After an employee at the Upper West Side Apple Store called the cops on actor Richard Belzer, accusing him of choking her on Tuesday, the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star has a conspiracy theory: He's too famous! He told the Daily News, "I guess she was trying to shake me down. She clearly knew who I was. Sometimes when you are a celebrity, people try to take advantage of you." more ›

This is more dramatic than apparently not recognizing Alan Alda: Richard Belzer, the comic and Homicide and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actor, was hit with a harassment complaint from an UWS Apple Store staffer yesterday. [UPDATE BELOW: And now he's explaining his side.] more ›

It may be hard to believe, but tonight’s episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (10:00 p.m., WNBC 4) is the 200th episode for the first of the Law & Order spin-offs. more ›

Tonight striking writers and friends will take the stage again for a 2nd Strike Night! Joining John Oliver (The Daily Show), Liz Cackowski (Saturday Night Live), Andy Secunda (Conan) and Maggie Carey, Joe Grossman (Letterman) is John Mulaney -- possibly one of our favorite young comedians today. Mulaney helped host one of our Movable Hype shows last year and currently can be seen on stages around town and on screen at Best Week Ever. Buy... more ›

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A "large dispute" at JFK Airport; a school bus accident at Broadway and 37th Street in Manhattan; and a car-into-a-house on Murdock Ave in Queens. Rudy Giuliani says people giving him a hard time about rooting for the Red Sox "should give [him] a break." People to Giuliani, "No way, not when you make it so easy!" Awesome Halloween decoration in Greenpoint. A different kind of customized candy to... more ›

It's not the same as an invisible Snuffleupagus, but there is something very exciting happening with Sesame Street. On August 14, a segment called "Law and Order Special Letters Unit" will premiere, starting with "The Missing M." Hal Boedeker at the Orlando Sentinel reports that the actual cast voices will be used, and Dick Wolf himself said, "I feel like a tobacco company executive, because hopefully we will hook 4- and 5- and 6-year-olds on the brand now." A Sesame Street press release says that there's definitely a Richard Belzer muppet and that plot includes detectives finding "things that start with the letter 'M' such as a cow named Murray that makes mmooo sounds." Hmm, Law & Order: Playground Control Team, anyone? And as we did some searching, we found this cool video of "Law & Order: Special Muppets Unit" on YouTube! more ›

Sure, you might think of Christopher Meloni as the always angry Detective Eliot Stabler on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but he's also had some indelible roles in The Runaway Bride, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Wet Hot American Summer and, of course, Oz. We were perusing the official Christopher Meloni website when we found this great speech that Oz (and Homicide) creator Tom Fontana gave for him at a Human Rights Equality Awards dinner:

When we were shooting OZ, there was a scene where the character he played, Keller, was in the Hole and had to take a piss. Chris got the script and came to my office: "I want to do this," he said, "I want to actually take a piss on camera." Normally, a scene like that would involve prop men and tubes and other special effects, but because Keller was naked, Chris' instincts were a hundred percent correct -- the scene would have more impact if he actually peed. Now, I don't know how an actor prepares for that, whether he uses Stanislavsky or Pellegrino - but the moment came, we're on the soundstage, the director calls action, the camera pans down and Chris starts peeing -- on cue. The shot is perfect. Except for one slight technical glitch. Okay. Take two - same deal, action, camera pans, Chris starts to pee on cue. The shot is even better. I'm happy. The director's delirious. Chris says, "Do we want to do it again? 'Cause I got another one in me."

Even though it's just a fleeting glimpse of a trenchcoat, be assured, it's Richard Belzer, a.k.a. Detective John Munch from Law & Order: Special Victims' Unit and Homicide: Life on the Streets, the most brilliant cop show of the 1990s (L&O is a cop and lawyer show) – you can take your NYPD Blue and shove it. This photograph of Mr. Belzer was taken by Adam, who tells us the actor–comedian had been at Coliseum Books in midtown. Adam is the proprietor of the illustrious Slice, where the diligent pizza blogging/tracking rivals only whatever is at Domino's or Pizza Hut headquarters. Many thanks. more ›

Gothamist is lucky because our readers will email us about many Law & Order related things, whether it's a sighting or a show or an idea. And we love you for it. Here's a round up of some that we've gotten over the past few weeks: more ›

This Saturday and Sunday, the IFP is holding its annual "From Script to Screen Conference" with panels of film, television, and stage professionals giving their insights and thoughts about breaking in, getting the work made, and the business involved. Paul Schrader, writer of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Last Temptation of Christ, will be speaking about his career (his most recent work was directing AutoFocus). Gothamist is looking forward to Tom Fontana, the creator behind the best cop show ever (Law & Order is the best cop-and-lawyer show ever), Homicide: Life on the Streets. Fontana will be speaking about his career as writer-producer of St. Elsewhere, Homicide, and Oz. Other panelists include Dylan Kidd (writer-director of Roger Dodger), Austin Chick (whose film XX/XY opens today), Marshall Brickman (co-writer of Annie Hall), Erin Cressida Wilson (writer of Secretary) and United Artists head Bingham Ray (UA released Bowling for Columbine). more ›