With Law & Order: SVU serving as one of NBC’s top dramas, 16 years after it hit the airwaves, the network is understandably keen to revisit the original series that started it all. And as it happens, one of Law & Order’s most recognizable faces would be game for returning, as Sam Waterston has thrown his hat into the ring for the potential limited Law & Order series revival. Unofficially, of course, but he’s almost a necessity, right?
When asked if he’d be interested in returning to the Law & Order universe, here’s what Waterston told THR.
You’re darn right. Sure, I’d love it. Got to break the record.
Hard to misconstrue that kind of positivity, and we can be pretty sure that Jack McCoy only speaks in truthful statements, right? The record he speaks of is Law & Order’s massive 20-year run from 1990 to 2010, a streak that would have topped Gunsmoke for the longest-running scripted drama series of all time, only NBC surprisingly canceled it less than two weeks before what would become its series finale. This updated iteration would put it at Season 21, thus making it a new record holder.
When rumors for a 10-episode series first started swirling in February, it was in the “talked about but not actively in development” folder, as plans for a revival had been bandied about several other times in the past few years. Waterston seems to have heard a little something on the grapevine as well. Here’s how he puts the show’s chances.
I’ve heard that they will if they can. There are a lot of moving parts. If they can get it all assembled I understand that the network would be pleased and happy, and I know Dick Wolf would.
Dick Wolf is the guy who created Law & Order, as well as a ton of other hit shows over the years. He’s currently got SVU, Chicago Fire and the latter’s spinoff Chicago P.D. on the air right now, and CBS just put in a series order for his other spinoff, Chicago Med. So adding an extension of Law & Order to his plate will certainly be a challenge, but one that Wolf will almost certainly take with open arms.
Sam Waterston joined the Law & Order cast as Jack McCoy in 1994 for Season 5, and although he wasn’t there in the beginning, he’s still one of the actors most readily associated with the hit procedural. Following the show’s cancelation, he joined Aaron Sorkin’s HBO drama The Newsroom, and he’ll next be seen in Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris’ Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie alongside Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Martin Sheen.
Are you guys ready for more Law & Order to join more Heroes and more Coach?
