Fox reports problems at L&O, Parisse out

From Fox News:

Law & Order' in Trouble as Actress Quits

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

By Roger Friedman

Things are pretty dicey over at "Law & Order," NBC's 16-year old police series.

For one thing, the actress who plays the assistant district attorney just quit. For another, insiders from the show are "convinced" that their beloved employment is about to be terminated.

"They're either getting cancelled or getting a one-year renewal," a source said.

One of the many reasons is lower ratings thanks to being up against ABC's powerhouse "Lost" on Wednesdays in the 9 p.m. timeslot. In recent weeks, NBC finally moved "Law & Order" out of harm's way, to 10 p.m., but it may too little too late.

There are, of course, three "Law & Order" shows: the mothership (as it is known), "SVU" (or fondly, SUV) and "Criminal Intent." The latter are still doing well enough that their pick-up seems assured.

Nevertheless, there's been trouble at "Criminal Intent" this week. S. Epatha Mekerson, the Emmy-winning actress who appears on the main show, was written in and then written out of the final episode when she didn't like the way her character was being treated.

"Whoopi Goldberg is the guest star. She plays a con man. Epatha's character was supposed to be her old friend. But Epatha didn't like it that her character was clueless about how evil Whoopi's was," a source said.

To make matters even more complicated, sources tell me that Annie Parisse, the talented brunette who had been playing the assistant district attorney on the main show, has quit.

"She saw the writing on the wall," an insider said. "They never treated her very well. They were always complaining about her hair. And they also thought she looked too young next to Sam Waterson."

Parisse joins a long list of actresses who have played the assistant district attorney over 15 seasons including Jill Hennessey, Angie Harmon, Carey Lowell and Elizabeth Rohm (who discovered her character was a lesbian in her final scene).

The problem now is that creator and executive producer Dick Wolf can't cast a replacement because no one knows if the show is coming back.

There's a significant morale problem, too. Sources say that there have been "a lot" of firings, including a portion of the camera crew.

"None of the original writer-producers are there anymore," a source said. "They've all been replaced by people from L.A. who don't get the show."

And then there's the issue of Jerry Orbach. Everyone I spoke to said the same thing in one way or another: Without the late beloved actor, "Law & Order" isn't the same. "And people don't like Dennis Farina" is the comment I got about the actor who was hired to succeed Orbach even before he died.

If "Law & Order" does get cancelled, or renewed just long enough to do a finale season, it won't be a tremendous surprise. Sixteen years, after all, is twice the length of the run of a regular hit show. Still, insiders blame the constant reruns on TNT for over-saturating the brand.

"Even they're cutting back now," a source said.

And then there were the problems with the show's lead-ins. All three forgettable shows are already gone, as well.

But that doesn't mean we won't be seeing the other two "Law & Order" shows in syndication for years to come.

"The 'CI' deal was too rich," a source said. "It will be on NBC for one or two more seasons definitely."

NBC declines comment except to say: "It is the producers' desire to keep the season finale of 'Law and Order' under wraps because of some surprising developments."

For what it's worth, bear in mind at least two things: No. 1 - NBC has fallen in recent seasons to third place. There are cost cuts everywhere; an article out in today's Hollywood Reporter notes that the network could even consider moving production to a cheaper location, outside New York. No. 2 - Consider the source -- Fox is no doubt perfectly happy to report on shows outside its own network that are slipping or appearing to slip.

At the recent "Inside the Actors Studio" taping, and in a recent conversation for New York Women In Film and Television (NYWIFT), Epatha was candid about going head-to-head with scripts or lines or motivations she didn't feel were true to her character; she noted that after playing her for 12 years (or like Noth playing Logan for so long, or any of them really after a few seasons) they know their characters better than the writers, who tend to have brief tenures. That she would disagree with an appeared dumbing-down of a character seems to make sense.

More as it plays out....