New Hire for Law & Order
"In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups. The police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories." And how many stories there are.
The latest one is all about cast changes at NBC's Law & Order. The drama, which practically depends on defections and replacements to keep things lively, has hired actress Elisabeth Rohm to replace Angie Harmon in the show's ever-revolving D.A.'s office. Harmon, who reportedly butted heads with show producer Dick Wolf, announced earlier this month that she wanted to leave the show to pursue a career in films. Wolf agreed to let her out of her contract only if he could find a speedy replacement.
Two weeks later and Rohm is on the case. The actress, who previously worked with Wolf on a TV pilot called The Invisible Man, will join the cast next week in New York, where the Wolf Films and Studios USA production is going into overtime to shoot extra shows before a possible strike by writers and actors this summer. Wolf said Rohm's assistant district attorney character will be a gifted and ambitious young prosecutor with a Harvard Law Review background and the goal of one day moving beyond the district attorney's office.
"I first worked with Liz three years ago and I have watched her develop into one of the finest young actresses working in television," Wolf said in a statement. "Both [executive producer/head writer] Barry Schindel and I look forward to introducing another new and unique member of the Law & Order family."
During the past two seasons, Rohm has had a recurring role on the WB's Angel. She spent one year on the soap opera One Life to Live before guest spots on the NBC miniseries The 60s and Eureka Street for BBC. She also had a regular gig on the TNT series Bull. Rohm's first episode will be the show's 12th season premiere next fall.
Buffy loss takes a bite out of WB
Losing Buffy the Vampire Slayer won't kill the WB -- but it's gonna sting.
While the 20th Century Fox TV-produced series isn't the WB's top-rated show -- that honor belongs to Monday powerhouse 7th Heaven -- Buffy is the anchor of the WB's Tuesday lineup, with an average audience of about 4.5 million viewers. Star Sarah Michelle Gellar is one of the WB's icons.
It's too early to say just what the WB will do on Tuesday nights next season. First up, the network must decide whether to keep or kill Buffy spinoff Angel. Ratings-wise, some industry insiders believe Angel would suffer without the benefit of a Buffy lead-in. The network may also want to make a clean break from the entire Buffy franchise.
On the other hand, canceling Angel would mean giving UPN another hour of successful programming, which the latter network would likely use to build a whole new Tuesday. Assuming Angel flies, one leading contender for the 8 p.m. Tuesday slot would be Smallville, the young Superman series that already has a 13-episode commitment. The show's superhero-as-teen plot mirrors that of early Buffy.
In addition to its Tuesday problem, the WB will have other holes to plug next season. On Mondays, Roswell was all but dead before the Buffy move. It's now buried. On Fridays, the WB will have to fill an hour left by the likely cancellation of teen drama Popular. The WB will also need at least another hour of programming on Sunday, and quite possibly two hours.
Perhaps most importantly, losing Buffy means losing the WB's most-praised series. Last year, the series snagged Emmy and Golden Globe nods and made the 10-best lists of critics from Time, TV Guide and USA Today. While plaudits don't always equal ratings, the WB has used praise for Buffy -- and other shows, including newcomer Gilmore Girls -- to build a brand as a home for quality young adult drama. That mission now gets a bit tougher.
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