Law & Order: Anthony Anderson Talks Wacky to Conan O’Brien

Anthony Anderson, who plays new detective Kevin Bernard on NBC's Law & Order, had a little chat on Late Night with Conan O’Brien about his medical marijuana use and holistic medicine. After listening to this, I wonder if NBC would not be too thrilled with his discussion on “wacky tobacky.” It sounds like he admits to manufacturing an illness to get it.

He sounds a little to happy to me in this appearance. Hmmm…..

Link to video here.



Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Sam Waterston Voices Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

Sam Waterston as Lincoln

NPR.org has a recording of Sam Waterston’s reading of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address on their web site, here. Just look at the top of NPR’s web page and choose if you’d like to hear it using Windows Media or Real Media to hear the recording.

Here’s the text of the Gettysburg Address, in case you don’t recall it, or, for my international readers who may not be familiar with the speech.

The Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

**********

Lincoln delivered this speech at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, during the American Civil War. This was four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg. This battle had the largest number of casualies in the American Civil War, and was considered a turning point. This speech is viewed as one of the greatest speeches in American history. Lincoln took just a little over two minutes to deliver his powerful message, and he redefined the Civil War as a struggle not only for the Union, but as "a new birth of freedom" that would bring equality to all of its citizens.


Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

SVU’s Chris Meloni Interview: a Harold and Kumar Video

Chris Meloni of Law & Order SVU talks a bit about his role in this weekend’s newly released movie “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.”

I’m sure it will be an Oscar worthy performance. Oscar Meyer, that is.



Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Richard Belzer: Not Filthy Rich From Law & Order SVU

I thought you’d enjoy this short article about Richard Belzer, who seems to be commenting about the recent stories about Mariska Hargitay’s $7 million salary from her role on SVU:

Getting Rich With "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
Apr 25, 2008


Richard Belzer, who played Det. John Munch on "Homicide: Life on the Streets" for six years before he began his current 10-year run with the character on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," straightens out a misconception about his financial situation. With each of the "Law & Order" shows playing as many as six times a day in reruns, people, he says, think that he and his co-stars are "filthy rich."

He's not complaining, mind you, and is proud of the fact that "90 million people a week in the U.S. watch one version of the show or another" -- but he stresses that residuals aren't what they used to be in the old days, "when residuals were high and stayed high. On the other hand, the shows are being played over and over and over -- and it's a dream for all of us to work and live in New York."

There have been changes along the way in the various "L&O" casts, but Belzer points out that, unlike some other shows, "If there have been any flaps, they've been done in a very civilized way -- with very little ever spilling over to the press and with most leaving on friendly conditions."

Asked what he considers the key to the series' success, he says that part of the genius of "L&O" creator Dick Wolf "is that he leaves nothing hanging in the storylines. Each segment is self-contained. You can tune in and watch any one segment and not wonder what you missed."


Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Jesse Martin Reflects on His Career With Law & Order

Here’s a short video where Jesse L. Martin talks about his Law & Order career. Also included is commentary by others working with him (Jeremy Sisto, Anthony Anderson, and director Mario Van Peebles) on his exit episode, “Burn Card.”




Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

The Law & Order Criminal Intent Swing Dance

News has been pretty slow lately for Law & Order Criminal Intent fans. New episodes won’t be airing on the USA Network until June, so there really hasn’t been much to cover for Criminal Intent. Since there aren’t any REAL things going on, it’s always fun to make some up.

Here’s a new swing dance video, Criminal Intent Style, with the familiar faces of Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe). Hopefully, it will break the boredom!

The Law & Order Criminal Intent Swing Dance



Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

L&O Actors in Other Roles: Steven Hill in Mission Impossible TV Series

Long before he sat in the big chair as District Attorney Adam Schiff on Law & Order, Steven Hill was involved in international intrigue on the TV series Mission: Impossible. Steven starred as the head of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) for the first season that the show aired in 1966-67. I was only about 12 years old then, but I remember being glued to the TV when the show was airing. It was different and exciting. Of course we only had three or four channels at that time and I don’t think my parents had a color TV yet either, so we may have found ourselves watching MI simply because there wasn’t anything else available. (Funny, with 200+ channels now, I still sometimes can’t find anything good to watch. But I digress.)

