Rene Balcer Gets Honorary Degree

Balcer on WGA Picket Line
With Marg Helgenberger
(from that "other" crime show)

Rene Balcer, long time executive producer of both Law & Order and Law & Order Criminal Intent, will be receiving an honorary degree from Concordia University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Here’s the official press release from The Canadian Press:

Law & Order boss Rene Balcer to get honourary degree from Montreal university

MONTREAL — The executive producer of TV's "Law & Order" will receive an honourary degree next month from Concordia University in recognition of his success as a TV producer and writer.

Rene Balcer, who originally hails from Montreal, is an alumnus of Concordia, where he was awarded a BA in communication arts in 1978.

Balcer, who also created "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," has won a number of awards for his work on the two crime shows about New York City police detectives and prosecutors.

He won an Emmy in 1997 for "Law & Order," four Edgars from the Mystery Writers of America, a Peabody Award, two Silver Gavel Awards from the American Bar Association and lifetime achievement awards from the International Mystery Writers Festival and the Reims International Television Festival.

Balcer will get his honourary doctorate from Concordia during a ceremony on Nov. 17.

"Law & Order" is one of the longest-running drama series on television. It begins its 19th season next week on NBC and CTV.


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

Sam Waterston Introduces Paleontology Video

Sam Waterston (Law & Order) appears in the introduction of a video made for The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. The video is available for viewing on the web site for The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (link below). I watched some of it and the subject is actually very interesting.

According to the Society’s web site:

Founded in 1940, the society now has almost 2,200 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators, and others interested in VP. The society is organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes. The object of the society is to advance the science of vertebrate paleontology and to serve the common interests and facilitate the cooperation of all persons concerned with the history, evolution, comparative anatomy, and taxonomy of vertebrate animals, as well as field occurrence, collection, and study of fossil vertebrates and the stratigraphy of the beds in which they are found. The society is also concerned with the conservation and preservation of fossil sites.

You can read the official press release about the video here.

Click here to view the full video (33 minutes long, Sam appears right at the beginning).

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

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

Law & Order Franchise Stars Out On The Town

Ice-T (Law & Order SVU) was photographed at the world premier of the movie “Soulmen” on October 28 in New York City. His wife Coco was also in the picture but the flash made her clothing look slightly transparent and I didn’t think it appropriate for my blog, so I edited her out. (It’s hard to find an appropriate picture of Coco, honestly.)

Ice-T, Sans Coco

Chris Noth (Law & Order Criminal Intent) was spotted at the third annual Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS benefit, called "Salon: Six Degrees of Broadway Cares", which occurred on Monday, October 27th. Bebe Neuwirth, of the short-lived Law & Order “Trial By Jury” was also in attendance.

Andrea McArdle and Chris Noth

Bebe Neuwirth

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

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

Halloween With The Law & Order Franchise

Imagine what it would look like if Sam Waterston, Vincent D'Onofrio, Mariska Hargitay, and Chris Meloni did a Law & Order episode for Halloween? Imagine no more. For Law & Order fans, here are some Halloween pictures, which include some of your favorite Law & Order characters…just for fun!

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

Mariska Hosts Joyful Heart Foundation Dinner

Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order SVU) hosted the Joyful Heart Foundation Dinner on October 26th at the Bon Appetit Supper Club and Café at 221 W. 57th Street in New York City. The Bon Appetit Supper Club is only having a temporary run, open from only October 23 to October 31, 2008.

The Joyful Heart Foundation was founded by Mariska. The foundation’s mission is “to heal, educate and empower survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse and to shed light into the darkness that surrounds these issues.”

Here are a few photos of Mariska, and her husband Peter Hermann, from the event.




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

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

Kathryn Erbe Auctions LOCI Set Tour For Charity

Erbe and Lila

Kathryn Erbe, star of Law & Order Criminal Intent and animal lover, is offering, for a charity auction, a tour of the Law & Order Criminal Intent set with lunch. The auction is in support of the North Shore Animal League America .

Bidding closes on November 12, so if you are interested, check out the auction information details ASAP at CharityBuzz.com. You can also check out the web site for The North Shore Animal League America for more information about the organization.

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

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

Sam Waterston May Appear in 1995 “Nixon” Film Airing on HDNet Movies

Starting today and during the next few weeks HDNet Movies will be showing Oliver Stone’s 1995 film “Nixon”. Sam Waterston (Law & Order) had a role in this film, starring as CIA Director Richard Helms. BUT…according to many sources, Sam Waterston’s scenes were (gasp!) deleted in the theatrical release. They are shown, however, in the “director’s cut” version of the movie, which is what I hope HDNet will be airing. Someone was kind enough to put one (maybe the only?) scene with Sam on YouTube, so in case it’s not in the version being aired on HDNet, you can catch it on your small computer screen, below:





Here is the schedule for airings of the movie on HDNet Movies. Note times and dates differ for Eastern and Pacific Time zones. Again, I can’t confirm whether it’s the director’s cut that will be airing. UPDATE OCTOBER 27 - the version I saw on HDNet Movies was not the director's cut and it didn't include Sam. So, if you watch the movie, you'll have to also watch the video below to see Sam's performance in it.


