Patti Smith Guest Stars on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”

Apparently it was the series’ star Vincent D’Onofrio’s idea to snag punk rock godmother Patti Smith to portray Columbia University mythology professor Cleo Alexander in an upcoming episode of the procedural.

It’s especially impressive considering that we didn’t even know that “L&O:CI” was even still on the air. (Apparently, USA Network picked it up.)

Titled “Icarus,” the episode, which also features guest star Cynthia Nixon, concerns the investigation of a Broadway musical after an actor dies on stage while performing a stunt. (Can you say, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”?)

“I’ve never really acted, but I highly respect the craft,” says Smith. “I knew that it wasn’t going to be simple, but it was a little more daunting than I expected.”

It all goes down on the USA cable channel at 9pm on Sunday, but if you want to see a sneak-preview clip of Smith’s performance, just go here…