Law and Order Fatigue Has Set In: Chris Noth

[Brian Damage]

May 22, 2007 -- 'LAW & Order: Criminal Intent" star Chris Noth says the entire "L&O" franchise needs to change - or risk going under.

"There are so many 'Law & Orders' out there, and it plays on cable all the time, that people, I feel, get a general wash of it," says Noth.

"If it becomes stagnant, you disappear after a while."

Noth is speaking at a momentous time for "CI," which wraps its season tonight (9 p.m./Ch. 4) before moving to cable's USA next season.

Noth thinks the move to USA will benefit the show - which he says NBC has largely ignored.

"I think this [move to USA] could be our future and will probably give us more of an extension than NBC did," he says. "We were practically invisible on NBC, in many ways.

"In a sense, we got a little short-changed."

NBC thought long and hard before renewing the original "Law & Order" for an 18th season and keeping "CI" alive by moving it to sister network USA. Noth says that "CI" now has the chance to focus on character-driven storytelling a la tonight's episode, "Renewal" - in which his Det. Mike Logan romances his next-door-neighbor.

"Dick literally gets scared that actors are actually going to [emotionally] contribute to the show," Noth says. "He gets very nervous about that stuff, which is unfortunate.


"But we need to stretch Ÿthe boundaries of what this Ÿfranchise is. We're not ŸCoca-Cola for God's sake," Ÿhe says. "Dick is a guy who doesn't like to experiment, and he may try to push us back - and I think it's a mistake if he does."

[Ant-Lox]

SVU broke the mold, Criminal Intent could be so much better. A few days back, I watched SVU, and the episode was really good, that hour flew past in no time. I watched Criminal Intent right after than, and it felt like I was watching glaciers melt, I just can't get into that show or the head detective guy (Not Chris Noth), he looks like a creepy version of Vince Vaugh.