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You can expect big changes next season for Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Original cast member Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays Detective Robert Goren, is reportedly leaving the show as a regular and will be replaced by Jeff Goldblum according to two people close to production.
Goldblum joined the Law & Order team after Chris Noth left for the second time in the show’s eight-year history.
His character, Detective Zach Nichols, recently returned to the NYPD after a seven-year hiatus following the attacks of Sept. 11.
D’Onofrio is just one of four departures from last season’s cast, which includes Kathryn Erbe, Eric Bogosian and Julianne Nicholson.
Erbe, who played Detective Alexandra Eames, has been the partner of Dr. Goren since the show premiered in 2001.
Bogosian replaced James Sheridan in season six as Captain Daniel Ross. Nicholson’s departure is not a surprise, as the actress recently had a baby and will be replaced by British actress Saffron Burrows.
Get all that?
Fortunately the storylines on the Law & Order franchise focus primary on the cases and less so on the characters, making a transition like this smoother than most shows losing four key actors.
The eighth season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent aired last month and season nine is not scheduled until next spring on the USA Network.
Considering how the show was shunned from NBC to USA in 2007 and now these changes, could we be looking at the beginning of the end of the NYPD Major Case Squad?
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