Longtime ‘Law & Order’ Star Returning for Season 22 of Revival

District Attorney Jack McCoy is returning for another season of legal gymnastics on Law & Order. Sam Waterston will be back to play the character in the upcoming 22nd season of NBC’s legal drama, Deadline reported Tuesday. This guarantees at least one legacy character remaining on the show since Anthony Anderson will not be back.

Waterston and Anderson were the only actors from Season 20 to return for NBC’s Law & Order revival, but they both signed only one-year deals. Anderson reportedly did so to help Dick Wolf re-launch the show and did not intend to come back for Season 22. However, Waterston, 81, appeared at NBC’s upfront presentation for advertisers last month, showing he was still committed to the series. Waterston signed another one-year deal for Season 22.

“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,” Wolf said in December 2021, when he and NBC announced Waterston’s return. “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.”

Waterston joined the Law & Order cast in 1995, with McCoy replacing Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty) as Executive Assistant District Attorney. McCoy became the Manhattan District Attorney for Season 18, and he kept that role even after Law & Order was canceled by making appearances in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Season 22 will be Waterston’s 18th Law & Order season, making him the longest-tenured actor on the show. He was previously tied with S. Epatha Merkerson, who has not returned yet because she stars on Chicago Med (also a Wolf production).

Season 21 introduced Detective Frank Cosgrove (Jeffrey Donovan) and Lt. Kate Dixon (Camryn Manheim) on the “law” side. Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) is the new E.A.D.A. and works with A.D.A. Samantha Maroun (Odelya Halevi). Carey Lowell returned as A.D.A. Jamie Ross in the season premiere, while SVU star Mariska Hargitay played Capt. Olivia Benson in the season finale. Rick Eid served as the Season 21 showrunner.

Law & Order Season 22 will air on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC this fall, with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 24 and Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 3 following. Organized Crime recently hired Bryan Goluboff as its new showrunner. That position remains vacant at SVU, as Warren Leight left after filming the Season 23 finale.