Christopher Meloni may be best known for nearly two decades of work within the Law & Order franchise, but he's branching out for his newest project as Organized Crime remains on hiatus ahead of its Peacock debut. The fan-favorite actor has partnered with the Temptations cat food company for a "true" crime podcast called Catch A Cat Burglar: Purry Duty. In case the pun-tastic title isn't proof enough that this is a fun project, Meloni opened up to CinemaBlend about what made him want to join something so different from his usual work.
The plot of Catch A Cat Burglar: Purry Duty centers on the trial of Mr. Pawgers, who stands accused of robbing a pet store of its Temptations Wet Cat Food. Plenty of evidence seems to point toward Mr. Pawgers, but can his guilt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt? Only one episode has released so far, but Meloni gets a strong start as star, and he's definitely not playing Detective Stabler 2.0. When I spoke with Meloni, I noted that I did a bit of a double take when I read that he, true crime, and cat food were all going to be wrapped up in one interactive project, and he replied:
Right? That's why I signed on, too. When the idea was brought up, I'm like, 'A podcast. Wow. I've never [done that].' I just thought that was thinking outside the box. The idea or the reason why they came to me was I'm connected to obviously the Law and Order-type world and the copy was so cheeky and funny and recognizable as one of those true crime trial docu-dramas that they wanted someone who was taken seriously, but also had some comedic chops or could maybe walk that fine line between the serious and the comedic, or the overly serious and the comedic.
Meloni is no stranger to voiceover work, with voice credits on Rick and Morty, Harley Quinn, and the 2024 film IF in just the past couple of years. A podcast was something new, however, and working with Temptations for Purry Duty (which premiered on August 1) let him flex his comedic muscles in a way that's rarely possible for him in the Law & Order world. He went on:
Comedy is always a good release valve. For this one, it was a hybrid of so many things that it was fun to work on, to try and find out tonally what works, what's over the top, what helps get the most out of the copy for the Temptations folks, and get some of what they're looking for. The cheekiness of it, the fun quality of the project.
The first episode of Catch A Cat Burglar: Purry Duty is already available as well as a trailer, and listeners can hear Meloni playing the story completely straight in his narration, which makes it all the funnier when he's slipping in cat puns. All in all, it's easy to see why the company wanted Meloni involved in the wet cat food caper!
Listeners will also find that he's definitely branching out from Detective Stabler for Purry Duty, which led me to ask Meloni if he's always up to try new things in his career. He explained his approach as well as how Temptations won him over:
As long as I can understand it. I've gotten scripts or I've gotten projects where I just said, 'I don't get it.' I'm happy to have someone talk to me and educate me as to what the vision is or what it's supposed to be. But for this one, the Temptations thing was in the middle. I did take a double take. 'What is it? What are they trying to do?' And they'd done it before, so this is the second season and this is the continuing saga of Mr. Pawgers. [laughs] I went, 'Okay, that's interesting. You must have gotten good traction with Mr. Pawgers, Part 1.'
Mr. Pawgers was the offender in Season 1 of Catch A Cat Burglar; whether he's a repeat offender on Purry Duty remains to be seen, with new episodes releasing on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Temptations' social channels starting on August 1 and finishing on August 15. There's a fun step in between that will directly involve listeners, as Meloni explained:
And part of the schtick was that it was going to be interactive for the listeners. And I thought 'That's really smart.' Because I know cat people and I know how people feel about their cats, and then all of a sudden, you're inviting them not to just listen but to be a part of it… and you can vote on whether the cat did it or didn't do it. I thought, ‘That's really funny and clever.’ So I got into it with them.
Yes, you will in fact be able to vote on Mr. Pawgers' guilt or innocence with this podcast. Four of the cat's nine lives are at stake depending on the verdict. All in all, the podcast sounds like an entertaining project for cat lovers as well as fans of Christopher Meloni. He summed up why people should check out the Temptations podcast, saying:
If you're a cat person, it's exactly what you need. If you're looking for something to feed your cat, maybe it's definitely something you need. But it's also kind of fun with the interactive nature of the podcast. It's not a heavy lift. It's not a big time-taker, and it's just a lot of fun and cute.
While Christopher Meloni may not have one of Taylor Swift's cats named after him like his former on-screen partner Mariska Hargitay does, this cat-themed project is worth checking out. If you're still undecided, take a look/listen at the trailer:
Whether you're a cat person, a crime procedural fan, or just want to enjoy a Christopher Meloni project during the wait to learn if Law & Order: Organized Crime will return before the end of the 2024 TV schedule, you can give Catch A Cat Burglar: Purry Duty a listen. The podcast will be available on Spotify, Apple, and Temptations social accounts.
