When the original Law & Order, the show that launched the entire Law & Order franchise on NBC, was abruptly cancelled in 2010 after 20 seasons on NBC, fans were, to say the least, stunned. But this week, the beloved police procedural/legal drama returns for Season 21 and while a dozen years have passed and the world has changed, series star Sam Waterston says one thing hasn’t: how the show gets people to think. In an interview with Variety, Waterston said that the series will take on issues that “infuriate” people and will have people “throwing their shows at the television” in the new season.
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“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 said. “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 made 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.”
The Law & Order revival will see the return of Waterston as District Attorney Jack McCoy and Anthony Anderson as Detective Kevin Bernard. They will be joined by Hugh Dancy as senior ADA Nathan Price, Jeffrey Donovan as senior detective Frank Cosgrove, Camryn Manheim as Lt. Kate Dixon and Odelya Halevi as junior ADA Samantha Maroun. Waterston has also previously teased that the first episode of the series revival will also see the return of one of his “favorite people on Earth” and that fans will be very glad when they see her.
“One of the wonderful things about doing a television show in New York like this with really juicy parts for visitors is that there’s this extraordinary pool of talent of New York actors,” Waterston said. “So, the hope and expectation is that there will be a wonderful surprise every week. There is a person coming back in the first show, one of my favorite people on Earth. I’m not allowed to tell who that is, but you’ll be glad when you see her.”
Law & Order will premiere on Thursday, February 24th on NBC.
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