by Dorothy Snarker

"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" nabs two new leading ladies

Talk about your shift change. Law & Order: Criminal Intent is getting an overhaul and then some as its adds bisexual actress Saffron Burrows and Oscar-nominated actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio to its upcoming ninth season.

The new cast members come in the wake of the departure of four series regulars: original stars Vincent D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe along with Eric Bogosian and Julianne Nicholson. Jeff Goldblum will be the only remaining principal cast member.

Nicholson’s Det. Megan Wheeler is being replaced by Burrows, who will be Goldblum’s new partner. Mastrantonio, meanwhile, will become the first female captain for the Major Case Squad, taking over for Bogosian.

Mastrantonio had a recurring role on Without a Trace, but this will be her first regular TV gig. I’m glad to see she is back; I had a little thing for her back in her Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves days. Also, get a load of Snape’s hair.

While Burrows’ addition had been rumored, Mastrantonio is a bit of a surprise. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mastrantonio’s captain “comes from a working-class background.” No word on Burrows’ character yet, other than once can only assume she’ll be able to use her razor-sharp cheekbones as weapons when taking down suspects.

Now, I was a regular watcher of this show in its earlier seasons when D’Onofrio off-kilter Det. Goren was refreshing to watch. But with all the changes and additions in recent years, I’d lost interest. I’m not sure if Mastrantonio and Burrows will lure me back, but if they’re written as strong female leads and not just second-fiddles to Goldblum, I’d be willing to give it another shot.

How about you? Like the facelift, or perhaps just the new faces?

Dorothy Snarker's blog

Submitted by

Dorothy Snarker

on November 3, 2009 - 9:00am.

TAGS ::

Julianne Nicholson was the

Submitted by

Losing Heart (3 posts)

on November 3, 2009 - 10:14am.

Julianne Nicholson was the only reason I was still watching C.I. Even the new cast members aren't enough to draw me back in. Its too bad too, since this used to be a pretty good show. Although it always paled in comparison to The Mothership and SVU.

"Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I'm not living."

Excitement

Submitted by

Yakka (103 posts)

on November 3, 2009 - 10:27am.

Yay! Finally a reason to watch C.I...I feel guilty when I change the channel to watch SVU repeats instead.

...

Submitted by

imthey (562 posts)

on November 3, 2009 - 10:32am.

I have to admit that I will miss Kathryn Erbe, whom I always enjoyed watching, even though she was often times relegated to costar status and not as lead opposite the scenery chewing Vincent D'Onofrio, who remains one of my favorite among the quirky Law and Order: Criminal Intent cast.

Criminal Intent started out as quite a good show, but with its numerous cast changes, being pushed from NBC to USA and then mixing it up with one week with Goren and Eames and the next week not having them on, it really starting messing things up for me as a viewer.

It'll be interesting to see what TPTB can do to try to revive this show.

If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise. ~Johann von Goethe

Dont watch but

Submitted by

Strawbs (48 posts)

on November 3, 2009 - 10:36am.

there is waaay to much cheekbone on those two

... i'd like some though, wonder if they'd send some my way

idk if its just me

Submitted by

dragonlady07 (315 posts)

on November 3, 2009 - 10:54am.

but i cannot take jeff goldblum seriously. ever.

C.I.

Submitted by

Sportylady (491 posts)

on November 3, 2009 - 11:20am.

C.I. never captured my attention except for a couple of episodes but they were with Vincent and Kathryn. Too many cast changes as well.

I might be pelted with olives, but Law and Order shows have been on the air way too long, they all loose steam. SVU hasn't been that great in years and neither has the original, and they try to spice it up with cast changes but no one seems to fit the show.

as long as they keep Olivia

Submitted by

addie25 (60 posts)

on November 3, 2009 - 1:43pm.

as long as they keep Olivia and Alex Cabot on SVU I will continue to watch it religiously :) as for CI, never really liked it, actually, SVU is the only L&O I like (though i did turn in original a few times when Angie Harmon played Abby Carmichael ;). I liked Burrows when she was in boston Legal, but, nah, i don't think i'll watch it...

Heck yeah

Submitted by

Sportylady (491 posts)

on November 3, 2009 - 5:35pm.

Unfortunately that's when SVU was really awesome, almost the original team of Olivia, Stabler and Alex. It's sad that USA doesn't marathon the old episodes anymore, just NCIS (blah) and new SVU.

I agree in general, but I'm

Submitted by

xom (45 posts)

on November 5, 2009 - 2:05am.

I agree in general, but I'm actually liking the current crop of L&O (original) cast member/stories and hope they get picked up again. For the longest while I always preferred SVU until the last few years when there was just too much stunt casting that overshadowed the stories. This season's SVU stories aren't too bad and apparently an AO showdown is about to occur next week. Like someone else mentioned I only watched CI for Nicholson (I liked the Logan-Wheeler pairing), but I haven't seen any of the episodes with Goldblum so I'm not sure if it'll say.

C I New Cast

Submitted by

Middle3 (3 posts)

on November 3, 2009 - 1:53pm.

I'd be a tad more excited if it were Jeff Goldblum leaving. Glad to see Eric B (captain) leaving. I love M E M and am interested to see how she's treated. I'll admit, I do not have the devotion for this (or the original) L & O installment as I do SVU. But, I'll give the girls some play, see how it goes.

Yawn

Submitted by

afan (63 posts)

on November 3, 2009 - 5:14pm.

The only thing that would make me watch any law and order show is Jenifer Beals and/or Laurel Holomen coming on as kick ass detectives. CI is boring, all the law and order shows have out lived any interest. NCIS and CSI are also way over due to go away.

TV sucks really bad, I read most of time because 200 channels of nothing to watch is a great motivator to visit the library. I keep questioning why I'm paying all this money for nothing. Then if you do find something worth watching they beat you senseless with commercials. Yep my tv's life expectancy is in real danger.

cast changes

Submitted by

pj (2 posts)

on November 3, 2009 - 11:22pm.

Erbe and D'Onofrio made CI. The cast changes made it impossible to watch. Maybe the concept of the show wasn't selling? Not sure why they thought new characters would help??Didn't work for me.