TVSquad

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.

And so ends the first season of Law and Order: Criminal Intent with Jeff Goldblum as one of the stars (alternating the lead role with Vincent D'Onofrio). There are fans who love the Goldblum episodes and those that only want to see the veteran D'Onofrio in the lead. I noticed that the plots of the Goldblum/Nicholson episodes seemed to be really ambitious, but I don't think that made them better.

What grade do you give Goldblum for his first season?

(S06E01) Since I already provided an early look at the season premiere of Criminal Intent I'm not going to do a full blown review. However, I do want to touch on some of the items I left out for the sake of not spoiling it for the rest of you (ain't I so sweet?).

What actually made me think that this season would be a little different from the last five (other than cast changes) was the beginning of the show. As those of you who have watched the show know it usually begins with scenes of all of the potential suspects in the crime that will be investigated, followed by the discovery of the victim. Not this time around, though. Although one potential suspect is shown (the victim's boyfriend) the main focus is on the victim herself being pursued by her murderer, then being attacked. It is actually a bit intense, and quite bloody.

Back in March we reported that Law & Order: Criminal Intent was rumored to be on the cancellation block due to its rotating cast and drooping ratings. Apparently, that wasn't true. In fact, executives over at NBC were impressed with the 11 million viewers per week it was able to retain up against such Sunday night powerhouses as The Sopranos and Desperate Housewives. So, when the new fall schedule came out in May CI was right there, ready for a sixth season.

This is good. Despite it being the youngest of the Law & Order trio still on the air (the original is entering its 17th season while SVU will be starting its eighth season this upcoming Tuesday) I personally feel it's one of the best. Yes, even better than SVU, which has gotten a bit stale as of late. This was confirmed while watching a preview copy of the CI season premiere. I'll tell you all about it after the jump. (By the way, slight SPOILERS ahead).