It was announced back in September 2021 that the original series that spawned such spinoffs as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (which itself boasts spinoff Law & Order: Organized Crime) and Law & Order: Criminal Intentwill return for a 21st season. Creator Dick Wolf said about the renewal in a statement, “There are very few things in life that are literally dreams come true. This is mine.” Wolf will continue producing the series with Rick Eid as showrunner and writer. Susan Rovner, chairman of Entertainment Content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, added. “Law & Order is quite simply one of the most iconic shows in television history, and the idea of continuing its legacy and partnering with Dick on an all-new season is nothing short of exhilarating. This is great news for NBC as well as TV fans everywhere.” Boasting 456 episodes in its original 20-season run, Law & Order came close to beating Gunsmoke’s record for longest-running primetime drama before the original series was canceled in May 2010 after contract negotiations fell through. Incidentally, it was Law & Order: SVU that would actually shatter the record with 23 years and counting on air. In the months since that first reboot announcement, tons more casting and release date news has surfaced, and fans of the original franchise are bound to be stoked about all the old faces coming back! Here’s everything we know so far about the 21st season of Law & Order.
Is there be a Law & Order reboot?
Yes, although for what it’s worth, this isn’t the first time the series has tried to make a comeback: In 2015, a Law & Order miniseries was proposed, but fell through before ever being produced, and even more recently, another proposed Law & Order spinoff, Law & Order: For the Defense, was scrapped before production. Here’s hoping this one sticks the landing! “This will be Season 21, so it’s the same Law & Order everyone knows from the first 20 years,” Wolf told Variety. “So there’s really nothing to fix, we just want to continue telling great stories. Casting as always will be three cops and three D.A.s.” He added, “We always approach storytelling the same way: Good writing, acting and production values, and give the viewers what they want. That’s been our mantra from day one.”
When is the Law & Order reboot release date?
The first episode of the Law & Order reboot arrives Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
Who will be in the Law & Order reboot cast?
It was confirmed in mid-December that Sam Waterston will return as fan-favorite Jack McCoy, the character he portrayed from Season 5-20 during the show’s original run. He told Varietyof reprising the role, “Dick [Wolf], from the day that they suspended the show—I guess it’s fair to say a suspension because it’s coming back—he’s been saying that that was a terrible mistake, and they should bring it back. And every time I’ve seen him, he’s said that. Five years ago, he almost did it. He really is perseverance personified because he never gave this up. Having people like that involved in your career, I don’t know how you have a career without them.” Waterston admitted that he had some trepidation initially about returning to the series. “I thought at first, ‘Haven’t I done this already?’” he said, but noted, “I’m so glad I didn’t miss this chance, because you’re racing through your life and you’re in a big hurry all the time. You don’t really get much opportunity to ever look at it or look back at it or look down at it at the height of it. You know, a life is a big deal.” Also back for another go-round? Anthony Anderson, who played Det. Kevin Bernard just on L&O’s 20th season before its cancellation; coincidentally, his hit ABC sitcom Black-ish ends in spring 2022. He told PEOPLEof his return to the show, “I feel great being back within the Wolf Entertainment family and being on the mothership. I think had we not been unceremoniously canceled 10-plus years ago, I think the show would still be on the air and we’d be going into our 31st, 32nd season. That’s what I like to think and believe and it feels great to be back.” New faces confirmed for the reboot’s cast include former Hannibal star Hugh Dancy and former The Practice star Camryn Manheim. The full main cast is as follows:
Sam Waterston as District Attorney Jack McCoy
Anthony Anderson as Detective Kevin Bernard
Camryn Manheim as Lieutenant Kate Dixon
Jeffrey Donovanas Detective Frank Cosgrove
Hugh Dancy as E.A.D.A. Nolan Price
Odelya Halevi as A.D.A. Samantha Maroun
Is Jack McCoy coming back to Law & Order?
Waterston is returning as Jack McCoy, and he says he is happy to jump back into the part with fresh new eyes. “It does feel familiar, but we are completely different people. The structure of the show, the names of the characters, they’re there from the past. But I feel like I have to find a new way to live in the show,” he told Variety. “I think that’s what will make it interesting. We’re going to do that together. It’s the same show but it’s a new day. The new people who Jack will be working with most of the time are going to change McCoy, and the relationships will be different. It’s really the most extraordinary thing, the overlays of past and present.” As far as McCoy himself, Waterston explains, “I don’t think he’s gotten weary. In his heyday, he was a happy warrior, and I think he still is. I don’t know how much he’s changed. Ask me in six or seven episodes.”
