TVSquad

I started watching Law & Order during the Briscoe and Green days, so I don't know a whole lot about Detective Rey Curtis, Briscoe's former partner from '94-'99. What I do know is that Benjamin Bratt is pulling a Chris Noth and returning to the show that gave him his big break.

Bratt, whose A&E series, The Cleaner, was just canceled, is reprising his role as Detective Rey Curtis on the original Law & Order. However, it doesn't look like the current crime-fighting duo of Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Bernard (Anthony Anderson) have anything to worry about: Bratt is only signed up for one episode.

There are all sorts of media reports swirling around lately that NBC is considering canceling Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Both series are suffering from consistently low ratings and it wasn't a good sign earlier this year when NBC moved the original Law & Order to Siberia Friday nights. NBC reportedly met with L&O creator Dick Wolf earlier this week to discuss the series' futures, and both are considered "on the bubble", though Criminal Intent is more likely to see a renewal than the original Law & Order. A decision isn't expected until early next month. (SVU is safe, by the way, with its stars earning mega bucks next season)

This is the original Law & Order's 17th season and, even though it has reached legendary status as far as television series go, it is time for it to go. I think the Chevy Chase episode proved that. It feels tired and stale. There are way too many "ripped from the headlines" episodes and can anyone even keep track of who the main detectives are anymore? The series has gone through so many stars that it's getting hard to keep up. Plus, I think it became about "sexy" detectives and lawyers, rather than the original, more gritty characters played by Chris Noth, Paul Sorvino, Michael Moriarty, and Jerry Orbach.

Do you think Law & Order's time is up?

If you spend any time in New York City, you'll notice that a lot of the streets have two names, the actual name and the ceremonial name. Stretches of NYC streets are named after Peter Jennings, Humphrey Bogart, and Joey Ramone, among others. So you'd think if you were the family of the late Jerry Orbach, it would be pretty easy to get a street or corner named after the Broadway legend and Law & Order stalwart. Think again.

The New York Times reports that Orbach's widow, Elaine, has been turned down in her quest to have the corner of 53rd St. and 8th Ave., where the two used to live, named in Jerry's honor. Apparently the community board that governs that corner turns down all renaming requests on principle, wanting to keep the cityscape it governs as clutter-free as possible. But Elaine Orbach is determined; she intends on brining Jerry's 96-year-old mother and one of his sons to tonight's board meeting. Maybe Jerry's mom can guilt them into naming the corner after him.

[via Gothamist and Pop Candy]

After two seasons, Dennis Farina is leaving his role as Detective Joe Fontana on the long-running NBC hit Law and Order. He's going to pursue other projects and work on his production company.

This is probably a good move for Farina. He's a good actor (he's one of those actors who is good in everything he's in, even if what he's in isn't that good), but Law and Order wasn't the best showcase for him. It's not exactly a show that leaves room for meaty acting or character development. It's all about the crime, the investigation, and the trial, and there's no room for anything else really. Besides, the show has really gone downhill, with all the "ripped from the headlines" cases.

No word yet on who will replace him.