Last week, out of sheer boredom, I was searching the DVDs at my local public library and stumbled on the complete first season of Mission: Impossible, with none other than Steven Hill in a lead role. So my husband and I watched quite a few episodes this weekend, and we were both a little amused at seeing a much younger Steven in a much different role. Steven played Dan Briggs, the head of the IMF, and lead man in making sure all the missions were staffed with the right people and were accomplished successfully. It is interesting to see that even though many years passed between his role as Dan Briggs and his role as Adam Schiff on Law & Order, he had some of the same mannerisms. I almost found myself expecting the same witty comebacks from Briggs that we got from Schiff. As MI was from the 1960s, the plots were simple, the show looked dated (which I expected), and the methods they use to achieve their missions suspended belief, so the show wasn't as exciting as I remembered. But it was still fun to watch.

Steven left MI after the first season. As he is an Orthodox Jew, he was restricted from working certain days/times to allow him to observe his religion. Over time, these limitations created problems as Steven would not comply with productions schedules. (When Steven began his work with Law & Order, producer Dick Wolf accommodated Steven’s needs.)

Image from TV Guide

The website Bygonetv.com elaborates about Steven and Mission: Impossible:


Steven Hill, who played the original leader of the IMF, Dan Briggs, had become a devout follower of the Jewish faith in1961. Bruce Geller was so keen for Hill to play the lead role that he agreed to his demand to leave work on Friday evenings in time for the start of the Jewish Sabbath at sunset. Steven Hill was not always an easy actor for directors to cope with. However, his ability as an actor was - and still is - highly regarded. Apart from the fact that he could not work on Fridays and Saturdays he could also be single-minded in how to portray his character. This would often bring him into conflict with the director who, as well as sharing the responsibility of interpreting the writer's intentions, also had to get the show finished on time and on budget. Although some of the Desilu executives were uneasy at Hill's appointment, Lucille Ball recognized Geller's determination and championed his cause. Nobody questioned Hill's superb acting ability and the way he made the most of every scene. However, after the first season had finished production Geller and Hill lost their main supporter when, in late 1966, Lucille Ball sold Desilu to Gulf+Western (the deal actually went through in July 1967). Those that opposed Hill's involvement in the show now had more leverage than before. The show was running way over budget and Hill was seen as one of the factors behind this problem.
In an effort to bring the budget back into line, it was decided to film at weekends with many of the crew working for no extra pay. With his strict observance of the Sabbath, Bruce Geller and his writers were forced to reduce Steven Hill's character's appearances. It was probably this and incidents such as when Steven Hill walked off of the set that made up Geller's mind to yield to the pressure from above and fire him. For the second season Geller replaced not only the actor but also the character. That said, it was a straight swap. Dan Briggs became James Phelps and Steven Hill became Peter Graves.
So if you’re looking for something to do and want to see one of Law & Order’s favorite characters in another major role, check out the first season of Mission: Impossible. Your local library may have it on hand so you can watch for free.

This blog will self-destruct in five seconds…..just kidding.


Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Law & Order's Chris Noth and SATC – Will Mr. Big Die in the SATC Movie?

Noth as Mr. Big, Vanity Fair

OK, let me get this out of the way right away. I was never a fan of Sex and the City. I found the show incredibly shallow, and the few times I watched it just to see Law & Order’s (and Criminal Intent's) Chris Noth as “Mr. Big”, even he couldn’t save it for me. After watching less that 5 episodes I knew the show just was not for me.

But, Law & Order fans still may be interested to hear that Chris Noth’s appearance in the big screen SATC movie – with that “catchy” title “Sex and the City: The Movie” (could it be any less creative?) – is already stirring some buzz with the rumors that Mr. Big actually DIES in the movie. The rumor started last summer when Noth himself said that “Mr. Big had a fatal heart attack and died."

New York Magazine fuels the speculation by doing an article with their own thoughts on the subject. My suggestion is - wouldn’t be interesting if Mr. Big dies and someone from the L&O universe shows up to check out whether it really is a homicide? Maybe that would give them a better title for the movie “Sex and Law and Order”, which I would probably pay good money to see. (As far as “Sex and the City: The Movie”, I think I’ll pass.)

Here’s the New York Magazine article:

‘Sex and the City’ Movie: We Know Who Dies (Updated)

This past Tuesday night, Cynthia Nixon let slip to an interviewer that in the upcoming Sex and the City movie, one of the characters dies. She refused to say which one, but we think we might know.

Samantha
Potential cause of death: Breast cancer. It's entirely possible that Samantha's breast cancer could return, no matter how fabulous she is. We can also quite easily picture a scenario where usage of a sex swing goes awry. Too easily, in fact.
Why it might not happen: The gay audience would revolt.

