September 23, 12:37 AM

Thank You

I thank everyone who has logged on. It has been as much fun for me as it has been for you.

It is really fascinating. I don't get the chance to ever do this. It's like when you go to Russian tour of the Bolshoi, at the end they come out and applaud the audience, that's kind of the way I feel. YOU are the people who've kept the show on for 16 years. As many of you know, my fondest hope is that we are going to be on for at least another four seasons so we can beat Gunsmoke and become the longest-running drama in the histroy of television.

So stay tuned..please!
and thank you -
Dick

September 23, 12:33 AM

Sesame Street "Special Letters Unit"

Not only did I approve, we are very very hopeful that they will do every letter of the alphabet.

To me, this is the ultimate accolade for the show. The other equivalent is having MAD Magazine do a take off on SVU and Law & Order .It shows they've penetrated the consciousness of the coutnry. I was blown away when the Sesame Street thing happened.

If they do go forward, and I'm hope they do, the voices will be Mariska, Chris, Belzer. The Belzer puppet was the funniest thing I've ever seen. They got him perfectly! I take my hat off to Sesame Street. The only thing is that it made me feel like a tobacco company executive hooking the next generation...but much better for your health!

September 23, 12:29 AM

Script Leaks online?

If I find out who is leaking them...there won't be anymore leaks.

They spoil the fun. It's much better to see it once, unencumbered from reading scripts. Everyone on the show tries to make that initial viewing experience as enjoyable as possible.

September 23, 12:29 AM

Favorite Episode from Mother Ship.

I can actually answer that. "Life Choice" - how many of you know which episode that was?

September 23, 12:27 AM

Oz Comparisons

The people in Oz are the people who were convicted on Law & Order.
Then there's Chris Meloni who seemed to straddle the fence well.

Tom Fontana, as some of you may know, is one of my oldest friends. Many of the actors who have been on L&O have spent time on OZ, including JK Simmons who is also going to be playing a very important role in "BUry My Heart at Wounded Knee."

September 23, 12:25 AM

Research

When people come into the show, anybody playing a cop goes on ride-alongs, gets some gun training, talks to detectives. The prosecutors almost invariably spend a couple days in the DAs office. It's not required for the detectives to become provisioned in firearms or for the prosecutors to be legal experts.

September 23, 12:23 AM

Current Production

We are in production on an episode about a former television star who is arrested for drunk driving, and the star is being played by Chevy Chase. We will have a lot of guest stars including a huge amount of really interesting casting. Including Liza Minelli playing a character who may remind people of Jean-Benet Ramsey's late mother.

September 23, 12:20 AM

L&O DVDs

Write to NBC Universal and ask them when they're coming! I'd love them to come out every six months, but it's out of my control.

September 23, 12:20 AM

Three Stories: Man v Nature etc

Nicole..

Short answer: yes. (Law & Order hits all those at once)

I've always been told there are seven stories, but no one ever told me what they were.

September 23, 12:19 AM

Blogging

To Lori - this blogging thing is kinda fun.

September 23, 12:19 AM

Detective Fontana's Money

It's a mystery...
He does wear very expensive shirts and drives a Mercedes.

September 23, 12:17 AM

Visual Style of Show

We've been fortunate over the years to have a cadre of extraordinary directors, starting with John Patterson on the pilot, through a list of directors that are literally world class. I thank them all. Luckily, it's the one thing I've never had any desire to do. It's incredibly difficult and you have to get up very early in the morning every day.

September 23, 12:15 AM

Career Advice?

Look, the one thing I will say is if you ask anybody in the entertainment business, the story is different. There is no way to be trained for this. There's no way to go to school for it. My biggest suggestion is that if you want to be a writer, don't graduate and come to Hollywood. Get some life experience and see if that's what you want to do.

September 23, 12:14 AM

Crossovers

I certainly wouldn't preclude it, especially on Tuesday night.
But there are no plans at the present. The earliest would probably be February.

September 23, 12:11 AM

Aspirations

In college, I wanted to write the great American novel. I can honestly say I never had a job that wasn't associated with writing. I consider myself a writer first and foremost. I've never been to law school. I'm not an attorney. I can't conceive of being an attorney!

Lawyers have extremely trained and disciplined minds and mine is luckily unfettered.

September 23, 12:07 AM

Jerry Orbach Special

Lori - Nothing would give me greater pleasure. Jerry was not only a colleague bu t a friend. His last day at work was 3 days before he died. I'd love the opportunity to do a special about him because of his body of work...they talk about triple threats, but he is the only actor I can think of who is truly a star of Stage, Screen and TV. An Emmy-nominated, Tony-winning actor of incredible stature. The fact that he posthumously won the SAG...it was an award that came way too late. He was universally loved and is universally missed.

As to the Ludacris episode - I wish I could remember all 672 episodes of all three shows, but I can't. Email Neal Baer, he'll know.

September 23, 12:03 AM

HBO Film - Details

It is one of the iconic books of last 50 years. It won a Pulitzer Prize. The movie starts with Battle of The Little Bighorn and ends with Massacre at Wounded Knee, which is probably the final chapter in the genocide of the American Indians that was performed in this country.

The amazing thing about "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" is that it's told from the viewpoint of the Indians, not the white man. I can honestly say, we have virtually every American Indian actor alive today in the film. Now, amazingly enough, American Indian is the correct term - not Native American - to refer to indigenous people who lived here long before the white man was here.

It is the single most important book ever written about American Indians. It is the Battle of Algiers, The Schindler's List of one of the most shameful chapters in our American History.

It airs in May on HBO. Don't watch it when Law & Order is on!

September 23, 12:00 AM

More Blue Collar Crime

Melissa, describe "blue collar crime"? If you go back to first 4 seasons (what is early season cutoff?). Going back to the first episode, the chief of medicine at NYC hospital is hardly a gritty street crime.

September 22, 11:58 PM

More Character Development This Year?

A one word answer: yes.

September 22, 11:55 PM

New Cast Wardrobe

I'd hardly call it T&A. We're incredibly fortunate to have found to incredibly attractive actresses who I think are wearing completely appropriate work attire.

September 22, 11:55 PM

The Shows Popularity

I think no matter what time you tune-in you have a beginning, a middle and hopefully a satisfying end, you have complete performance.

When you come back you don't have to figure out who has slept with who, who had kids, what happened.

There is a case to be solved and it's solved at the end of the episode.

September 22, 11:52 PM

Chung-Chung...Doink-Doink?

We actually call it "ching-ching", Veronica.

September 22, 11:52 PM

Favorite Season & Why?

My favorite season is ALWAYS the current season. Because when the show is in progress, you're always excited about the potential of the new episodes. That's why it's endlessly fascinating.

When Brandon Tartikoff asked me what the bible of the show was in 1989, I said, "The front page of the NY Post." Unfortunately, crime is constantly renewable resource.

September 22, 11:46 PM

Law & Order Movie?

It's been discussed over the years, but I don't know in all honesty, as the diehard fans know, we've never even done a 2-hour episode or extended 2-parter. The closest we came was the 5-hour miniseries, Terror.

It was meant to start production on 9/24/01. It opened in an Al Quaeda training camp in Afghanistan and cutting to the brother coming to America to be a martyr, and him and three others crossing Canada border, coming to NY and blowing up the shuttle under Times Square killing 1,500 people, then releasing anthrax.

The technical advisor was Don O'Neil, a former head of terrorism for FBI, died in one of the towers. The front page of Variety said Wolf Brings Terror to NBC. Needless to say we pulled the plug on it that day. We had clearance to shoot in the command center five stories below WTC. On Sept 10th, we had permission to shoot but no approved date. So we went to Randall Island for day one and the entire prep crew watched the towers come down.

September 22, 11:45 PM

Chung-Chung

It's kind of like Tarzan's yell. It's a combination of a bunch of sounds including the slamming of jailhouse bars - which is imbedded in there.

Mike Post, my composer for the last 20 years, said, this is great I've done 43 series and counting and I'll be remembered for this.

September 22, 11:42 PM

This Season

I'm surprised that anybody asked. This season there are many stories coming up and people may think they recognize the headlines, but all stories are works of fiction. Tonight's episode is indicative of the direction we're going this season. Episodes that deal with exploding brownstones and actors arreseted for DUIs that make anti-Semitic comments. Guys who make videos about girls who are drinking and exposing themselves.

Of course, NONE of this is ripped from real-life, we make it all up. You may think you recognize the headlines on six of the first seven episodes.

