Jeffrey Donovan, the star of USA’s Burn Notice, is joining the cast of NBC’s Law & Order revival in a lead role. The original Dick Wolf series that gave birth to a host of spinoff shows is making a return to put the spotlight on “the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.” According to Deadline, Donovan’s character will be an NYPD detective on the 21st season of Law & Order. Other alums from the franchise expected to return are Sam Waterston and Anthony Anderson.
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The new Law & Order star had a long run on Burn Notice, where he portrayed Michael Westen for seven seasons. Westen was a former CIA operative who got the “burn notice” pink slip, effectively ending his career as a spy. He then sets out to find out who burned him while setting up shop in Miami with his best friend and former girlfriend, who also have backgrounds in the espionage community. Donovan will now put his skills to work as a police officer.
Law & Order creator Dick Wolf recently discussed the long road it took to get the original series back on the air. “I never give up on things I believe in,” Wolf told Variety. “It took a long time, but the journey was worth it.” He also reassured longtime fans that there will not be any sweeping changes to the show format. “This will be Season 21, so it’s the same Law & Order everyone knows from the first 20 years,” he said. “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.”
“We always approach storytelling the same way: Good writing, acting and production values, and give the viewers what they want,” Wolf continued. “That’s been our mantra from day one.”
Other productions from Wolf include the FBI franchise at CBS (FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, and FBI International), and the Chicago franchise at NBC (Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D.) Law & Order has also continued with Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime.
“What stands out is the predictable nature of getting viewers what they want,” Wolf said. “The last three seasons of the Wednesday Chicago stack and now the Tuesday FBIs and Thursday Law & Orders prove that traditional television viewers will binge on the comfort food of our brands. The only number that matters now is total audience, and with L+3 and L+7 metrics, our shows pulled in over 74 million viewers last week.”
Are you pumped to see Donovan’s addition to the Law & Order cast? If so, then let us know in the comments below.
Cover photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic via Getty
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