As the year ends, so do the giveaways and so we want to go out with a bang.

And where to find more bang-bangs than on a crime show?  Even better we've got shows from two eras and two coasts!

First up, "Law & Order Los Angeles," the Dick Wolf series that came on after NBC cruelly canceled the original "Law & Order," and then after a slow start got good after somebody figured out that Terrence Howard and Alfred Molina should be on the show every week but then it was too late and they canceled it too but at least not before we got to see TJ (Corey Stoll) avenge Rex's (Skeet Ulrich) death. I think.

Anyway, you'll get the complete series -- more than 15 hours of Terrence and Alfred and lovely Alana De La Garza. Plus there's commentary from writer/director Rene Balcer.

There's more. We're adding the 1958 black & white series "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer," starring Darren McGavin. It's the complete 78-episode run, 33 hours of a two-fisted gumshoe trying to set New York straight. Back then, it was criticized for its gratuitous violence so you can compare and contrast with Law & Order!

Want them? Just send an email by 10 tonight (12/29) and we'll have a random drawing and get them out to you.

With the cancellation of "Law & Order" I've been doing a little reflecting on one of the coolest days of my life: the day in 1997 when I got to roam around the "Law & Order" set in New York, completely unattended, and watch Sam Waterston film a scene with Steven Hill.

That's me sitting at Jack McCoy's desk, holding a fake glass of scotch.

There was a lot of back-and-forth and hemming and hawing last night about the news of the possible "Law & Order" cancellation. At bedtime, media outlets were reporting that the show would likely return next season for a short 6-to-8 episode run.

Well, it's not to be. The official word from NBC today is that the 20-year-old cop drama will not return, and there will be no chance to wrap up any loose ends for the characters.

Stay classy, NBC.

As if I needed another reason to despise NBC, those evil bastards have reportedly gone and canceled my beloved "Law & Order." 

There's a ton of confusion and speculation right now, with "people close to the show" saying it's canceled but NBC not confirming the reports. Could it all be a negotiation tactic? 

But there's hope! Variety insists nothing is definite, and New York Times says that even though the "Law & Order" actors have been told it's not coming back, the show's creator and executive producer Dick Wolf is still having conversations with NBC.

UPDATE: Showbiz411 blog says (citing anonymous sources) that L&O may come back next year for a "mini season" of 6 to 8 episodes, in order to break the "Gunsmoke" record. But it's clear that whatever happens, NBC is not really interested in keeping it around.

A friend of mine describes Jeff Goldblum as the sexiest Jewish man in the world. You're free to offer up your own candidates, but I have to agree that Goldblum is at least high on the list.

He brings that quality to his roles and that's one of the reasons to be excited about his new role as Zack Nichols on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," which debuted last night. It was all I hoped for.

It was great to see Nichol's partner Megan Wheeler's (Julianne Nicholson) disdain for him, in part I'm sure, because when she was paired up with Mike Logan (Chris Noth), SHE was the genius and the quirky one.

Last night, "Law & Order: CI" premiered but it wasn't the episode I was expecting.

The Dick Wolf series' new season was at first scheduled to return to USA last year; they sent out screeners and I watched an episode that picked up where we left off.

If you don't remember, that was when Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) found out that his mentor Declan Gage, had killed Goren's nemesis Nicole Wallace, that sociopathic Aussie con artist who had killed Bobby's brother Frank, then declared Bobby "free."

The Law & Order franchise has spawned many a spinoff -- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury (rest in peace, old friend).

Now, the quintessential American crime drama is taking a trip across the pond, delivering some 'ripped from the headlines' justice to jolly old England. Law & Order: U.K. debuted in Great Britain in February to solid ratings and generally positive reviews.