Steve's Mom
Potential cause of death: Alzheimer's combined with general boringness. In the last few episodes, Anne Meara's character was losing her memory and had developed a taste for wandering around the streets eating out of garbage cans. Plus, her character has kind of run its course. What's she going to do if there's a sequel? Take her pants off at Saks? Actually…
Why it might not happen: People live like that for years.

Mr. Big
Potential cause of death: Heart attack. Rumors of Big's demise have been floating around the Internet since Noth told the Post, prior to the film's actually getting made, that "In the Sex and the City movie that never happened, Mr. Big had a fatal heart attack and died." Plus, as one commenter on Us magazine's Website notes, "Carrie dyes her hair dark, so something tragic had to happen." Plus, in the final episode, we learned his real name (it is John). According to the famed Rumpelstiltskin Theory, this means he must tear himself in half.
Why it might not happen: And leave poor old bony Carrie all alone again? Now that's just cruel. Plus, Chris Noth told Extra there may be a sequel in the works.

Charlotte
Potential cause of death: Freak tennis accident. Charlotte is hit on the head by a tennis ball in that exact spot that kills you. Charlotte is accidentally smothered by a pile of Lily Pulitzer fabric. Charlotte passes out from hunger and her dog, Elizabeth Taylor, eats her face off.
Why it might not happen: Huh. We can't think of a reason not to kill Charlotte. She's sort of extraneous when you think about it. And just think: Samantha and Carrie could make all the dirty jokes they wanted! There. It's settled.

Update: Our dear, delusional friends over at Vulture disagree with our assessment that Charlotte will die. They are convinced that it is, in fact, Big whose head will be squashed by an inexplicable falling safe. They may be right about Charlotte; surely somewhere in her contract (right under the part where she agrees to periodically flash a boob) it must say that she can't actually die. But Kois, Brown, you crazy Kantian cats, it's not going to be Mr. Big. And here's why: You have to follow the Friends paradigm. The writers of that show believed in their hearts that viewers wanted Ross and Rachel to end up together — even though really we wanted Rachel to go to Paris and for Ross to be sat upon on by a rogue brontosaurus. So the Sex writers ended the series with Big and Carrie together. But then they realized afterward the folly of their ways, and now they have the chance to fix it for good. Imagine the real end of Sex and the City being that Carrie actually learns a goddamn lesson for once, instead of twisting everything that happens to her into a trite, column-ending pun. If Big dies, nobody learns anything — in fact, Carrie gets to spend the rest of her life indulging herself with the lie that it was a "great love." If he dumps her at the altar, it's way worse. See, Vulture, if Big dies, he'll get what he deserves, sure. But Carrie never will.


Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Law & Order SVU’s Chris Meloni and Wife in Architectural Digest

In March, Architectural Digest did a nice article on Chris and Sherman Meloni’s place in New York City. A video of Chris and Sherman discussing their place is available on the AD web site, and it can be accessed at this link.

You can also view the article and pictures directly at the Architectural Digest website HERE, but you have to register (it’s free) for access.


Dramatic Gesture Above the City
Actor Christopher Meloni’s Apartment Takes on the Scenery

I’ve always been an exposed-brick, wood-beams—downtown—kind of guy,” says Christopher Meloni, star of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, explaining how he ended up happily ensconced in a multiwindowed sky palace high above Hell’s Kitchen in New York. “It wasn’t a snob factor; being a history buff, I just liked living among old, prewar buildings. What makes me happy about this apartment, however, is that, while the views keep you very much in touch with New York, you’re also above it all. When I’m done working and come home, I can really get away, be in a cocoon. I never imagined living 60 stories above the city could be so soothing.”

It’s not easy to make a glass- and-steel high-rise apartment cozy, but Sherman Meloni—wife, mother, set designer, painter and decorator—definitely pulled it off, turning “3,000 well-laid-out square feet,” she says, into the “modern but comfortable haven” her family craved. And when it came to inspiration, she had only to look out her own floor-to-ceiling windows. “Since our apartment has terrific Central Park views, I took my cue from nature—the brilliant greens, the stunning sky blues—blue being the string through which I pulled other accents.”

