Liberal Talk Radio

If Fred Thompson is, in fact, running for President, does that mean that NBC will have to stop showing Law & Order reruns that feature the actor-turned-Senator-turned-actor? Apparently so. The Terminator movies were off-limits when Gov. Schwarzenegger ran for office. All the candidates have to get “equal time” on broadcast TV (but not cable).

Of course, here’s the real fun twist: Thompson’s character on the show, Manhattan District Attorney Arthur Branch, often reports to real NYC mayors, who make cameo appearances. Both Mike Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani have appeared, playing themselves, on L&O.

So if the GOP primary comes down to just Giuliani and Thompson, then we’ll be able to show the one episode where Giuliani appears, so long as it plays in rotation with one Thompson episode. The one Seinfeld episode where candidate Giuliani gets high cholesterol from faux-fat-free frozen yogurt should be locked in a 1990s time capsule and never shown again.

Bonus hall-of-mirrors super extra twist: before being elected Mayor, Rudy Giuliani was the… Manhattan District Attorney, the real-life version of Arthur Branch!