'Law & Order' Has Chevy Chase, and You Don't

[Brian Damage]

"Law & Order" will do its signature ripped-from-the-headlines take on Mel Gibson's DUI arrest later this season, and the show has signed Chevy Chase to play the Gibson part.

Chase, the "Caddyshack" and "Fletch" star and a two-time Emmy winner, will guest-star on "Law & Order" Friday, Nov. 3 -- the show's first November sweeps episode. NBC says he'll be playing a TV personality who's pulled over for drunken driving "while wearing blood-soaked clothes, and whose religious prejudice comes out after his arrest."

Gibson, of course was charged with DUI in late July after being pulled over in Malibu. As he was being arrested, according to police reports, the actor-director made several anti-Semitic remarks, including "F***ing Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."

He pleaded no contest in August and was sentenced to three years' probation, fined and ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

The "blood-soaked clothes" part of the "Law & Order" story is the invention of the show's writers.

Chase won an Emmy for his performance on "Saturday Night Live" in 1977 and another the following year for writing on a Paul Simon special. Recent credits include this summer's feature film "Zoom," the Sundance entrant "Ellie Parker" and the indie comedy "Funny Money," which has played at a few festivals this year. The "Law & Order" episode will be his first prime-time TV appearance in a number of years.