Thursday, January 8, 2009

Stephanie March Returns to Law & Order SVU, Is McManus Out?

Associated Press is reporting that Stephanie March will be reprising her role on NBC’s Law & Order SVU as New York prosecutor Alexandra Cabot. She also played this character on NBC’s drama “Conviction” which had a limited run on NBC before being cancelled in 2006. She will be coming back for six episodes, starting Februay 17.

According to AP, The actress said Thursday she looks forward to spending time with a production that has been rewarding for her, and compared it to "an old flame." “ They also added "As [Neal}Baer tells it, Cabot wasn't ready until now to put her difficult experience behind her and return to work with her former special victims unit colleagues. He welcomed having Cabot's "commanding presence" back in the courtroom, Baer said. During Cabot's return, prosecutor Kim Greylek (Michaela McManus) will be temporarily on assignment in Washington, D.C., working with the Justice Department."

Yippee! This should stir things up a bit on the show!



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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let's hope and pray she replaces McManus!!!

Anonymous said...

Ooooh the plot thickens!!! Six eppies for sweeps in Feb or May? I hope it's sooner than later. She is going to shake things up a bit I hope.

I can see the fanfic writers geering up for the return of Cabot/Benson.

I'm also sure this will bring back some fans who left after Cabot left.

By the way LOJ...I hope your new year has started off happily.

MissKittyFantastico

Wallyhorse said...

I'm shocked to see this happen only because the time for SM to return to me would have been last season on the original series with her effectively replacing Fred Thompson (with her taking over Jack's old EADA slot).

It sounds like we will see SM in what used to be Donnelly's position, and if this goes beyond six episodes and Michaela does not leave (or is replaced by someone else) with SM playing this role on occasion. I also suspect they will include her time on "Conviction" as well.

If they do replace Michaela permanently and it is NOT SM doing so, I'd be trying to get Holly Marie Combs (who still has a lot of fans from her "Charmed" days) to take over the ADA OR have Reiko Aylesworth (who still has a ton of fans from "24") reprise the role of ADA Erica Alden she played in the first season of "SVU."

Anonymous said...

There is a God! Alex was always my favorite. The legal part of the show was never the same without her.

I can barely tolerate McManus. But if Alex is back in some continuing capacity, fine, they can keep Grayleck.

Anonymous said...

Wallyhorse, you repeatedly say this on TWOP and it's just illogical.

First of all, Alex does not have enough experience to take over Jack's old EADA slot. Jack McCoy had been an ADA for 24 years before he earned that spot. There are several bureau chiefs in the DA's office. Just being a bureau chief doesn't give you the qualifications or experience to be second in command.

Second of all, it is not imperative that her time on Conviction be included. Conviction is a very small part of Alex's history and the writers completely disregarded her much larger and more important body of history from SVU. If 74 SVU episodes could be thrown to the wind on Conviction, then a mere 13 Conviction episodes can surely suffer the same fate on SVU. It's not like her release from Witness Protection was explained on the show. The engagement to the fiance doesn't have to be mentioned at all because people do break engagements. Considering the fact that the problems in the relationship were repeatedly brought up and Alex was already expressing doubts about marrying him, it's not odd to conclude she would've broken it off. The wedding wasn't supposed to be until that October, so she had more months left to change her mind than the short time she'd been engaged. If that is indeed what happened, it wouldn't be worth bringing up now, three years later.

Furthermore, the Conviction fanbase is just not large enough to make much of a difference. It was completely outnumbered by the SVU fanbase. The majority of Alex fans thought she was grossly out-of-character on the show, and the writers are more likely to cater to the majority than a minority. When someone asked Dick Wolf about the possibility of viewers being confused about Milena Govich and Julianne Nicholson landing roles on other Law & Order shows, he wrote it off as not mattering because he even said not that many people watched Conviction.

Anonymous said...

omg this is the best blog entry ive ever read.
im so friggen excited

Anonymous said...

I guess I'll jump in. First off, Jack said he had nearly 25 years as a prosecutor in Season 9, so he's definitely has 30 years extra under his belt.

Regarding Cabot as E.A.D.A., she could, if she had more time in, certainly. Before Cutter was announced, here were my selections, at the time.

1. Abbie Carmichael. She's has 4 years into Narcotics with a 95% conviction rate. Then, 3 years as Jack's assistant, plus how many years in whilst working at New York's Southern District.

So, that's 10+ plus years of prosecuting experience. Not to mention, she has her rapport with McCoy, so she can carry out his orders without much trouble.

If we're going by Jack's A.D.A.s, she has the most experience of the lot, or enough meat on her resume for the job.

2. Tracey Kibre.

Branch's Homicide chief. I know she's had more experience and time in, so there's seniority. She is clearly competent, and definitely would be more creative.

I'd write more if I had time and I need to see her episodes again.

3. Ed Danvers (Homicide)

Danvers has been Baltimore's D.A. for many years. He was goingto be appointed to be a judge until the events of Sideshow wrecked it (things beyond his control). Plus, he and Jack has a good rapport, so that's another boon.

If Munch can cross over, then so can Ed.

I need to watch more Homicide before I can judge further in depth.

Anonymous said...

Before I wrap up my previous argument, I should point out that wikipedia has an excellent profile on Danvers, if you're interested. Kibre's profile is decent, too.

Of course, each candidate has flaws, as Abbie being the younger version of Jack would have his flaws (i.e., her temper, being a workaholic). Kibre is ruthless and manipulative, and would take Jack's rule-bending to real extremes (Cutter tried some of that in Season 18). Meanwhile, Ed isn't as... over-the-top, like some defense attorneys are. Which can deter a judge in terms of persuading.

So, there you go. As for Cabot returning, I think it's a stunt, but a needed one. She's the kick in the pants the season needs.

I don't like how McManus is suddenly disappearing, as I'm sure her absence may have been caused by the fan/critic backlash on her. Until I hear differently, of course. I hope it isn't a preview of coming attractions.

As for Conviction, well, fine, ignore it, but her last SVU appearance had her in Witness Protection. So, that needs to be explained away, as to explain her return to public prominence (maybe Cesar Valez, the man targeting her died, or something).

Sorry for any typos, as I'm in a rush today.