Chris Noth to be fired from "CI"?

[Brian Damage]

Wolf, sources say, is in a huge-cost cutting move at the moment to keep classic "L&O" and "Criminal Intent" on the air.

For the former show, he has already fired a producer and is thinking of axing the actors who play the cops. He would replace them with younger, cheaper people.

For "Criminal Intent," it's a different story. There is talk that Wolf has suggested eliminating long time "L&O" player Chris Noth from "CI." Noth came on in 2006 to alternate episodes with Vincent D'Onofrio. The latter actor had become very difficult and the company required a soothing change.

But D'Onofrio, they say, has calmed down. He is also less expensive than Noth, who is such a bona-fide star that he could easily carry his own show.

On top of that, Noth has already gone through one co-star, Annabella Sciorra. Now I'm told that Julianne Nicholson, who replaced Sciorra, is already not coming back, thanks to her pregnancy.

Here's an interesting theory about why "CI" might survive while classic "L&O" might not. Apparently, "CI" is a hit in France, where the scripts are refilmed with French actors. The French production company pays a high fee for this.

"They don't like the original 'Law & Order' because their judicial system doesn't allow for the way the show is divided between the cops and lawyers," an observer said. "'CI' is much easier for them to replicate."

Stay tuned. ...

[Luckymama58]

I think that some of the L&O franchise has come to the end of its run. I dunno if trying to maintain three seperate inceptions of the show is spreading it thin or what. I know that the CSI's are doing the same thing. I am guessing that there is a seperate set of writers for each of the shows. I wonder if the public is finding it hard to be so oversaturated with so many crime dramas on TV. If some of you are old enough to remember TV back in the 50's and 60's, it was the same way with westerns..... I think after a while the public moves on and the shows just die out. I hope this genre doesn't go the way of the westerns back in the day... I happen to like crime dramas. I am thinking that the proliferation of reality crime shows might be taking a bite out of the market as well. Reality TV is a big money maker, and I would think the shows on A&E like American Justice, Cold Case Files and other shows like these on other cable networks are a lot cheaper to produce. It would be interesting to see how all these factors affect the dramas that are on.