Checking in with REID SCOTT

If one thing is certain about “Law & Order,” it’s that change will be coming sooner or later — and usually sooner.

The venerable NBC drama has seen numerous switches of stars over its long history, with departures by stars ranging from Michael Moriarty (“Courage Under Fire,” 1996), Paul Sorvino (“Goodfellas,” 1990) and Jerry Orbach (“Dirty Dancing,” 1987) to Jill Hennessy (“Crossing Jordan”), Angie Harmon (“Rizzoli & Isles”) and Elisabeth Rohm (“Angel”). As the Dick Wolf-produced show returns Thursday, Jan. 18, for the third season of its revival — and the 23rd of the original series overall — there’s yet another change in casting, with Reid Scott succeeding Jeffrey Donovan (“Burn Notice”) as one of the show’s New York police detectives.

Thanks principally to the regular roles he had on “Veep” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Scott may be better known for comedy than for the intense drama “Law & Order” typically delves into … but he’s not the first actor to come into the franchise from a comedic background. A major case in point is Anthony Anderson, who redefined his career by playing Det. Kevin Bernard, a role he reprised in the first season of the revival right after he finished “Black-ish” (on which Scott was a guest star).

A scan of Scott’s television credits shows that he has moved back and forth between comedy and drama with regularity, something that’s likely to help him define his newest character as he works with Mehcad Brooks (“Desperate Housewives”) as his police partner and Camryn Manheim (“The Practice”) as their boss. While newcomers to the show often start from a very basic framework of who they’re supposed to be playing, that’s usually tailored more specifically to the specific actor as time goes on.

It’s likely Scott had to jump right in, since his hiring was announced just as “Law & Order” was going back into production following the writers and actors strikes. As much as he may be getting on-the-job training in his early weeks with the show, he can take comfort in how enduring the show and its format have been — and those are likely to serve him well, as it has so many others, for as long as he wants to be there. Birthdate: Nov. 19, 1977 Birthplace: Albany, N.Y. Current residence: New York Marital status: Married; he has two sons Movie credits include: “Wildflower,” “Venom,” Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” “Black and Blue,” “Late Night,” “Home Again,” “Dean,” “l’ll See You in My Dreams,” “Bad Summer,” “Sister,” “Losing Control,” “Amusement,” “Bickford Shmeckler’s Cool Ideas” Other television credits include: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Veep,” “The Afterparty,” “black-ish,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Creepshow,” “Why Women Kill,” “Will & Grace,” “Great News,” “Zoo,” “New Girl,” “Turbo FAST,” “Hot in Cleveland,” “Mad Love,” “The Big C,” “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” “The Ex List,” “Hawthorne,” “CSI: NY,” “Bones,” “My Boys,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “It’s All Relative,” “What I Like About You,” “American Dreams,” “That ‘70s Show”

His awards include: A Screen Actors Guild Award (in tandem with the rest of the “Veep” cast)

Education: LaSalle Institute (Troy, N.Y.); Syracuse (N.Y.) University

A movie he was in, but ultimately not in: “The Intern” (his scenes ended up being cut)