Law & Order's cast went through its latest shakeup at the end of Season 23, with the finale also serving as Camryn Manheim's final episode as Lieutenant Kate Dixon. The episode wasn't much of a farewell for Dixon, but fresh casting news suggests that the long-running series has something exciting in store with a new lieutenant come fall in the 2024 TV schedule. At least, it's exciting for Law & Order fans who also watched NBC's ER back in the day, because a former star of the medical drama will trade the stethoscope for a badge in Dick Wolf's nine-show TV universe! Prepare to welcome Maura Tierney to the world of Law & Order, who hopefully is going to stick around.
Maura Tierney joins Law & Order Season 24 in a series regular role, according to TVLine, which reports that the actress will be playing a new lieutenant. That tracks with the exit of Camryn Manheim as Kate Dixon; just as Law & Order had to first cast Mehcad Brooks and then Reid Scott to replace the exiting Anthony Anderson and Jeffrey Donovan (respectively) between seasons, the new lieutenant was expected to be cast over summer hiatus. No further details are available about her character at the time of writing.
And Tierney is no stranger to NBC Thursday nights, as she starred as nurse-turned-doctor Abby Lockhart in ten of ER's fifteen seasons for a total of nearly 200 episodes. Abby was a personal favorite of mine during my days as an ER fan, and I still associate the actress more with her time as Abby than her more recent roles in American Rust: Broken Justice and the tear-jerkingly tragic Iron Claw. She has also had TV roles between ER and now Law & Order, including in Rescue Me, The Good Wife, and most notably The Affair.
Normally, I wouldn't see the news of a new series regular and immediately start dreading their potential departure, but Law & Order hasn't been known for holding on to series regulars since its revival premiered in 2022. Anthony Anderson only reprised his original series role for one season, after which he was replaced by Mehcad Brooks. Jeffrey Donovan departed between Seasons 22 and 23, with Reid Scott coming on board as a new detective. Sam Waterston left the show just five episodes into Season 23 (after being hesitant to join the revival in the first place), with Scandal's Tony Goldwyn joining as the new DA. Then came the news of Camryn Manheim's exit!
Assuming that Law & Order has a future beyond the upcoming Season 24, I hope that Maura Tierney is going to stick around indefinitely. Not only would it be great to have some ER talent back on NBC Thursday nights, but some more consistency in the series' cast would be nice as it approaches the 25th season milestone. (Law & Order hit 500 episodes in the spring.) With Law & Order: SVU starring Mariska Hargitay for 25 seasons and counting and SVU icon Chris Meloni leading four seasons and counting of Law & Order: Organized Crime, I know that I at least would like to see some more longevity on Law & Order.
If you want to revisit the most recent season of Law & Order, you can find it streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription. As for Maura Tierney's time on ER, you can find every episode of the medical drama streaming with a subscription to Hulu.
