NBC's 'Law & Order' Reboot Tackles #MeToo, 'Changes in Police Work'

Thursday’s debut of a re-vamped Law & Order brought back actor Sam Waterston’s popular character, DA Jack McCoy, but it also refocused the series with a more critical view of police work with its “ripped from the headlines” stories.

The series, which was canceled in 2010 after 20 seasons, is back for season 21 to “continue where the show left off,” series producer Dick Wolf said. Wolf added, “There are very few things in life that are literally dreams come true. This is mine.”

The series will return with several previous cast members, including Waterston, Camryn Manheim as Lieutenant Kate Dixon, and Anthony Anderson as Detective Kevin Bernard. But while the show will retread its typical format, there are some new tweaks to its content, especially a more critical take on the police.

Anderson recently told Entertainment Tonight, “What we’re doing on the show is going to reflect the changes in society, the changes in police work.”

He added that the series will address the “new reality” of contemporary woke controversies. “I think people, you know, are interested in seeing and being a part of those stories that are being told and being a part of history.”

Indeed, in the show’s debut episode on Thursday, “The Right Thing,” detectives Kevin Bernard (Anderson) and new character Frank Cosgrove (Jeffrey Donovan) clash as Cosgrove is revealed as the sort of police officer who immediately imagines black kids are guilty of any particular crime. Meanwhile, Det. Bernard proves to be the sober, more competent and conscious member of the pair. The differences cause conflict right away.

The first episode also plumbs the #meToo movement, as it features a famed entertainer who went to jail for rape but was let out on a technicality. The theme is reportedly meant to evoke comparisons to actor and comedian Bill Cosby. In keeping with the Law & Order format, the celebrity turns up murdered soon after being let out of jail and the episode ponders whether or not the rapist celeb “deserved” to be murdered.

Star Sam Waterston also commented recently on the show’s intention of looking toward more woke storylines.

“It’s an enormous opportunity for the writers with the way things are in the country today,” Waterston said, according to USA Today. “There’s a lot of attention and contention around issues having to do with law enforcement, the application of the law, what’s fair and what’s right. But Law & Order could have been thought up for today. And so far, they don’t seem to be shying away from any of the big questions.”

“My hope is that people will go back to merrily throwing their shoes at the television set out of frustration with one person’s opinion or another, instead of what we’re doing now, just shouting at each other and throwing shoes at each other,” he joked.

Law & Order will run on Thursday nights, joining Wolf’s other series Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases