Leo Getz, the federal witness put under the charge of detectives Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon 2, returned for the third and fourth films thanks to actor Joe Pesci’s beautifully angry portrayal of the character. (Or of himself? Depends on whether or not you’re asking Louis CK.) Neither Leo nor any sort of character amalgam has popped up in the television adaptation starring Clayne Crawford and Damon Wayans and Riggs and Murtaugh, though according to a new report in Entertainment Weekly, that’s all about to change.
Thomas Lennon of Reno 911! fame, who’s currently starring in the CBS reboot of The Odd Couple with Matthew Perry, will channel Pesci’s spirit to play the Getz character in an upcoming episode of Lethal Weapon. Per Entertainment Weekly, Lennon’s take on “the ambulance-chasing lawyer who looks to squeeze every drop out of each petty crime” will only appear in the episode slated to air Wednesday, February 15th at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. Series developer and showrunner Matthew Miller (Forever, Chuck) nor anyone else attached to the show said whether or not Lennon would come back for future episodes.
Seeing as how Miller sought to “capture the soul of what the movie was” instead of recreating it, however, there’s a good chance Lennon’s Leo may pop back in at some point. FOX bumped the program’s initial order to a full series (albeit four episodes shy of the traditional 22) back in October, and the “harmless” reboot has even gone so far as to gift us with one of television’s best “enhance” scenes.
Hopefully Lennon’s debut involves a quick trip to Riggs and Murtaugh’s favorite SUBWAY™.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