“When I’m done working and come home, I can be in a cocoon,” says Christopher Meloni. “I never imagined living 60 stories above the city could be so soothing.”A case in point is the colorful juxtaposition of family room and dining room, the former’s iridescent sapphire-blue silk walls, cheek by jowl with the latter’s vibrant chartreuse—highlighted by four green Mies van der Rohe chairs. “I stumbled upon them years ago on Canal Street,” recalls Sherman Meloni. “They didn’t know what they had. This time around I simply reupholstered them in green leather. Since I’m not a pack rat, the chairs and the Buddha were the only things we kept. We wanted to start from scratch.” The living area—“not a huge space”—is equally chair-friendly. “Rather than stuff a couple sofas in, I used four chairs—big club chairs on a swivel base—so you can put your feet up on the window seat and look out the window or swivel around to face the dining table.”

The dining table itself is custom-made from a giant hunk of kumbuk. “I found a company that brings in huge, solid slabs of wood from Africa that are then cut into lengths. You just flip through and pick whatever organic shape you want.” “At first I wasn’t sure about the table,” adds her husband, “but she turned out to be right. Actually, as I’m more rustic and natural, it was a tip of the hat to me.”

When it came to keeping the apartment’s extant Brazilian hardwood floors, however, the couple—both fans of wood and handcrafted tribal rugs—were in complete agreement.

“Sherman ran everything by me, but to toot my own horn,” continues the actor, tongue firmly in cheek, “I enlarged the baseboards. I don’t know what came over me, but when I saw the originals, I said, ‘Those are just too wimpy.’ ” He laughs. “That was my sole contribution, along with, that is, knocking a hole in the kitchen wall so you could see the park view. I don’t like being enclosed.”

Neither does his wife. “It’s hard finding a beautiful kitchen where you just want to spend time,” she says. “I don’t cook a lot, so I wanted ours to be not just a kitchen but another nice, inviting, warm room, which is why I continued using the wood—there are cherrywood backsplashes—and color,” namely, in the exotic blue walls. “First I mirrored the walls, then put blue glass on top so when the light hits it, it reflects through the glass, causing the wall to glow, like it’s lit.”

As for the library and master bedroom—done in dark caramels and browns—Sherman Meloni combined the two into one large space, separated only by the bed’s headboard. “It’s like two unenclosed rooms, very open to each other,” she explains. “I did it for the view. Because there’s a giant open archway, you can see out our bedroom window from the front of the library. The bed frame, veneered in the same ebony as the bookcases, provides a visual partition as well as privacy if you’re actually in bed.”

When it comes to art, though the couple have begun collecting, Christopher Meloni has yet to hang a large work from his favorite artist—his wife. “I’m her biggest fan,” the actor says of Sherman, whose oils “are mostly realistic, figurative pieces.” “My husband keeps waiting for me to paint something that I’ll agree to hang up,” she explains. “And being a painter, it’s hard to find another artist’s work I want to live with.”

Their two children, meanwhile, the couple’s reason for vacating downtown—“There’s no grass in SoHo,” chuckles Sherman Meloni, “and we wanted them to grow up by the park”—are thrilled with their new digs. “They love it,” reports their mother, praising the virtue of an apartment boasting “two different living areas off the main one—so the kids have their space, we ours.” She pauses. “In New York you’re always looking at real estate, looking for your next place. ‘Wouldn’t it be great to move there, get something bigger, better?’ Right now we feel we can just stay put—and it’s a good feeling. Finally, we’ve found a place where we’re in no hurry to move.”



Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Law & Order’s Sam Waterston: The Ecoist

Here’s a clip of Sam Waterston from The Sundance Channel’s The Ecoist, where some of today's most active and recognizable environmental activists share ideas, information, and enthusiasm about their cause of choice. Sam talks briefly about his work with Oceana and protecting the world’s fish and their habitat.

Visit The Sundance Channel website for more information on the Ecoist.






Ecoist video clip featuring Sam Waterston

Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Law & Order SVU’s B.D. Wong Shares Acting Tips with Iowans

Quad-Cities Online reports that B.D. Wong, who Law & Order SVU fans know as forensic psychiatrist Dr. George Huang, spoke this weekend at the North Scott Senior High School in Eldridge, Iowa. He shared his information about his life and shared acting tips.

Law & Order actor speaks at North Scott in Eldridge
By Anthony Watt


B.D. Wong, of Law & Order fame, shared tips about acting and told some stories from his life for Quad-Citians during the weekend.

Mr. Wong-who plays Dr. George Huang, the forensic psychiatrist Special Victims Unit off-shoot of the series-- made appearances throughout the Quad-Cities as Quad City Arts' Cary Grant Artist in Residence.

