News > 'Law & Order' Reorders Casts
September 11, 2006
Via: AOL
The Law & Order franchise will see at least six new faces this season as the three series, no strangers to cast changes, will see their most extensive yet. Some of the shifting is due to actors requesting exits, others to producers sprucing up the shows. Law & Order and Criminal Intent faced serious ratings declines last season due to increased competition and NBC's overall fourth-place slump.
•Alana De La Garza (CSI: Miami) replaces Annie Parisse as the assistant district attorney on the flagship Law & Order (Sept. 22, 10 p.m.), while Milena Govich steps in for Dennis Farina as the show's first female detective.
•Criminal Intent (Sept. 19, 9 p.m.) will again rotate Chris Noth and Vincent D'Onofrio as lead investigators, but Noth's new partner is Julianne Nicholson, who replaces Annabella Sciorra. Eric Bogosian succeeds Jamey Sheridan as their commanding officer, and Theresa Randle fills in for Courtney D. Vance as assistant district attorney, but she won't be seen every week.
•SVU (Sept. 19, 10 p.m. ET/PT) has only one, temporary change. Mariska Hargitay, who recently had a baby, is absent for six of the first nine episodes, when her character goes undercover; Connie Nielsen fills in.
The changes are designed to "refresh the show, make some noise and hopefully get some younger male eyeballs interested," says creator and executive producer Dick Wolf. (Nicholson and Govich moved from Wolf's Conviction, a series that sought younger viewers but failed last season after 13 episodes.)
The shows need extra attention because two are in new slots: The flagship series shifts from Wednesdays to Fridays at 10, and Criminal Intent moves from Sundays to Tuesdays, where it's followed by SVU.