Is Chris Noth returning to Law & Order?
As of now, Chris Nothis not part of the Law & Order reboot cast. Noth starred as Mike Logan on the series for five seasons until his character got into a physical altercation with a politician. According to The Associated Press, there’s no bad blood between Noth and the Law & Order team, and his exit years ago was merely the result of contract negotiations breaking down. Noth reprised the role from 2005 to 2008 on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, though he later confessed to Digital Spy, “I never really believed I fit in that show.” Noth was recently accused of sexual assault and, coincidentally, his Mr. Big character was killed off on the first episode of the Sex and the Cityreboot And Just Like That…; Noth has vehemently denied all allegations of impropriety and misconduct.
What will the Law & Order reboot be about?
Wolf Entertainment promises that the 21st season of Law & Order will look a lot like the first 20 seasons. “Season 21 will continue where the show left off in 2010,” the company previously stated in a press release, “with the classic format that explores two separate, yet equally important groups: ’the police who investigate crimes and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.’” Waterston expounded on the reboot, saying that, like uber-successful spinoff Law & Order: SVU, some of the cases may be ripped from the headlines. “We’re not shying away from any of those [timely] conflicts. In fact, it’s always been the goal of the show to get people throwing their shoes at the television, and certainly there are issues that are going to infuriate people and frustrate people about how they turned out,” Waterston told Variety. “That’s the pleasure of watching Law & Order; there is a resolution but there’s a lot of dissatisfaction with the way it goes. It feels, to me, like Law & Order might have something to contribute to the general conversation because we’re all mad about something. We’re all mad as hell about something right now and mad at each other. For us to get these big issues aired, and to have not a conclusion but a resolution of some kind that you can chew on, might be a useful service.” Anderson told PEOPLEthat the relationships between the police department and prosecutors (as well as the cops’ and attorneys’ relationships within their respective offices) will once more be central to the show, and that the series will also examine the relationship between law enforcement and the community in light of the Black Lives Matter movement. “It’s going to be [a] truer reflection of what’s going on between police and community and reform and all of that,” he said. “It’s shown truthfully and honestly—good, bad and indifferent. You have bad apples in every barrel, no matter what it is. I think our show is going to deal with that. We scratched the surface of the relationship of Kevin Benard and Frank Cosgrove and his dealings with [the] community and Cosgrove, and how he was investigated by Detective Bernard while he was in Internal Affairs. So we see that and there’s a little bit of friction, to begin with, but then they grow to have this admiration and respect for each other but neither one is going to let the other cross the line, and that’s where we are.”
Is there a Law & Order Season 21 reboot trailer?
The Law & Order Season 21 trailer shows that the more things change, the more they stay the same: We see Manheim’s Lieutenant Kate Dixon tell Detective Frank Cosgrove (Donovan), “Like it or not, we’re partners with these guys, so you better stay above the fray,” and in another snippet, Dancy’s Nolan Price tells McCoy (Waterston), “When you asked me to come here, you said, ‘I need someone who sees the world through a different lens with the guts to make hard decisions.’” McCoy replies, “It’s okay to play the hero, as long as you win.” Price says in one of the closing scenes of the trailer, “If you try a good case, if you do it the right way, whatever the jury decides is right is the only way I know how to do it. [It’s] the only way that lets me sleep at night.”
How can I watch the Law & Order reboot?
The series is slated to air on NBC on Thursday nights from 8-9 p.m. ET/PT starting Thursday, Feb. 24. Law & Order: SVU will air in the timeslot immediately following.
How can I stream the Law & Order reboot?
The Law & Order reboot will stream on Peacock, but it will not be a Peacock Original. Lisa Katz, president of entertainment scripted content at NBCUniversal TV and streaming, told The Hollywood Reporter, “The Law & Order brand reaches different audiences across all of our platforms, and our goal is to bring the largest number of viewers possible to the show. This strategy enables us to leverage the broad reach of the network while also making the show incredibly accessible to all of its fans on Peacock. It isn’t a case of ’either/or’ but rather ‘yes, and.’” Next, get the lowdown on Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson’s relationship!
