"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" Gets New Squad

According to several published reports, the Major Case Squad on USA Network's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" is about to get a whole new lineup. Vincent D'onofrio, Kathryn Erbe and Eric Bogosian will all depart during the show's upcoming ninth season and Jeff Goldblum, who joined the show in 2009 will get bumped up to lead detective. Additionally, British actress, Saffron Burrows, will step in for Julianne Nicholson, who played Goldblum's partner.

This is by far the most dramatic cast change "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" has experienced during its time on the air. D'onofrio and Erbe, who play partners Detectives Robert Goren and Alexandra Eames, respectively, have been with the show since it debuted on NBC in 2001. The first cast shakeup occurred in 2005 when former "Law & Order" cast member, Chris Noth, reprised his role as renegade detective, Mike Logan. The airtime would be split between D'onofrio and Erbe and Noth and Annabella Sciorra, who was cast as Logan's new partner, Detective Carolyn Barek. According to reports at the time, this unusual arrangement was done in part to relieve D'onofrio from the stress of essentially carrying the show. D'onofrio's intense portrayal of the dark, yet brilliant and highly intuitive, Detective Goren, was rumored to have caused the actor to collapse on-set twice.

Sciorra, whose character was meant to be a female Goren, departed after one season and was replaced with Nicholson, who portrayed Detective Megan Wheeler. Jamey Sheridan, who played Captain James Deakins and headed up the Major Case squad, also departed in 2006 and Bogosian stepped in to pick up the reins. Original cast member, Courtney B. Vance (A.D.A, Ron Carver), also bid adieu in 2006, though there was never an official replacement for his character. Noth left the "L&O" franchise for the second time in 2008 and Jeff Goldblum joined the cast in 2009 as Detective Zach Nichols.

E! Online reports money may partially be behind this latest casting drama. Additionally, USA, which focuses on quirky capers such as "Monk" and "Royal Pains," may be seeking to lighten up its lineup from the dark tone of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" as Goldblum's Detective Zach Nichols is more white to Goren's black. After six seasons of first-run episodes on NBC, USA began to air new episodes of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 2007, with reruns on NBC.

"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" is the third entry in the "Law Order" franchise. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" focuses on the NYPD's Major Case Squad, which solves the murders of high-profile individuals such as politicians and celebrities. Additionally, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," was more concerned with getting inside the criminal's heads and exploring their motives and actions versus procedure. Trials are rarely featured on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent"; rather the drama is derived from the dramatic way the detectives extract confessions from the killers.

No word yet on how D'onofrio, Erbe and Bogosian will be written out. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent's" ninth season will premiere on the USA Network in March 2010.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_%26_Order:_Criminal_Intent

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/09/25/vincent-donofrio-kathryn-erbe-to-leave-law-order-criminal-intent/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275140/fullcredits#cast

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b146060_new_criminal_intent_cast_on_order.html?utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=imdb_topstories