They should hire someone to help find Goren and Eames.

For many TV fans, NBC's long-running "Law & Order" franchise conjures up images of perverts and murderers, wisecracking detectives and self-important district attorneys trying to put the bad guys in jail.

But guest-starring roles for Stephen Colbert, Lewis Black and "Saturday Night Live" regulars such as Darrell Hammond, too?

Flip to USA or TNT, where the original "L&O" series and its spinoffs are featured regularly, and you might catch them and other stand-up comedians and comic actors cast as some of television's creepiest characters.

Recently, Whoopi Goldberg turned up as a villainous foster mother in a new prime-time episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." And on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" this fall, Jerry Lewis will play a homeless man accused of murder.

"There's a certain sparkle these guys bring," said Fred Berner, one of the executive producers of "Criminal Intent."