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'Law and Order' puts its take on Letterman scandal, major casting news at 'Criminal Intent'
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An image of the "Law & Order" title screen. The show is in
its 20th season on NBC.
Image:NBC/Wikipedia.com
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Ripped from the Headlines
One of the best crime dramas on TV, “Law & Order” is now in it 20th season and is known for its real life inspired stories. The show has already featured a few of its “Ripped From The Headlines” episodes inspired from this year’s major news stories. The episode titled “Reality Bites” was inspired by Jon & Kate Gosselin. The episode titled “Doped” was inspired by the wrong way driver that made headlines over the summer. The driver, a Long Island mother crashed her minivan filled with kids into other vehicles. The driver and 4 children in the van were killed. The episode managed to squeeze in the use of Propofol, the drug at the center of the Michael Jackson death investigation.
There was a bit of controversy when it was reported that family members of those killed in the Taconic Parkway crash objected to using the storyline. The Show filmed scenes for the episode “Doped” in Harlem. Relatives of the crash victims told the New York Post that it would be painful to watch the episode. Others accused the show’s producers of using sensational dramatization to capture ratings.
Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the show was casting for an episode that’s inspired by the recent David Letterman sex scandal. It not surprising given that after the news broke about the extortion and sex scandal, Letterman’s “Late Show” soared in the ratings surpassing it competitors “The Tonight Show” and “Nightline”. In the “L&O” version the late night talker is a female. That alone puts an interesting spin on the story. The female host will be married and in her late 40’s. She will have an affair with a female employee of her show. The episode, in classic “Law & Order” fashion, involves extortion and murder. “L&O” usually has an interesting and surprising twist, can’t wait to see it.
“Law & Order” seems to be on a roll this season; could this be its greatest season yet? We will just have to stay tuned to find out.
The season 8 cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent from l-r, Jeff Goldblum,
Julianne Nicholson, Eric Bogosian, Kathryn Erbe, and Vincent D'Onofrio.
USA
Casting overhaul on "Criminal Intent"
There are some major casting changes in store for the upcoming season of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”. TV Guide reported in September that four stars of the show were exiting. Julianne Nicholson left the show just before the end of the season when her character gave birth. “L&O:CI” original cast members Vincent D'Onofrio (Det. Robert Goren) and Kathryn Erbe (Det. Alexandra Eames) along with Eric Bogosian (Capt. Danny Ross) will be leaving the show after the second episode of the new season. It has been reported that D’Onofrio believes that this is “the perfect time to pursue other acting opportunities.” In what is expected to be a 2 episode passing of the torch, Jeff Goldblum (Det. Zach Nichols) will become the show’s fulltime lead.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has been cast as the show’s new Captain. Mastrantonio is a veteran actress appearing in films such as The Abyss, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Perfect Storm and the legal dram Class Action. She also had a recurring role in 2006 on CBS police drama “Without A Trace”. This will be the first time the show has cast a female as the Captain. The previous Captains of the major case squad were played by Jamey Sheridan and most recently by Eric Bogosian.
Actress Saffron Burrows has been cast as Julianne Nicholson’s replacement. She will be partnered with Det. Nichols. Burrows last gig in television was on the now canceled “My Own Worst Enemy”. She was a regular cast member on ABC’s “Boston Legal” during its fourth season.
Reports are that Kathryn Erbe isn’t happy with the changes. She has played Det. Eames since the beginning of the series. There is speculation that one of the departing characters will be killed, as a way of explaining the drastic cast changes. It’s believed that Erbe’s character Eames or Captain Ross will be the character killed off.
In 2005 “L&O:CI” switched to alternating pairs of detectives. “Law & Order” vet Chris Noth was brought on along with Annabella Sciorra as the second team of detectives. The majority of the ninth season will be focused on only one set of detectives, Burrows and Goldblum’s characters. “L&O:CI” originally aired on NBC from 2001-2007. In a deal struck by the show’s producers and NBC Universal, the franchise was split up with the Original series extended until at least its 20th season and “Law & Order: Special Victims” remaining on NBC. “Criminal Intent” was to be picked up on NBC’s cable network USA where it has enjoyed a successful run. It was ranked one of the top series on basic cable during its first year on the network.
Past episode of “Law & Order” can be seen daily on TNT. New episodes air each week at 8 p.m. on NBC, WXIA-TV in Atlanta.
Past episodes of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” can be seen daily on Bravo. New episodes of will begin airing in 2010 on USA. Check your local listings for specific channel information.
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