10 Early Film Roles For Famous Actors You Totally Forgot
7. William H. Macy Was The District Attorney In The Law And Order Pilot
The Law and Order Franchise has had at least one of its multiple variations running since 1990, when creator Dick Wolf landed a deal with NBC. Over 1,000 hours worth of episodes later, it's likely there's a re-run on TV as you read this right now.
The show was met with controversy, with Janet Reno and star Michael Moriarty having a public argument about violence on television. This led to Moriarity leaving the show and, ultimately, country - becoming a Canadian citizen.
But over the course of 30 years, the show has seen its share of guest stars. Some were special - like Robin Williams' much-publicized appearance in SVU. Others, however, were just stepping stones along the way. Guest-starring on Law and Order feels like a sort of actor-hazing ritual for a New Yorker.
The show wasted no time making it a tradition, featuring a scene in the show's second half with a young William H. Macy, the District Attorney, granting a warrant for wiretap. Interestingly, what the show didn't have down from the outset was the format. The standard half-investigation/half-trial set up of the show is off-kilter, with the trial and results only explained in a post-script.
Macy would re-appear in Season 2 as a different character.