Law & Order

The revival saw the debut of new regular cast members, and the reprise of two roles by series veterans: District Attorney Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), and Detective Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson).[13] Wolf took the idea to then-president of Universal Television Kerry McCluggage, who pointed out the similarity to a 1963 series titled Arrest and Trial, which lasted one season.[14] NBC executives had enough confidence by 1990 that the innovative show may appeal to a wide audience, and they ended up ordering the series for a full season.In later seasons, New York City mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, attorney William Kunstler and Bronx Congressman José Serrano all appeared on the show as themselves.[33] On the prosecutor's side, Michael Moriarty was Dick Wolf's choice to play Executive Assistant District Attorney Benjamin "Ben" Stone.On the orders of then network president Warren Littlefield, new female characters had to be added to the cast or the show would face possible cancellation on its relegated Friday nighttime slot.Though no initial explanation was given on the show for the departures of Florek's or Brooks's characters, they would both later return in guest appearances, with Captain Cragen having been reassigned to the Internal Affairs Bureau and A.D.A.Florek also returned to direct a few episodes, and his character was eventually added to the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.The final storyline for Ben Stone involves his resignation over guilt after a woman he compelled to testify against a Russian mobster was murdered by his cohorts.[39] Wolf dismissed Noth when his contract expired at the end of season 5, because he felt that Lennie Briscoe and Mike Logan had become too similar to each other, and the writers were having difficulty in writing their dialogue together.The final storyline for Detective Logan involved his banishment to work on Staten Island in a domestic violence crimes unit as punishment for punching a city council member who had orchestrated the murder of a gay colleague and had managed to get acquitted of the charges.(The made-for-television film Exiled: A Law & Order Movie, in which Noth starred, centers on Logan's attempt to get back into the department's good graces.)[40] Hennessy chose not to renew her three-year contract at the end of season 6 to pursue other projects, and Claire Kincaid was written off as being killed in a drunk driving crash.)[42] Lowell (who later returned for a couple of guest appearances) was replaced by Angie Harmon as Assistant District Attorney Abigail "Abbie" Carmichael, who was conceived as being much louder and outspoken than any of her predecessors.Detective Curtis was written off as leaving the force in order to take care of his wife, who was suffering from multiple sclerosis, in her final days.[45] He was replaced by Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green, who was conceived of as more of a loose cannon in the mold of Noth's Logan than Bratt's Curtis was.He was replaced by Dianne Wiest as Interim District Attorney Nora Lewin, and Adam Schiff was written out off-screen as departing to work with Jewish charities and human-rights organizations in Europe.Ed Green was temporarily written off as being shot in the line of duty and was replaced during his recovery by Detective Nick Falco, played by Michael Imperioli, who had previously guest-starred as a murder suspect in the season 6 episode "Atonement".However, Govich proved to be even more unpopular with fans than her predecessor was and left the show after one season with the explanation being that Detective Cassady's assignment to the precinct had been temporary and had been transferred out.She was replaced by Jeremy Sisto, who had previously guest starred as a defense attorney in the season 17 episode "The Family Hour", as Detective Cyrus Lupo.[57][58] Martin later announced that he would leave the show for the second and last time near the end of season 18 to pursue other endeavors, and Detective Green was written off as resigning from the force due to burnout.[52] In 2010, Merkerson announced that she would leave the show at the end of season 20, with Lieutenant Van Buren given a season-long story arc involving her battling cervical cancer.[61][62][63] At that time it was also reported that Sam Waterston and Anthony Anderson, who starred in earlier seasons of the series, and additional former cast members were also in talks to return.[64] Other previous cast members including S. Epatha Merkerson, Jeremy Sisto and Alana de la Garza hold starring roles on Chicago Med or FBI, with both also being part of the franchise and Wolf Entertainment series.[60] On November 23, 2021, it was announced that Hugh Dancy had been cast as an assistant district attorney and that Anderson had signed a one-year deal to return as Detective Kevin Bernard.[77] In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.In the first half of each episode, the detectives of New York City Police Department's fictional 27th precinct investigate a violent crime such as a murder, kidnapping, or rape.[2] Creator Dick Wolf continued to pressure the series' producer NBCUniversal to make a deal with TNT, which held syndication rights to the show, for a twenty-first season if an acceptable license fee could be negotiated.The commercial potential of the Law & Order name outweighed initial fears that failed spin-offs (such as Trial by Jury and Los Angeles) could erode the audience of the original series.Additionally, it crossed over with New York Undercover and Conviction; while neither series belongs to the Law & Order franchise officially, both are part of its fictional universe, and were also created by Wolf.