Blackmail (Law & Order)
| "Blackmail" | |
|---|---|
| Law & Order episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 20 Episode 12 (#445 overall) |
| Directed by | Marc Levin |
| Written by | Ed Zuckerman Matthew McGough |
| Production code |
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| Original air date | January 15, 2010 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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Blackmail is the twelfth episode of the twentieth season of the television series Law & Order. It aired on NBC January 15, 2010.
When Detectives Lupo and Bernard find journalist Megan Kerr dead in an abandoned apartment, the detectives learn of a relationship between the victim and daytime talk show host Vanessa Carville (Samantha Bee). Upon further investigation, the detectives encounter Carville in a meeting with DA Jack McCoy, and Carville admits to a series of workplace affairs with other women and a blackmail threat leaving the detectives suspicious of Carville and her co-workers.
"Blackmail" was written by Ed Zuckerman and Matthew McGough, and directed by Marc Levin. The episode was based on a real-life scandal involving late night talk show host David Letterman. In October 2009, Letterman announced on the Late Show with David Letterman that someone was attempting to blackmail him by threatening to reveal evidence of a sexual relationship Letterman was having with a female employee. Samantha Bee, a correspondent on the Comedy Central television series The Daily Show, guest starred as Vanessa Carville, a celebrity talk show host who becomes the victim of extortion.
Many elements of "Blackmail" are inspired directly from the Letterman scandal. Like Letterman, Carville finds an envelope with an extortion demand on her way to work. Both Letterman and Carville decided to go public with the information rather than pay the blackmail, and both made on-screen confessions about their affairs during a broadcast of their talk show. There were also differences between the real and fictional scandals, the most major of which that no reporter is murdered in the real scandal, and that Letterman did not help the police catch the blackmailer during a sting operation. Additionally, Letterman's blackmailer demanded $2 million, whereas in "Blackmail", the extortion amount is $3 million.
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