The days are finally counting down until the return of Law & Order for Season 24 in the 2024 TV schedule, but the full cast from back in the spring won’t be reprising their roles. Camryn Manheim won’t be back as Lieutenant Kate Dixon, and the show is bringing in a longtime NBC vet to fill the role: ER’s Maura Tierney. Ahead of the Season 24 premiere on October 3, here’s what changed behind the scenes for Tierney’s new co-stars as she joined the team.
Camryn Manheim’s exit was announced before the Season 23 finale, so it’s no surprise that Law & Order needed a new lieutenant even though Dixon’s absence wasn’t set up in the spring. News of Maura Tierney’s casting was announced a few months later, and she’ll debut as Lt. Jessica Brady in the Season 24 premiere. Showrunner Rick Eid described Brady to NBC Insider as “more engaged day-to-day than most lieutenants” and “active in interrogations and almost acts like another detective as opposed to a supervisor.”
Brady’s arrival certainly means change for Detective Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) and Detective Vincent Riley (Reid Scott), for better or worse. According to Brooks, Maura Tierney joining the cast has resulted in some fun changes behind the scenes. When I spoke with him about how Law & Order will feel “updated” in Season 24, he also shared what filming has been like now that she’s part of the cast:
Maura is incredible. It's like she's always been there. She just fit right in there, and she has this very strange sense of humor, the same way that Reid and I do. It's like she's this third Stooge [of] the Three Stooges. She's the third one. I don't know who's Larry, who's Moe, and who's Curly, but there's all of us there.
Law & Order may not be the funniest TV show in primetime, but Tierney evidently helps bring the laughs when the cameras aren’t rolling on the set of Season 24. That’s not to say that she doesn’t take her job seriously, though. Mehcad Brooks continued:
She's also this consummate professional. I can say every single scene, she brings notes and ideas that are not normally thought of. She just adds so much to it in the best way. I've been a fan of hers since Liar, Liar as well. I've been watching her for decades, and just to have the opportunity to work with her is one of the great pleasures of my career.
Liar, Liar is only one of Maura Tierney’s many credits, and it certainly earned its ranking among the best Jim Carrey movies. She also can join the ranks of actors who appeared in the Law & Order franchise as more than one character, after appearing as Patti Blaine in a Season 2 episode of Law & Order in 1991. The actress is likely best known on the small screen for nearly 200 episodes of ER as nurse-turned-doctor Abby Lockhart, although she does have more recent major TV gigs with The Affair and American Rust.
Still, Law & Order isn’t just her return to NBC after ER; it’s also her return to network television in a lead role. Check out an early look at her in the mix:
Fortunately, the wait to see her as Lt. Brady and how her interactions with the detectives compare to Dixon’s is nearly over. Season 24 (which you’ll also be able to stream with a Peacock subscription) of Law & Order premieres on Thursday, October 3 at 8 p.m. ET ahead of Law & Order: SVU’s Season 26 premiere.
