Law & Order is back for its eighteenth season and it is back in its traditional home of Wednesday at 10 p.m., although this week we get two hours starting at 9 p.m. and thanks to a stockpile of scripts written ahead of the writers strike, we can expect oodles of new episodes into the spring. Also thanks to the WGA strike, it will be the best thing on television for the for the foreseeable future.
Robert Morgenthau's stranglehold on the position of Manhattan District Attorney has lasted 33 years but today's Post tittered that he was mulling an "early exit." Page Six reported that a "well-connected legal source" said the 88-year-old DA was orchestrating a retirement to have Cyrus Vance Jr. installed for a few years. Apparently Morgenthau wants Vance Jr., once an assistant DA, in place to block his former protegee and 2005 Democratic primary opponent Leslie Crocker Snyder,...
Members of the Writers Guild of America have been striking in Los Angeles and New York this past week over details of a basic contract between writers and producers - one of the biggest sticking points is the amount of residuals writers get from DVD and new media distribution. The NY Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd asked Seth Meyers (who we spoke to on Tuesday) to give her a weekend update about the strike:...
Brushing aside the Staten Island Borough President's repeated criticism and endorsement of his opponent, Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan won re-election in a landslide over Democratic challenger Michael Ryan. Donovan, whose 51st birthday was also yesterday, said during the celebration, "Tonight, you guys made me real happy." The SI DA's race became unexpectedly contentious when SI Borough President James Molinaro, who Donovan worked under as a Deputy Beep and considered a friend, attacked Donovan's...
A look at some noteworthy television this week:
This might be the first time a British actor has played a Law & Order regular: Linus Roache will be playing the new Executive District Attorney. (Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy is getting a promotion to DA, since Fred Thompson has left the show to pursue a presidential campaign.) We foresee sexual tension between his character and Alana de la Garza's Connie Rubirosa! Is it a coincidence that Roache is the second star from short-lived NBC show Kidnapped to join the L&O cast - Jeremy Sisto is the new detective, accompanying Jesse L. Martin. Martin is only signed on for about half the season, so there may yet another cast change. Wolf said that he wants to attract a younger demographic and teased some of what Jack McCoy may face. From the Daily News:
Sam is not going to be the pragmatist the elected politicians have been. He's also going to be someone who goes through changes in his own attitude because he is doing a different job, and a lot of it is going to be fascinating because we talked openly about what happens to men of a certain age and a certain stature when the next generation comes in. There's a lot to play here.Maybe McCoy can tangle with community boards - Waterston testified at a community board hearing about naming a street after Jerry Orbach in March!
The Post has button fever as it notices Bloomberg for President pins on eBay already! (Their headline is "Bloomy Looks Cute As a Button" - is that an underhanded way of saying he's short?) Some of the offerings include the stylized portrait and a straight up photograph. And there's always the classic all-type "I Like Mike" style. We expect anti-Bloomberg pins to go up this week - you know, the ones that mention how he's a New Yorker, divorced, Jewish, an advocate of gun control, supporter of a right to choose and immigration, etc.
Now that Law & Order has been renewed for four more seasons, shakeups to the cast have been expected. And the most notable one is that Fred Thompson, who plays District Attorney Arthur Branch, is leaving the show to pursue a presidential campaign. We hope the writers work that in!
Wingbridge, by Schveckle. Send your pix to photos (at) gothamist if you want us to use them.
What a strange way for Community Board 5 to decide whether to name 53rd Street at 8th Avenue after Jerry Orbach.
