Quick Takes: Ready for a new ‘Order’

“Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf is ready to move on.

Wolf expressed regret that “Law & Order,” the landmark legal-police drama, was canceled after tying the record for the longest-running series in TV history, but said he is excited about his new NBC spinoff, “Law & Order: Los Angeles.”

“Obviously, [executive producer Rene Balcer] and I are extremely disappointed that ‘Law & Order’ isn’t returning for a 21st season,” Wolf told TV critics Friday. “But that’s business, that’s life. Everyone in TV is born with a death sentence — they just don’t tell you the date of execution.”

He also ended the speculation that “Law & Order” might be revived at another network: “‘Law & Order’ is now in the history books.”

He also said that Terrence Howard has been added to the cast of “Law & Order: Los Angeles.”

—Greg Braxton

Playing it live

on ’30 Rock’

NBC says “30 Rock” is going live this fall.

The network said Friday that a live episode of the comedy will air Oct. 14 and will be performed twice so that both East and West Coast viewers get to see it that way.

NBC executives told the Television Critics Assn. that “30 Rock” executive producers Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels were approached about a live episode and were up for the challenge. Fey, the show’s star and creator, is familiar with live TV from her “Saturday Night Live” days. Michaels created and produces the show.

NBC has aired other live episodes, but this will be the first for “30 Rock,” which is produced in New York.

—Associated Press

From ‘sheriff’ to senior outreach

Actor Andy Griffith has a new role: pitching President Obama’s healthcare law to seniors in a cable television ad paid for by Medicare.

The 84-year-old TV star — whose role as sheriff of Mayberry made him an enduring symbol of small-town American values — tells seniors that “good things are coming” under the healthcare overhaul, including free preventive checkups and lower-cost prescriptions for Medicare recipients.

Medicare says the national ad is not political, but part of its outreach to educate seniors about new benefits available next year.

The ad is slated to run on channels popular with seniors, such as the Weather Channel, CNN, Hallmark and Lifetime, at an initial cost of $700,000.

—Associated Press

Gotta feeling

it’s a milestone

The Black Eyed Peas have more proof of the ubiquity of “I Gotta Feeling.” Their No. 1 hit has become the first song to reach the

6 million mark in digital downloads.

The milestone was announced Friday and confirmed by Nielsen SoundScan. For the group’s leader, will.i.am, the moment is about much more than the song. “We came out in ’98 and our career, if you would look at it on chart, there’s no dips in it,” he said in a phone interview. “For our career to still be healthy and vibrant and doing things like 6 million downloads, it’s pretty significant.”

It’s also significant, he said, in a time when illegal downloading is the norm.

“That means that they chose to support the group, support the art,” he said. “God knows how many people listened to it online and didn’t buy it, downloaded it for free and didn’t think about it.”

The upbeat song about good vibes was No. 1 for 14 weeks; will.i.am said the reason it was so successful was because it gave people hope in a downward time.

—Associated Press

It’s easy being Mr. Potato Head

The “Toy Story” movies have given 84-year-old Don Rickles a new kind of exposure. He has voiced the character of Mr. Potato Head in all three Pixar films, including “Toy Story 3.”

“My grandchildren just know me now as Mr. Potato Head,” the comedian says.

He wasn’t sure about acting “in some cartoon” at first, but the experience has been positive. The best thing about it? No travel, no makeup, just get to the sound studio and do his thing. He doesn’t stretch to get into Mr. Potato Head’s head, either.

“A big star like me doesn’t have to work at it,” he says. “If they say act mad, I act mad. If they say act happy, I act happy. Then they give me the check and I’m thrilled.”

—From the Chicago Tribune

Finally

Stepping up: Only 18 days after its premiere, the crime drama “Rizzoli & Isles” was picked up for a second season Friday by TNT, which ordered 13 episodes for 2011. TNT also said it has commissioned 15 new episodes each of two other drama series, “The Closer” and “Leverage.”

Splitting up: Fifteen months after saying “I do,” reality TV stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt are headed for divorce. The 23-year-old starlet filed for divorce Friday in Santa Monica, citing irreconcilable differences with the 26-year-old Pratt, whom she began dating while filming MTV’s reality show “The Hills.”