gharib related; also, between Martin and Farina is Robert John Burke, the wonderful Hal Hartley regular. more ›

And we're psyched that Jesse L. Martin is looking to sign on for a few more seasons. He's now going to be the longest running "young, good-looking detective" in the formula. more ›

The new line-up also includes a boxing reality show (zzzz), a show starring Melissa Etheridge's wife, the Americano version of The Office, a sitcom with John Cho (starred in Better Luck Tomorrow but is better known as one of the MILF guys from American Pie), and a show called Medical Investigations with a young and sexy cast but it just sounds like Diagnosis Murder to us. And while Friends spin-off Joey seems dubious (in spite of the good buzz NBC is trying to "leak"), we must give NBC's marketing department for releasing this photo from the show, to help American think "Well, it's Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani - and there will be hot girls in a tight clothes - we're on board!" Actually, NBC showed an entire episode of Joey, which surprised the Daily News' David Bianculli with how good it was; apparently Drea de Matteo, as Joey's sister, makes him feels her boob job. Even if it's good, it's going to be a long fall. But in the good news, Scrubs was renewed for another two seasons, and there's a new drama, LAX, starring Heather Locklear. For that, Gothamist is thankful, because TV without Heather Locklear just doesn't seem like TV. more ›

- Dr. Zizmor gets zapped, plus musings on favorite local area commercials more ›

Crime Story is available on DVD; the guest stars on Crime Story include Julia Roberts, Gary Sinise, Vincent Gallo, Deborah Harry, Jann Wenner, David Hyde Pierce, and Dennis Haysbert. Farina also played Special Agent Jack Crawford in Manhhunter, the un-official (and much better than the Brett Ratner version) adapatation of Silence of the Lambs prequel, Red Dragon. Michael Mann produced Crime Story and directed Manhunter; it goes without saying that Farina appeared on Miami Vice. more ›