Sam Waterston, who plays district attorney Jack McCoy on Law & Order, is stepping down from the role. He joined the show in 1994 and returned in 2022. His last episode will be February 22. 

Tony Goldwyn has been cast as the new district attorney. Goldwyn played Gordon Gray in Oppenheimer. He’s the director and in the cast for the film Ezra, which will be released in May, and his TV work includes Scandal and Lovecraft Country. 

Law & Order debuted in 1990 and ran until 2010. It came back for season 21 in 2022.
The show is averaging 6.4 million viewers this season across all platforms, according to NBC. The cast includes Hugh Dancy, Camryn Manheim, Odelya Halevi, Mehcad Brooks and Reid Scott. 

Dick Wolf is creator and executive producer. Rick Eid, Pamela Wechsler, Alex Hall, Arthur Forney and Peter Jankowski are executive producers as well.

Universal Television produces Law & Order in association with Wolf Entertainment.

Sam Waterston will play District Attorney Jack McCoy when Law & Order returns to NBC February 24. It will be season 21 of the show, and season 17 for Waterston. 

The crime drama, which ran on NBC from 1990 to 2010, examines “the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders,” in NBC’s words. 

“Very few casting announcements have ever given me this much pleasure,” said executive producer Dick Wolf. “Since day one, Sam has had perfect pitch when it comes to Jack McCoy as a character who both reflects and expands our ability to understand the law. He is the ultimate conscience of the show and I look forward to him emulating the career of New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who served until he was 90. With both Sam and Anthony (Anderson) returning, it shows that the 21st season is merely a continuation of where we left off.”

Waterston is in the cast with Anthony Anderson, Hugh Dancy, Jeffrey Donovan, Camryn Manheim and Odelya Halevi. His other TV credits include HBO drama The Newsroom and Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie.

Law & Order is executive produced by Dick Wolf, Rick Eid, Arthur Forney and Peter Jankowski. The series is produced by Universal Television, in association with Wolf Entertainment. ■ 

Netflix has renewed its original comedy series Grace and Frankie for a second season.

The series, which stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda as reluctant friends who bond after their husbands leave them to get married as a gay couple, will return in 2016.

The announcement was made Tuesday night during a West Hollywood-based event that featured Fonda and Tomlin along with co-creators and executive producers Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris.

The 13-episode series, which also stars Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston, launched on Netflix May 8.