Law & Order

Thank You

2006-09-23T05:37:36Z

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

Sesame Street "Special Letters Unit"

2006-09-23T05:33:50Z

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!

Script Leaks online?

2006-09-23T05:29:30Z

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.

Favorite Episode from Mother Ship.

2006-09-23T05:29:30Z

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

Oz Comparisons

2006-09-23T05:27:34Z

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."

Research

2006-09-23T05:25:50Z

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.

Current Production

2006-09-23T05:23:03Z

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.

L&O DVDs

2006-09-23T05:20:32Z

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.

Three Stories: Man v Nature etc

2006-09-23T05:20:32Z

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.

Blogging

2006-09-23T05:19:02Z

To Lori - this blogging thing is kinda fun.

Detective Fontana's Money

2006-09-23T05:19:02Z

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

Visual Style of Show

2006-09-23T05:17:43Z

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.

Career Advice?

2006-09-23T05:15:07Z

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.

Crossovers

2006-09-23T05:14:03Z

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

Aspirations

2006-09-23T05:11:38Z

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.