Friday, he spoke at North Scott Senior High School in Eldridge and took questions about his life and his acting experiences, including how to get ready for auditions.

Preparation is the key, Mr. Wong told the audience of about 60 people, including many theater students. The more prepared actors are with the song or script they will use use for an audition, the better off they will be.

"You're the instrument that you're playing, and if you're cramped up in some way, you're not going to play the instrument right," he said.

Other questions included the kind of music that influenced him: the swing, folk and Broadway musicals his father played when Mr. Wong was a child.

Another was the actors who influenced him: George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on the original Star Trek series, because he played one of the few dignified Asian characters on television at the time.

Mr. Wong, a Chinese-American, was born in San Francisco. He said he struggled with the lack of Asian-American faces in the media, and the stereotypical portrayals of those that were visible in the media-often as cooks, servants or "wacky exchange students."

"His passion for his occupation comes through," said Joni Kuehl-Schneider, 42, Long Grove, Iowa, who was there with her daughter Anna, 14.

Anna, who is a drama student, said she liked the variety of his experience from movies and television to musicals and other theater because it shows the kind of talents an actor has to have to do those things.

"I though it was interesting to see someone who is pretty much famous to me," she said.

Mr. Wong graduated from San Francisco State University. He was named Bradley Darryl but shortened the name to initials.

He is the only actor to receive the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Clarence Derwent Award, and the Theatre World Award for the same performance -- his Broadway debut as Song Liling in "M. Butterfly."

His other accolades include critical acclaim for his part as the intellectual, blanket-dependent Linus in the Broadway revival of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."

His film credits include "Father of the Bride," "Jurassic Park," "The Freshman," "Seven Years in Tibet" and Disney's "Mulan."

He'll soon direct his first film, "Social Grace," a movie about an Asian-American woman's struggle to break into the New York debutante circle.

Television roles include the HBO film "And the Band Played On" and the sitcom "All-American Girl," and he was seen in a 2007 mini-series about the life of Marco Polo, "The Discovery of the World."

Openly gay, Mr. Wong had a long-term relationship with talent agent Richie Jackson. In 2000 they had twin sons born through a surrogate mother. One of them died 90 minutes after birth.

In 2003, Mr. Wong wrote a memoir about his experience with surrogacy. His relationship with Mr. Jackson ended in 2004.

The first Cary Grant residency was in the 1987-88 season, after the sudden death of actor Cary Grant from a massive stroke before he was to perform in the Quad-Cities.

Many who had bought tickets to his performance elected to keep them and devote the money toward establishing a residency. Cary Grant's widow made a gift toward that endowment. Artists of the stature of Tony Award-winning Edward Albee have filled the residency every two seasons.


Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Law & Order Court House Steps Site of Real-Life Accident

I always said that I thought the Law & Order courthouse steps is one of the deadliest fictional places in the Law & Order universe. How many times have we witnessed someone get shot right on those steps, or even just inside the main lobby area? I lost count over the years. I recall one episode – the name escapes me – where Jack thought they were actually shooting at him and it really rattled him.

This time, though, there was a real life accident on the courthouse steps. Thankfully, neither Sam Waterston nor any of our Law & Order favorites were close by. But you can bet I have made a mental note that when I visit New York City, I will be extra careful if I go to visit that courthouse. In all seriousness, I hope everyone involved in the accident is OK now.

(Let's see how long it takes before this gets worked into a "ripped from the headlines" story. )

Here’s the real story from Associated Press:
Man Pinned Under Car On "Law & Order" Courthouse Steps


NEW YORK (AP) -- A car hurtled up the courthouse steps made famous by "Law & Order" on Friday, injuring six people, one of whom was pinned beneath the vehicle and had to be freed by firefighters.

The car jumped a curb, rear-ended a coffee cart and careered up the busy stairs of Manhattan's state Supreme Court building, pinning one man beneath its front end.

Firefighters covered the pinned man's face with a sheet to protect him from sparks and metal fragments as they used powerful electrical saws to cut through the 1999 Nissan sedan he was trapped under. Then they lifted the auto and pulled the man onto a stretcher before taking him away.

Six people, including the pinned man and the sedan's driver, were taken to hospitals; none appeared to have life-threatening injuries, police spokesman Christopher Filippazzo said.

The driver was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and driving with a suspended license, police said.

The courthouse, an imposing 1927 landmark, is featured in the opening shots of the long-running TV show "Law & Order," and the exterior court scenes are shot on the steps where the accident occurred.

