Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Law & Order” fans, you have Rob Lowe to thank for the entire franchise. As does Dick Wolf’s bank account.
At least, Lowe says with his tongue a bit in cheek (but also with some accuracy). As the star of Fox’s “9-1-1: Lone Star” and Netflix’s “Unstable” recently told Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, Lowe starred in Wolf’s 1988 feature flop “Masquerade.” It was just the kind of movie disappointment that would have sent Wolf back to TV — and two years later, “Law & Order” premiered. “I remember him saying to me how frustrated he was in the movie business, that he was going to write a pilot,” Lowe said. “And he wrote ‘Law and Order.’ And the rest is history.
You’re welcome. Yeah, I’m happy to provide the bomb that powers your rise to dominance.” Lowe’s not asking for credit — well, OK, if Dick Wolf wants to “wet my beak,” then Lowe is fine with that.
But of course, Rob Lowe is doing just fine himself, given his two series on the air. And in “Unstable,” Lowe is working side by side with his real-life son, John Owen Lowe.
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