Daily Dirt: Raylan Givens is returning and we couldn’t be happier

If you were a fan of the old “Justified” TV series and U.S., Marshal Raylan Givens, you’ll especially enjoy the first of today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 188 of the Daily Dirt.

1. A pair of old favorites will soon be returning to television, and I’m more than a little excited.

The award-winning “Justified” is returning to FX on a yet-unannounced date and will again feature the trials and tribulations of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. Only this time Givens is heading for Detroit, rather than creating more mayhem in the south.

The new moniker for the show will be “Justified: City Primeval,” and again showcase Timothy Olyphant as Givens, the character made famous by the late novelist Elmore Leonard. In this new adaptation, Givens will be heading to the big city rather than roaming the woods of Appalachia. The original “Justified” series premiered in 2010 and ended its run n 2015. Along the way, the show won two Emmys, a Peabody and the American Film Institute TV program of the year prize.

The second familiar face, “Law and Order,” will return Feb. 24 to NBC following a decade-long absence. The highly likeable Sam Waterston will return as district attorney Jack McCoy, with Anthony Anderson back as detective Kevin Bernard. Program newcomers will be Hugh Dancy, Jeffrey Donovan and Camryn Manheim.

The original “Law and Order” spawned a number of similar programs, including “Law and Order: SVU,” “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” “Law and Order: Trial by Jury,” “Conviction” and “Law and Order: Los Angeles”.

2. Here’s our most recent license-plate medal winners across West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri:

Gold medal: TOP 2. Top two what?

Silver medal: R EXIST 99. Has to have something to with 1999, right? Maybe it’s some sort of tribute to Lance Armstrong winning his first Tour de France in 1999. (Yeah, I’m kidding …)

Bronze medal: M SHAFF 1. When I first saw this my immediate reaction was singer Isaac Hayes’ tribute to “Shaft”: “You say that cat Shaft is a bad mutha? Shut yo’ mouth!”

3. Mango Pepsi was the soft drink giant’s first new flavor in five years when it was rolled out in 2021.

I noticed it for the first time a few days ago on the shelves of at least one local supermarket, and thought, “What the heck?! I like mango Jell-O, maybe this would work.”Not being a “Pepsi” guy by nature — I’ve been a Coke man since high school — I figured there was nothing to lose.

The verdict? This stuff is great! It’s the most refreshing soft drink I’ve tried in years. Nice job, Pepsi.

Steve Fact O’ The Day The first food items Steve consumed with a Mango Pepsi were White Castle sliders.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. His picture is in the dictionary beside “Cast-Iron Stomach”.