Things haven't really been going very well on NBC, and now here's another kick in the shins. Actor Christopher Meloni is talking about leaving 'Law and Order: SVU' at the end of this season. That's right. No more New York detective Elliot Stabler. What's going on and why?
Well, after a dozen years pounding the pavement and fighting the good fight as Elliot, Meloni is interested in doing something else with his career. In an interview Down Under with the Australian Courier-Mail, Meloni said, "I think 12 years is enough." Eight is enough, yes, but twelve?
Anyway, Chris goes on to say that he has interest in doing film projects and returning to the theater. As for the future of Elliot on 'Law and Order: SVU,' Meloni believes he's giving the writers plenty of time to work out a satisfactory exit. He said, "The writers will have fertile ground to figure out how to arc [his way] out to another place, whether it's this world or the next."
In the middle of the raging late-night war, NBC has let word about their post-Olympics 10 pm schedule slip to those in the know, including Joe Adalian of TheWrap.com.
As NBC entertainment president Jeff Gaspin explained earlier in the week, the slot will contain a combination of reality and scripted shows, and news. The pleasant surprises: Parenthood is slotted at 10 PM ET on Tuesdays, after NBC's hit The Biggest Loser. It starts March 2. Law & Orderstarts continues its season with a two-hour episode on March 1, and will settle into a Monday at 10 slot on March 8. SVU goes to Wednesdays at 10 on March 3, led in by reruns of the show.
On the reality front, Jerry Seinfeld's The Marriage Ref will air at 10 PM ET after the Thursday comedy block, starting March 4 (it sneak previews after the Olympic closing ceremonies on Feb. 28). And on Fridays, a two-hour Dateline will bow at 9, preceded first by the reality series Who Do You Think You Are, starting March 5, then Friday Night Lights on April 30.
There's good and bad news coming from NBC's decision to cancel the 10PM Jay Leno Show. It's going to free up five hours during the week for more scripted shows. That's the good news. The bad news? One of those hours might be filled with yet another Law & Order spinoff.
Yup, the network wants a Los Angeles-based Law & Order from Dick Wolf to add to the franchise. They're calling the new show LOLA, which is probably what we're all going to have to get used to typing since I'm sure this show will be given the green light and we'll be writing about it in the next year or two. Of course, a Law & Order set in Los Angeles sounds a lot like Dragnet. And hey, wasn't Southland set in L.A.?
Soon, all that will be on TV will be different Law and Order, CSI, and NCIS spinoffs and nothing else. Oh and reality show. Lots of reality shows.
Remember how Sharon Stone first made her claim to fame? No, I don't mean her imitating Cybill Shepherd in the comedy Irreconcilable Differences with Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long and Drew Barrymore. I'm talking about Basic Instinct, of course. As Catherine Trammell, she had perhaps the most famous crossed-knee move ever in the movies.
Stone will be appearing in a four-show arc, playing a former cop who's become a prosecutor, an assistant district attorney. That means instead of answering questions, she'll be asking them.
Bromstad's vow presumably extends to Law and Order SVU, as well, especially since it does better in the ratings. Of course, nothing on the NBC slate is doing particularly well this season with the exception of the National Football League and The Biggest Loser. All the scripted series have struggled in the Nielsens. The Jay Leno Show experiment has been anything but a boon for the prime time schedule, no matter how NBC spins it.
More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about the best dramatic actors of the decade. And, boy, was it a tough choice.
From a meth-making chemistry teacher to a damaged 1960s ad exec, the guys populating the dramatic actor category in our best of the decade are nothing short of brilliant.
It's hard to choose favorites when you're dealing with the likes of Jon Hamm, Bryan Cranston, Mark Harmon, James Gandolfini, and many others, but the TV Squad team has spoken.
Did your favorites make our list? If not, feel free to add them in the comments below.
As part of his never-ending quest to make himself the news, the "Culture Warrior" has lobbed another fireball on the world of popular culture. This time it's Law & Order SVU creator Dick Wolf, because the show mentioned him.
This week's episode, titled "Anchor," featured a character who kills children birthed by illegal immigrants in America. His attorney, played by John Laroquette, fashions a defense that the TV and radio talking heads who rail against illegal immigrants are responsible for his actions. He even puts one on the stand, played by Bruce McGill, who seems to be channeling a Warner Bros. cartoon version of Lou Dobbs.
The attorney mentions O'Reilly by name, along with Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, as a "cancer spreading ignorance and hate." O'Reilly not only ripped Wolf a new one for working him into his show, but also brought in fellow pundit Laura Ingraham who frankly seemed more upset that she wasn't one of the name smeared in the episode like a jilted prom queen who only scores "Miss Congeniality". Well, darling, there's always Criminal Minds.
