For the first time in 11 years, the cameras rolled on the mothership Law & Order series.
Dick Wolf Entertainment and NBC celebrated the beginning of filming for the upcoming 21st season revival of the iconic TV series.
While the entire cast is yet to be confirmed, the start of filming brings the iconic series a step closer to returning.
The Law & Order revival continues to build
For two decades, Law & Order was one of the most popular and influential shows on television. Its theme of the first half of an episode showed a murder investigation and the second the trial set the bar for scores of procedurals to follow.
It won a Best Drama Series Emmy in 1997, and its cast aided its long-term success. It also inspired several spin-offs such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
It was expected that the series would break the record set by Gunsmoke in the 21st season in 2010. Instead, shockingly, NBC canceled it for the Law & Order: LA spin-off.
That spin-off soon faltered to poor ratings and was canceled after a single season. With Law & Order: Criminal Intent ending in 2011, that left Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as the only remaining show for a decade.
Now, at last, NBC has revived the original series in what is said to be a continuation, complete with calling this Season 21.
What’s happening in the Law & Order revival?
The image from Anthony Anderson shows the leading detectives of the series, played by Anderson and Jeffrey Donovan, interviewing someone in a park.
Anderson is reprising his role of Detective Kevin Bernard, which he had played for the last three seasons of the original series. It appears Bernard is now a senior detective showing the ropes to a new partner (as of yet, Donovan’s character is unnamed).
Anderson has confirmed he is signed for only one year yet is happy to be back. He told Entertainment Tonight, “you know, a lot of people ask why, and I say why not? It’s the opportunity to go back and reprise [my] character and have a little fun in the dramatic space for a little while.”
Also confirmed for the cast is Hugh Dancy (Hannibal) as an unnamed ADA. It’s surprising the show has already begun production when several characters have yet to be cast, but NBC is trying to get the filming done quickly.
A significant factor is that NBC will be skipping the typical February sweeps period to cover the 2022 Winter Olympics. That gives them more time for production before Law & Order’s scheduled February 24 premiere.
While the cast is still being filled, the image of the cops of Law & Order back on the job is a welcome sight to any fan of the classic show.
Law & Order: Season 21 premieres Thursday, February 24, 2022, at 8/7c on NBC.