{alltv} Inside the 'Law & Order' curse

HOLLYWOOD — The 20-season run of Law & Order has been good to a lot of people.

It has been good to fans of smartly written, tautly plotted police procedurals.

The consistently solid ratings have been very good to NBC.

And the show and its many spinoffs have been especially good to the bank account of producer Dick Wolf.

But for many of the cast members who have passed through the show's constantly-in-motion revolving doors over the course of the past two decades, a stint on the series hasn't necessarily been good for their post L&O careers.

The evidence?

I.D. Benjamin Bratt

Alias: Det. Rey Curtis (1995-2009)
Prior to L&O: The River Wild, Clear and Present Danger
After L&O: Short-lived A&E series, The Cleaner

I.D. Steven Hill

Alias: D.A. Adam Schiff (1990-2000)
Prior to L&O: Mission: Impossible (the original series), The Firm
After L&O: Some commercial work

I.D. Michael Moriarty

Alias: Executive Assistant D.A. Ben Stone (1990-1994)
Prior to L&O: The Glass Menagerie, Holocaust, Pale Rider
After L&O: Santa Baby, Hitler Meets Christ

I.D. Jerry Orbach

Alias: Det. Lennie Briscoe (1991-2004)
Prior to L&O: Acclaimed Broadway star (Tony Award winner for Promises, Promises)
After L&O: Died of prostate cancer while shooting Law & Order: Trial By Jury (2004)

I.D. Elisabeth Rohm

Alias: Assistant D.A. Serena Southerlyn (2001-2005)
Prior to L&O: Angel
After L&O: Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, joined cast of (just cancelled) Heroes this season

I.D. Jesse L. Martin

Alias: Det. Ed Green (1999-2000)
Prior to L&O: Ally McBeal, originated role of Tom Collins in Rent
After L&O: A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, NBC's short-lived The Philanthropist

I.D. Dennis Farina

Alias: Det. Joe Fontana (2004-2006)
Prior to L&O: Miami Vice, Crime Story, Get Shorty
After L&O: National Lampoon's Bag Boy

I.D. Angie Harmon

Alias: Assistant D.A. Abbie Carmichael (1998-2001)
Prior to L&O: Baywatch Nights
After L&O: Agent Cody Banks, ABC's brief Women's Murder Club

So, are we alluding to the existence of a Law & Order curse a la The Great Gilligan's Island Curse?

(That would be, since the three surviving cast members also happen to be the last three characters listed in the song — as in the movie star, the professor and Mary Ann — there's a popular theory that they'll go down in the proverbial ship in exactly that order).

We don't know if we'd go that far but it's something

that potential stars of the now-casting Law and

Order: Los Angeles might want to keep in the back of their minds before they go ahead and sign on that dotted line.

American

Sunday, May 23, 2010

{alltv} Inside the 'Law & Order' curse

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