James Rossetti, deputy New York County clerk, called it "a miracle" that no one was killed. The accident occurred just before lunch hour in the bustling neighborhood.

A few hours after the crash, a pedestrian was hit by a taxi across the street and about 60 feet away, at Pearl and Centre streets.

Several court officers noted that Centre Street is an exit off the Brooklyn Bridge. They said they were surprised that even more accidents didn't occur in the area because of the speed at which some cars come off the span.



Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Law & Order's Elisabeth Rohm is a New Mom

Elisabeth Rohm, who played Serena “Is this because I’m a lesbian?” Southerlyn in "Law & Order" is a new mom.

Here’s the Associated Press release:

“Elisabeth Rohm of "Law & Order" fame is a mom for the first time.

The 34-year-old actress and her fiance, entrepreneur Ron Wooster, welcomed a baby girl named Easton August Anthony in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, Rohm's publicist Tina Malhotra told The Associated Press on Friday.

Malhotra said the name came to Rohm in a dream, and that Anthony is Wooster's "other surname."

Rohm and Wooster, 40, plan to marry this October in Palm Springs, Calif.

Rohm portrayed assistant district attorney Serena Southerlyn on "Law & Order" from 2001-2005.”

Congratulations!


Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Criminal Intent’s Eric Bogosian and Theater’s Future

The Buffalo News did a nice piece on Eric Bogosian (Captain Danny Ross, Law & Order Criminal Intent) and his ideas on the future of the theater. Die-hard Law & Order fans know that Bogosian is an accomplished playwright, and that one of his plays, Talk Radio, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

Here’s the story:

Eric Bogosian thinks small when it comes to local theater

By Colin Dabkowski - News Arts Writer
Updated: 04/09/08 11:32 AM


Eric Bogosian has an idea of where the theater is headed. “I really believe that the hope of the theater, the future of the theater, is in smaller, enthusiastic theater companies,” Bogosian said, bemoaning the failure of many regional theaters to produce relevant, challenging drama.

Smaller, more entrepreneurial companies, he said, are “the only way to go.”

The playwright, actor and novelist spoke to The Buffalo News between a rewrite session for his forthcoming play “One Plus One” and a shoot for a future episode of “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” in which he stars.

The small and enthusiastic Road Less Traveled Productions, a 6-year-old Buffalo outfit that focuses on developing and producing local playwrights, is hosting Bogosian on April 23 for the first of its planned “American Theater Masters” series in association with a production of Bogosian’s play “Humpty Dumpty.” During his visit, Bogosian will meet with Road Less Traveled writers and actors and host a meet-and-greet fundraiser for the company at the Shea’s Intermission Lounge. The local production of “Humpty Dumpty” opens Friday.

To many, Bogosian is known for his idiosyncratic, stream-of- consciousness monologues and the well-received plays “Talk Radio” and “subUrbia,” both of which were written more than a decade ago and just recently received their first Broadway productions. Most have probably caught a glimpse of his character, Captain Danny Ross, on the popular NBC series “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”

“Humpty Dumpty” is a vaguely apocalyptic thriller about a savvy, self-involved pair of couples whose lives come royally unhinged during a vacation in the Adirondack Mountains.

The show was first produced at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J., in 2002 to lukewarm reviews and later at the San Jose Repertory Theatre. Beyond that, it has had a limited life, overshadowed by some of Bogosian’s larger projects — not to mention the wildly morphing tastes of Broadway producers. But it’s no less beloved by the playwright.

“I had to write this play,” Bogosian said.

He characterized the ebb and flow of his fame and critical reception — with two recent Broadway productions following a lengthy period barely under the radar in the New York theatrical establishment— as a fact of life.

“Every writer believes that if he isn’t embraced, then they’re not getting it, and when he is embraced and lauded, the writer believes that they get it perfectly. And probably neither thing is true,” Bogosian said, making comparisons to his neighbor Edward Albee and, of all people, Johan Sebastian Bach.

“I’m now at that point which I’ve seen other writers be at, where you just take it all with a grain of salt and realize that you’re not writing for the critics, you’re not writing to get huge crowds or to have a hit. You’re not writing to make money. You’re writing because you have to write.”

It’s that same relentless compulsion that fuels much of Bogosian’s work, and, judging by the steady stream of frenetic thoughts and phrases that ushered from the playwright’s mouth during this half-hour interview break, probably most phone conversations, too.

Road Less Traveled picked “Humpty Dumpty” from Bogosian’s substantial catalog both because it was an easily cast five-hander and, as the company’s artistic director Scott Behrend said, a thematically current look at our increasingly paranoid world.

When the foursome’s Adirondack cabin and the surrounding area lose electricity and ominous gunshots are heard in the distance, the two couples in “Humpty Dumpty” must fend for themselves without the help of cell phones or laptops.

And in this piece, as the title makes clear, Bogosian is thinking big. Left without life-sustaining technology, all the king’s Blackberries and Mac- Books are unable to resurrect a society that teetered off the high wall the instant someone yanked the plug out of the wall.

Bogosian began writing the play in 1999 as a commentary on the then-impending Y2K “crisis,” an overblown, media-driven frenzy now rendered quaint and almost laughable in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001. After the attacks, which Bogosian said almost forced him to set down his poison pen for good, he revised the play to include a more universal idea of human vulnerability.

“[It] speaks to how we develop status based on things that really have nothing to do with survival skills,” Bogosian said of the play. “That was the thing we were thinking on 9/11. I mean, if this thing kept going, what was gonna happen to us?”

Bogosian’s commentary on American paranoia seems rooted as much in a criticism of his yuppie archetypes (the bulk of our society, he seems to say) as his own spine-tingling conception of world affairs.

“If you really look at what is going on, it’s not as if there’s an al Qaida out there that’s conspiring to kill us all. It’s that we have a very, very fragile, complex mega-society that can be attacked from a lot of different directions. It could be a computer virus tomorrow that could shut the whole schmegege down. Many things could happen,” Bogosian said, going on to cite the Oklahoma City bombing, the Washington, D.C., snipers, the Unabomber, the threat of an anthrax attack and, finally, Hurricane Katrina.

That’s a lot to worry about.

And one couldn’t blame Behrend, who directs the play, for approaching it with a little paranoia of his own, especially since the playwright will be in attendance April 23. But he doesn’t seem worried.

“We’re putting our best foot forward I think in all areas for this production,” Behrend said. “I like to look at this piece as a real sort of mirror for a lot of our social foibles right now, especially in terms of getting sucked up into our cell phone, e-mail, technology-driven society and what that does to our relationships.”


Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

S. Epatha Merkerson Narrates PBS Documentary

S. Epatha Merkerson is narrating an “American Masters” PBS documentary called “Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun” airing Wednesday, April 9, 2008. It’s about Zora Neale Hurston, novelist, trailblazer for black women, a scholar, and artist. According to the New York Times Hurston “also pioneered a very 21st-century genre: the unreliable memoir…In her speeches and writings — including her autobiography, “Dust Tracks on a Road,” which is liberally quoted by the film’s narrator, S. Epatha Merkerson — Hurston shaved a decade from her age and substituted the all-black town of Eatonville, Fla., where she grew up, for her actual birthplace in Alabama. The film doesn’t speculate about her reasons, but we can: perhaps when being a black woman in the Jim Crow South means that you finish high school at 27 and don’t become the first black graduate of Barnard College (with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology) until 36, you find it practical to obscure your age.”

Check your local listing for air times.

Check out my blog home page for the latest information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Meet Law & Order’s Anthony Anderson

S. Epatha Merkerson and Anthony Anderson
Photo from the NY Post
The New York Post recently did an article on the new detective at the 2-7. He’s Anthony Anderson, and he’ll be taking the spot soon to be vacated by Jesse L. Martin. Here’s the Post article, and what was billed as the first photo of him on Law & Order.

NEW 'ORDER'


FIRST PHOTO OF NEW COP ON 'L&O'
By MICHAEL STARR

April 1, 2008 -- HERE'S your first look at Anthony Anderson, the newest addition to "Law & Order."

Anderson, who starred on Fox's "K-Ville" last season, joins the cast as Det. Kevin Bernard.

"He's a former IAB [internal affairs] officer who didn't sign up for that job - they recruited him right out of the academy and told him he could become a homicide detective in two years," Anderson told The Post.

"It's what he really wants to do," Anderson said. "Bernard feels he can really make a difference as a homicide detective."

Bernard is replacing Det. Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin), who's leaving the show. Bernard's first appearance on "L&O" will overlap with Green's final appearance, scheduled to air April 23 on NBC. Bernard will be paired with Det. Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto), who's also new to the "L&O" family.

"He's not a hard-ass," Anderson says of Bernard.