September 22, 11:39 PM

Involvement with all series

It depends on the season. This year because of cast changes, I'm more involved with the mother ship and Criminal Intent than SVU.

When you've made the cast chagnes we have in CI and L&O, it would be silly not to pay more attention to them. SVU has six episodes with Connie Nielsen who came in when Mariska was on maternity leave. Connie is an incredible addition, albeit a temporary one, to SVU and I'm absolutely certain people will love her in the episodes she's in.

September 22, 11:37 PM

To Liam...I'm Not Asleep...

I'm in Alberta, Canada making "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" for HBO. Next to Law & Order it's the most important project that I've been associated with.

September 22, 11:34 PM

Female Partners

First of all, after Jesse's tenure on the show, it would've been silly to bring in someone senior to him. He is now an extraordinarily experienced detective. We felt he needed a younger partner. As always when we make casting changes on L&O, we try to refresh the show rather than make a lateral transition.

Since L&O went on, the number of female detectives on the NYPD has increased expotentially. Seemed like a very organic and positive shift. I agree with the many fans who loved Milena on Conviction. As one door closes another opens. She done a fantastic job for us there and it seemed like a reasonable decision.

September 22, 11:30 PM

Dennis Farina

First of all, I've known Dennis for more than 20 years since I was running Miami Vice and he was on Crime Story.
We'd been taking for 3 years about collaborating, but he made no bones that episodic TV was a grind.

But when Jerry was leaving the show because of his illness, I called him again. He said, "I don't know. I'm no Jerry. I don't think I can be here for years and years." Frankly almost a year ago in January he called and said, "Dick, I'm really anxious to get back to feature films. I want to give you plenty of notice to be released."

If an actor asks to be released far enough in advance and in a professional manner, I don't have problem. I didn't want him to curtail other opportunities. He's already made one movie , about to start another. It's a mutually amicable parting and I would work with him again in a heart beat.

September 22, 11:28 PM

The First Episode

The first episode was not the pilot, which as some of you know was done for CBS and we never got it back.

The first episode was a medical episode where a young girl died in the ER. It was question of a doctor's responsiblity because he'd had an alcohol problem for years which had a never been reported and ending up killing a patient.

September 22, 11:23 PM

Breaking Records

As to whether or not there was ever a season I wanted to end the series...
It is my fondest hope that we will break "Gunsmoke's" record of 20 seasons, and we need four more years after this to do it.

September 22, 11:14 PM

Comments

I see that many of you are long-time fans. I appreciate your comments and getting a chance to see what you think. Can any of you remember our very first episode?

September 22, 11:09 PM

Writing Episodes

As to how involved I am in writing episodes...
I am involved in the individual episode story development every year, and that's very gratifying.

September 22, 08:01 PM

Key To Success

Some have asked about the longevity of the franchise. What's the secret?

I had plaques engraved for the network presidents several years ago, and it said "it's the writing, stupid." I cannot emphasize enough the importance of writing, and for that I thank all of the show's writers over the years. That's not to diminish the importance of the actors, directors, and all the crew members, but the stories are everything.

September 22, 04:17 PM

Welcome

Hello everyone, and thank you for watching Law & Order. As you already know, we are now in our 17th season and we have two very talented new cast members - Milena Govich as Detective Nina Cassady, the first female detective in the history of the series, and Alana de la Garza as A.D.A. Connie Rubirosa, our first Latina prosecutor. Thank you for moving with us to Friday nights, where we hope to be a part of your viewing pleasure for years to come. Over the years, we have tried to keep the shows fresh, with new cast members and topical writing. Tonight's episode is a timely "ripped from the headlines" story about a celebrity whose relationship with the paparazzi results in the accidental murder of an off-duty policeman.

In the next few months, you will see stories about a Manhattan townhouse that mysteriously blows up, the brutal kiling on tape of a potential Arab terrorist, a bigoted television star arrested for drunk driving and the "public service homicide" of an alleged pedophile. In fact, not only are the stories "ripped from the headlines," sometimes the coincidences are downright scary. While we were filming the pedophile episode last month, a similar story was on the front page of the New York tabloids.

Again, I thank you for watching all three Law & Order-branded series -- the "mother ship" ("Law & Order") as well as "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Tuesdays, 9:00 p.m. on NBC) followed by "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" at 10:00 p.m. Now, enjoy "Law & Order" - and I look forward to answering your questions after the show.

Dick Wolf