- And NJ reaches a budget deal, but it means a 1% sales tax hike
Even though the network media upfronts don't mean anything - except to advertisers - because schedules can be shuffled and shows killed between now and fall, Gothamist is still excited, because it's about hope (Tina Fey's new show to be good, Veronica Mars to be picked up) and new seasons of shows we love (The Office, My Name is Earl...and, heck, we can't help but watch Grey's Anatomy). Anyway, there are a lot of NYC-set shows coming in the fall season; NBC has Kidnapped and The Black Donnellys. Things we're wondering about:
Oh, to be a district attorney in NYC! Yesterday, at a rally outside Criminal Court, Sam Waterston voiced his support to get more funding for city DA's. He said, "The real DAs and ADAs deserve a lot of credit and not just for providing us the stories that keep us on the air," according to the Post. Yeah, we remember the episodes where the rich defendants or high profile defense attorneys belittle Jack McCoy's paltry executive assistant DA's salary - that's always a low blow. Anyway, it's smart to have Sam Waterston on your side, as it always seems like he's going to give you the best advice possible - that's probably why TD Waterhouse has now turned him into their spokesman. TD Waterhouse's ad agency says, "We decided he is a valuable, credible spokesman for the idea of independence. In his role on 'Law & Order,' he is the voice of critical, independent thinking." Waterston plays lawyers and dads really well - remember him as D.A Forrest Bedford in I'll Fly Away, the great NBC drama he was on before Law & Order?
Esquivel will be joined by actors Jimmy Smits and Daphne Rubin-Vega in a reading of the book tonight at the Borders Books at the Time-Warner Center, Columbus Circle. Smits and Rubin-Vega costarred in Anna in the Tropics on Broadway; he was good in NYPD Blue but Smits will always be Victor Sifuentes to us, and while Rubin-Vega is known for her fine work in many things, like Rent, Gothamist appreciates her small role in the underrated camp classic, Wild Things. And two weeks ago, to kick off the first day of The Great Gatsby being serialized in the Times, Gothamist's favorite lawyer-on-TV, as well as Nick Carraway in the film version, Sam Waterston, and his daughter, Elizabeth, read from Gatsby.
The dashing Steven Weiss of The Forward let us know about tonight's event at the Borders at the Time-Warner Building at Columbus Circle, between 6-7PM, with Sam Waterston and his daughter, Elizabeth, reading from the book, which will be followed by a discussion. Waterston, our favorite lawyer (Law & Order AND I'll Fly Away), played Nick Carraway in the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby. James McBride, author of The Color of Water, will be giving a reading on August 23. Here is the Times' press release.
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.
Jeffrey Abramson, Gen Art
My boyfriend's birthday is over July 4th weekend. I am looking for ideas of things to do or places to go to in NYC to celebrate that will make his birthday memorable. I want to stear clear of the traditional ways to celebrate - going out to dinner or getting together and going to a bar/club. Any help is appreciated!
Gothamist proudly displays our autographed picture of Sam Waterston in our home.
L&O Coloring Book creator Brandon Bird had received word from the Late Show, asking for copies to use on the show. Congratulations, Brandon; now let's work on incorporating a coloring book into one of Sam Waterston's TD Waterhouse commercials.
On Wednesday, January 14th the television show "Law & Order" will film interior scenes at the following locations: 168 West 18th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues 150; West 19th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues; 54 West 21st Street between 5th And 6th Avenues. Approximate Time: 7am - 11:30pm.Is L&O in your building? Or down the street from you? Let us know! And on Law & Order tonight, an all new episode:
When a former bookie is murdered in an apparent professional hit, Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) search the victim's background for a possible suspect. However, when the victim turns out to be a mob informant who sent a local kingpin to jail for the past decade, the detectives sets their sights on a real-estate broker moonlighting as a killer-for-hire who is allegedly taking orders from the mob. Sam Waterston, Elisabeth Rohm, Fred Thompson and S.Epatha Merkerson also star.A night to remember from 2003: An Evening of Law & Order
– kottke is scared of this picture (claiming it is scarier than this one)
Watch the ad here on AdAge.
The Daily News says there are operational issues with Rocco's reality restaurant. Like no one could see that one coming. Gothamist is still excited about the Southern Italian restaurant, Rocco, since it involves TV and food, two of our most favorite things. If Sam Waterston played the manager, we'd be living there. We just suggest that there's an inverse relationship between hotness of restaurant staff and actually getting a meal.
UES Eateries Accused Of Racism For Not Delivering To Harlem
Teen Pulls BB Gun On Cops, Gets Shot In The Face
NY Post Finds One Man Who Sides With Fort Hood Shooter
Brooklyn Drummer Dies After Fall Down Elevator Shaft in Williamsburg
Times Reporter Takes Scientology Test, Encouraged To Join
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
tweet this
add to facebook