There's another Bravo to NBC crossover afoot. First, The Real Housewives of New Jersey popped over to play themselves on Mercy. Now it turns out that Kathy Griffin is on her way to Law and Order: SVU. And, get this, she's not playing herself. The queen of the D-list will be acting.
Kathy has been tapped to play a lesbian activist in the February 10 episode. As anyone who's watched Kathy on her Emmy-award winning reality show, My Life on the D-List, Kathy is a shameless over-achiever and loves to work. She's ambitious and determined to get off the D-list. As she might say, she would go to the opening of a refrigerator if it would help her career.
It seems like we have new casting news and/or rumors about Law and Order: Criminal Intent every week or so. Here's the latest.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has been cast as the new captain on the show. She replaces Eric Bogosian who has left after a few seasons on the USA Network show. She'll join another new cast member, Saffron Burrows, who replaces Julianne Nicholson, who decided not to come back to the show after having a baby.
Kona told you recently that Benjamin Bratt is coming back to Law & Order for a short time. S. Epatha Merkerson's Van Buren character has been diagnosed with cancer, which always gives shows a chance to bring back old characters. But it also gives a show a chance to bring on new characters, and that's what's going to happen starting this Friday.
I started watching Law & Order during the Briscoe and Green days, so I don't know a whole lot about Detective Rey Curtis, Briscoe's former partner from '94-'99. What I do know is that Benjamin Bratt is pulling a Chris Noth and returning to the show that gave him his big break.
Law and Order has been taking real-life cases for their show for years. Sometimes they take them so much that it wanders into "lazy writing" category and not "inspired by" category. But tonight's episode, "Reality Bites," could be interesting.
There's a murder (duh) but it involves Larry & Joy, who have a ton of kids and are part of a reality TV show. And there's a twist involving another woman who has a lot of kids. Hmmmm...
Last week we told you that Julianne Nicholson had decided not to come back to Law and Order: CI after having a baby, and in the same post we hinted that other changes might be coming to the USA show too. This could be those changes.
The Hollywood Reporter and set sources are both saying that Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, and Eric Bogosian are all being written out of the show. That would mean that Jeff Goldblum would be the star of the show and that new cast members would have to be hired. D'Onofrio might make guest appearances in the future.
I can see Bogosian going, since he always seemed like a recurring character at best and you can replace those. But D'Onofrio and Erbe are the heart of the show, really, and it's interesting if Goldblum (who I always assumed would last for a season or two and then be on his way back to the movies) would be the lead character on the show now.
Fans of the Law and Order shows (all of them) are used to big cast changes and turnovers. When you have shows that last so long, you're bound to see characters leave and new ones pop up. Now it looks like we're about to have a new cast member on Law and Order: CI and an old one that won't be coming back.
The fine art of interrogation may seem lost thanks to suspects lawyering up and the Miranda warning. Whatever happened to the days when a snarling cop could throw a perp against a brick wall to get him to squeal? Or a sly questioner could finagle a confession by laying on a guilt trip? Still, there are some very clever, brilliant interrogators plying their trade on these days. In fact, when you look at these eight interrogators, you'll probably agree that they know just how to get to the truth. Here are the eight top interrogators on TV today:
8. Captain James Brass, CSI Brass is the most "old school" of all these interrogators. He's like Andy Sipowicz from NYPD Blue, only without the violence. Brass talks to suspects with a modicum of respect, but a healthy cynicism. He's seen it all and knows the truth is in there somewhere. He asks questions and waits for them to trip themselves up. When they do, he has them write it down. Despite the laconic attitude, Brass has the brass to get the job done.
Things haven't really been going very well on NBC, and now here's another kick in the shins. Actor Christopher Meloni is talking about leaving 'Law and Order: SVU' at the end of this season. That's right. No more New York detective Elliot Stabler. What's going on and why?
In the middle of the raging late-night war, NBC has let word about 
There's good and bad news coming from 
Remember how Sharon Stone first made her claim to fame? No, I don't mean her imitating Cybill Shepherd in the comedy Irreconcilable Differences with Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long and Drew Barrymore. I'm talking about Basic Instinct, of course. As Catherine Trammell, she had perhaps the most famous crossed-knee move ever in the movies. 
If Dick Wolf's 
More of our 
There's another Bravo to NBC crossover afoot. First, The Real Housewives of New Jersey popped over to play themselves on 
It seems like we have new casting news and/or rumors about 
Kona told you recently that 
Fans of the Law and Order shows (all of them) are used to big cast changes and turnovers. When you have shows that last so long, you're bound to see characters leave and new ones pop up. Now it looks like we're about to have a new cast member on Law and Order: CI and an old one that won't be coming back.
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