"He's a fair guy trying to find his way in a new station house - and trying to get away from the stench of the 'rat squad' of internal affairs."

Anderson, 37, is no stranger to TV and movie fans. In addition to "K-Ville," he starred on The WB's "All About The Andersons," which was loosely based on his life.

He also gave a riveting performance in a guest-starring role in "The Shield" opposite Michael Chiklis and Glenn Close. Anderson's big-screen resume includes roles in "Scary Movie 3," "Barbershop" and "Kangaroo Jack."



Check out my blog home page for the latest information,
here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Happy Birthday Chris Meloni (Law & Order SVU)

Born April 2, 1961, Chris Meloni would go on to become one of the most recognizable and popular stars of the Law & Order franchise. Of course, fans of the HBO series “Oz” probably still can’t get the image of his role as Chris Keller out of their minds. I have to admit I’ve only seen a part of only one episode of Oz, but believe me I have seen my share of Meloni pictures from that series. None of which, by the way, you will see on this blog, because I really want to keep it clean.

Here’s some personal data:

He has a brother (Robert Meloni Jr (born c. 1957), and a sister Michele Meloni (born c. 1955)

His wife’s name is Sherman Williams (born c. 1960; married c. 1995), and they have two children: daughter: Sophia Eva Pietra Meloni (born on March 23, 2001 in L.A.), son Dante Meloni (born January 02, 2004)

He was educated at the following:
St Stephen's High School Alexandria, Virginia
University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder Colorado, BA history
The Neigborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre New York, New York


Here’s some significant milestones for Chris, from Hollywood.com:


2002 Portrayed Mark Fuhrman in TV-movie "Murder in Greenwich" (USA), which is based on the unsolved murder of Martha Moxley

1999 Played the sports-obsessed Coach Bob, opposite Julia Roberts in "Runaway Bride"

1999 Cast as Detective Elliot Stabler on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC); earned an Emmy (2006) nomination for Best Actor in a Drama Series

1998 Reteamed with Terry Gilliam for a small role in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

1998 Played a bounty hunter in a two-part episode of NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street"

1998 Along with "Oz" co-star Rita Moreno, acted in the film "Carlo's Wake"

1998 - 2003 Cast as inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama "Oz"

1997 Had a recurring role on Steven Bochco's "Brooklyn South" (CBS)

1997 Played the Daryl Hannah's ex-husband in "Mario Puzo's 'The Last Don'" (CBS)

1996 Was featured in the crime thriller "Bound"

1996 Had a recurring role on Steven Bochco's "NYPD Blue" (ABC), as Jimmy Leary, the target of an undercover investigation who romanced cop Kim Delaney

1995 Starred in the one-act play "Who Made Robert De Niro King of America"

1995 Appeared in Terry Gilliam's thought-provoking time travel tale "12 Monkeys"
1994 Appeared in the Dana Carvey vehicle "Clean Slate"

1994 Had a supporting role in "Junior", starring a pregnant Arnold Schwartzenegger

1993 Cast in the TV-movie "Without a Kiss Goodbye" (CBS), as the husband of a woman wrongly convicted of poisoning their infant son

1991 Co-starred in the CBS miniseries "In a Child's Name"

1991 - 1994 Voiced the recurring character of Spike on the ABC animated series "Dinosaurs"

1990 Had featured role in the NBC TV-movie "When Will I Be Loved"

1989 - 1990 Was a regular on HBO's "1st & Ten: Do it Again", playing an ex-con turned quarterback

1988 Early TV credit, a small role in an episode of "The Equalizer"

1981 Dropped out of college during his junior year to move to L.A. to pursue acting; returned to Colorado after six weeks

Raised in Washington, DC

Began acting career while in college, appearing with repertory theater companies in Boulder and Denver, Colorado

After college, moved to NYC to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse
Appeared in TV commericals

Had recurring part on the NBC daytime drama "Search for Tomorrow"

Played Frankie, one of the title brothers in the NBC sitcom "The Fanelli Boys"



Happy Birthday Chris!

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Law & Order Special Letters Unit

Here’s a perfect video to share for April 1. It’s Sesame Street’s Law & Order, Special Letters Unit, spoofing Law & Order SVU. If you haven’t seen this before, take a look and I'm you’re sure to enjoy it. The Sesame Street Muppet they use for John Munch (Richard Belzer) looks exactly like John Munch. Well, except for the green face.

Have fun!

Law & Order, Special Letters Unit





Check out my blog home page for the latest information,
here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.