HDNet Movie Schedule for “Nixon”
Rating: R Year: 1995 Run Time: 3:11

Air Dates: Sat, Oct 25th - 8:03 PM ET / 5:03 PM PT
Sat, Oct 25th - 10:30 PM PT
Sun, Oct 26th - 1:30 AM ET
Mon, Nov 3rd - 8:45 PM ET / 5:45 PM PT
Mon, Nov 3rd - 10:35 PM PT
Tue, Nov 4th - 1:35 AM ET
Sun, Nov 9th - 3:45 PM ET / 12:45 PM PT
Wed, Nov 12th - 5:00 AM ET / 2:00 AM PT



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

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

Jill Hennessy Records an Album

People Magazine reports that Jill Hennessy’s (Law & Order) first love was singing, and now she’s putting that talent to good use:

“It's what I did before I acted," she told PEOPLE Monday at a party to celebrate Mario Batali's new book, Spain … A Culinary Roadtrip, at Bon Appetit's Supper Club and Café. "To be honest I never thought the acting thing would get off the ground."

Hennessy, 39, said she recorded an album, which she describes as "sort of alternative, folk, rock" in Austin with producer Patrick McCarthy, whom she met through Batali.

"I had just started writing songs," Hennessy recalled. "I played guitar at Mario's apartment one day at a brunch and Patrick heard me and somebody mentioned, 'Oh, Patrick's a producer! Maybe you guys should work together!'"

The rest, as they say, is history, and they're now in the process of mastering the album.


Here is also a picture of Jill at the Mario Batali dinner, which was held at the Bon Appetit Supper Club and Café New York, NY United States, on October 22, 2008. (photo from Wireimage)

Jill also made an appearance earlier this year in a promotional video for the Food Bank of New York which also included Mario Batali (see below).




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

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

Dann Florek To Speak at Eastern Michigan University

Dann Florek (Law & Order SVU) will be the key speaker at Eastern Michigan University's commencement ceremony on December 14, 2008. According to the Ann Arbor News, Florek “attended EMU from 1969 to 1975 and is married to an EMU alum.”




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

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

Jeff Goldblum and Useful (?) Swedish Phrases

Here’s a short training video that Jeff Goldblum (Law & Order Criminal Intent) did for IKEA, where he teaches two Swedish phrases. The only problem is, when I check his phrases in Google Translate, I don’t come up with the same translation that he indicates. Maybe it’s a joke? Help from anyone who knows Swedish for real would be helpful.

Here’s the lines he uses and how Google translated them:
Prota de svenska?
Translates to: Prot Swedish

Ja lita gran.
Translates to: Yes trust spruce


I also found it funny that he seems to imply if you only know these phrases, the IKEA employee would impress the customer. I suppose that would last as long as it takes for the customer to ask them something ELSE in Swedish and have the person look at them with a blank stare. It must be a joke. Still, it IS Jeff Goldblum, so have fun with it.





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

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

The Chris Meloni Family Attends Children’s AIDS Fundraiser

Chris Meloni (Law & Order SVU), his wife Sherman, and children Dante and Eva Pietra attended the Dream Halloween ® Fundraiser for the Children Affected by Aids Foundation. The event was held on October 19 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. Each October, the Foundation hosts hundreds of families at the Dream Halloween® fundraiser in-costume, to trick-or-treat for toys, meet their favorite cartoon characters, play games, create arts and crafts, and enjoy some delicious food.

Here are photos of Chris and his family at the event. By the way, I think I've seen pictures of Chris in that hat before and I don't think he was in a costume.

Chris Meloni, Dante Meloni ( as the Storm Trooper) , Eva Pietra Meloni and Sherman William

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

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

DGA Honors Dick Wolf; Law & Order Franchise Cast Members Present

As I mentioned here previously, Dick Wolf was honored last night at the Director’s Guild of America Honors , with many of the cast members from the various Law & Order franchise shows in attendance.

Here are several pictures from the event. You’ll see many of your favorotes: Dick Wolf, Sam Waterston, Richard Belzer, Mariska Hargitay, Tamara Tunie, S. Epatha Merkerson, Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Nicholson, Anthony Anderson, Eric Bogosian, Ice-T, Dann Florek, and Alana De La Garza. (I had to make the photos small so I could fit them all here.) Enjoy!

All photos are from Wireimage.

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

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

Jeff Goldblum at Princess Grace Awards Gala

Earlier today, I posted some pictures of Mariska Hargitay at the Princess Grace Awards on October 15 at Cipriani 42nd Street In New York City. It just so happens that Jeff Goldblum, the Law & Order Criminal Intent ”newbie” was there as well. Here are two pictures of Jeff at the event.

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

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

Chris Noth and “Farragut North” Cast

Back in September, I told you about Chris Noth’s (Law & Order Criminal Intent) upcoming appearance in the off-Broadway play "Farragut North," an Atlantic Theatre Company play by Beau Willimon about political intrigue. Chris will play the lead role of Farragut North.

The play will begin previews on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008, and will officially open Wednesday, November 12th, 2008. It will have a limited engagement through Saturday, November 29th only.

Here are some informal pictures (taken at a rehearsal) of Chris and some of the cast.

John Gallagher, Jr., Kate Blumberg and Chris Noth

Chris Noth, John Gallagher, Jr. and Isiah Whitlock, Jr.

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

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