Happy Birthday to:

"Law & Order" detective Sam Waterston (1940)

NEW YORK (AP) - "POPPA DON'T TAKE NO MESS!" The outburst comes from Anthony Anderson, who is describing the essential qualities of Kevin Bernard,

John Leguizamo fought to keep his clothes on for awkward sex scenes in his new film "The Babysitters" because he didn't like the idea of himself or his young co-star appearing naked on the screen.

NBC will lawyer-up on Wednesday nights as the Emmy Award-winning "Law & Order" resumes with a two-hour season premiere event on Wednesday, January 2 (9-11 p.m. ET), and will continue on Wednesdays starting January 9 (10-11 p.m. ET) preceded by this season's network broadcast premiere of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (9-10 p.m. ET) in its return to NBC that night.

Happy Birthday to rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard (1968; d. 2004), jazz guitarist and Jay Leno bandleader Kevin Eubanks (1957), actress Beverly D'Angelo (1951), Law & Order detective Sam Waterston (1940), English singer Petula Clark (1932), TV newspaper publisher Ed Asner (1929),

Four thought-provoking tales of present and future Earth are brought to life in the all-new anthology series, featuring a stellar lineup of actors and directors and narrated by acclaimed physicist Professor Stephen Hawking. "Masters of Science Fiction" is based on some of the genre's most popular and highly regarded short stories.

NEW YORK (AP) - Submitted for your approval: A 52-year-old man - an overworked man, a man of words - receives an advance copy of an upcoming science fiction series from ABC. Warily, he fires up the DVD player, expecting to see into the future. But instead, he is transported into the past, into the 1950s and '60s, into a time when television talked and talked and talked.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - ''Law & Order'' criminals will face a new prosecutor next season. Linus Roache is joining the cast as assistant district attorney after Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) vacates the job to serve as New York district attorney, NBC announced.

Just when TV viewers may have had their fill of summer escapist fare, ABC brings to the air a series of four original films as current as today's headlines, but with all the wonder and imagination of the best sci-fi literature, with the Aug. 4 debut of "Masters of Science Fiction."