Law And Order Cast A 30 Rock Star To Play A Victim, And I'd Love To Know Liz Lemon's Take On It

Warning: spoilers are ahead for Episode 12 of Law & Order Season 25 in the 2026 TV schedule, called "Never Say Goodbye" and available streaming with a Peacock subscription.

Law & Order is often a fun place to spot familiar faces as guest stars, ranging from Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff as an attorney to an actor who was killed off SVU before turning up as somebody else. In "Never Say Goodbye," however, the show shook things up by bringing in an actor who appeared in seven seasons of one of the best sitcoms in NBC history to play a classic Law & Order dead man. Yes, 30 Rock's Scott Adsit was on board as a victim, and it was such an odd case that I wish Tiny Fey's Liza Lemon could weigh in on it to Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy.

While it's not an episode of Law & Order without a death or two, Scott Adsit definitely played a different kind of casualty than the usual murder victim. His character, Brian Leavy, was a pilot who died in a crash after his own error... before the episode even started. Adsit was actually portraying an AI avatar of Brian Leavy, which was being used by his widow as she grieved his death.

Unfortunately, her hours upon hours of speaking to the AI avatar of her dead husband resulted in the avatar twisting to talk her into committing murder. The ADAs and detectives were out of avenues to explore when a judge determined that Kate's conversations with AI Brian fell under marital privilege, but Det. Walker bent the rules to use the algorithm against her and secure a confession.

His methods were sketchy enough that I got the impression that Kate was on the verge of walking free, but she then came out and confessed straight to the judge. The verdict by a guilty conscience, in this situation! The case was closed, which presumably means that the former 30 Rock star was a one-and-done guest as the AI avatar of a dead pilot who died due to his own error and then talked a real-life woman into murder.

Obviously the plot wasn't played for laughs on Law & Order, with the consensus among the cops and attorneys that it was unnatural to use AI to pretend to speak with dead loved ones. At the same time, ADA Nolan reflected on a voicemail left by his dad shortly before his death, and Det. Riley admitted to wishing he could talk to his brother while he's in his coma. (This was also confirmation that Ryan Eggold's character is still alive, even if also still hospitalized.)

But what isn't funny on Law & Order could have been downright hilarious on a Law & Order spoof from 30 Rock. This is the comedy that created classic fake TV shows like MILF Island and TGS with Tracy Jordan, as well as acclaimed fake movies like The Rural Juror. I can 100% imagine either an in-universe sketch with an AI avatar motivating somebody to murder or a cutaway gag to a fake episode of Law & Order.

Of course, AI avatars weren't really an issue during 30 Rock's run from 2006-2013, but I can certainly picture a conversation between Liz (Tina Fey) and Pete (Scott Adsit) about it circa 2026. (Fun fact: Adsit was in an episode of SVU in 2008.) While there are no indications that a revival could happen to bring the cast back together, Tracy Morgan's new comedy is set within the 30 Rock universe. Perhaps tuning in to The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins could get fans close to that brand of humor.

If you want to revisit this episode of Law & Order with Scott Adsit or just go back to the good old comedy days of 30 Rock, you can find both shows streaming on Peacock. Law & Order is now entering a short breaking while NBC switches over to 2026 Winter Olympics coverage, and will return with a new episode along with Law & Order: SVU on February 26.