Great news! Several sources are reporting that Law & Order’s Alana De La Garza is joining the cast of Law & Order Los Angeles, reprising her role of Connie Rubirosa. She will be paired with Terrence Howard’s character DDA Joe Dekker. No set date for LOLA’s return as yet.You can read the full story here: TV Guide: Alana De La Garza Joins Law & Order: Los Angeles
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36 comments:
Wootness. The best news for L&O in a long time. She's definitely gonna add some sparks to the show. I'm just gonna miss her chemistry with Mike and Jack.
Finally, a decent actress for the show. She will be fantastic and will draw more viewers than that wooden wimpy Terrence Howard. I wish they would have made her HIS boss. That would have been interesting.
Now if they would just add S. Epatha Merkerson, Linus Roache, and Sam Waterston, and move the show to New York, perhaps it might be worth watching.
Well despite the mothership's cancellation, season 20 would have been S. Epatha Merkerson's last season. Maybe someone at NBC might have enough common sense to do something with the mothership now that they're changing house a bit with Comcast taking over, and Zucker's leaving...one can only hope...
This is a good fit for Alana and for the show but I would have preferred they kept the mothership. I have zero interest in Los Angeles in the manner that LOLA has presented the city. Southland is a much better representation.
I am not too happy with them keeping Terrence Howard, he is the weak link here. Molina and De La Garza would have made a powerful pair in the DA's office. I suppose that he will still do OK with Corey Stoll, who I like very much. BUT...I would have loved to see Corey as a L&O mothership detective. Sisto and Anderson were OK but Corey would have been great there.
The fact that Alana is coming to LOLA is an admission, IMO, that they knew that LOLA is screwed up as far as L&O fans accepting it. They still need to write better stories to keep fans interested.
That’s disappointing news. I had hoped they would go for something fresh and new instead of regurgitating characters from the past, especially given the recent success of the risky female lead character Kathy Bates is currently playing. Total viewing numbers for Harrys Law are even higher than SVU so that audience went with the risk. Meanwhile viewing numbers for LOLA decreased as it got more Mothershippy.
The appointment suggests retrospective instead of looking forward. That might suit Mothership viewers, but the ratings were not good for Mothership and it had been a bubble show for years.
It also might indicate a short cut to instant character development since it’s a character already developed. I now expect LOLA to look more and more like Mothership and less and less like a show in its own right. It will probably have the same theme music too. None of that interests me.
How sad. Still I had fun while it lasted, so thanks for that.
NBC, under the new management of Bob Greenblatt, has just greenlit a pilot called S.I.L.A by Stephen Gaghan (Traffic/Syriana) which will be in competition with LOLA, since it’s a complex law/crime show set in Los Angeles and I cant see why NBC would have two shows so similar on at the same time. It sounds a bit like the Southland show they originally had but squandered. Traffic and Syriana were adventurous work and it looks like Greenblatt is much more adventurous than previous management because he has also greenlit a musical by Spielberg.
I thought LOLA was going to be ass a drama but it may be that I have been watching the wrong show. I liked the premise of LOLA but Im not going to watch a Mothership retrospective.
sorry...I meant to say "I thought LOLA would be "adventurous as a drama" ,but I typed too fast!
Wow, they must be desperate, meaning they need the folks from NY to bring some life to that show..I love her and she will be great on the show...but I still say bring it back to NYC..by the way L & O UK is great!
How exactly is this bad news? It's a familiar face from an actress who's played the longest running ADA from the Mothership. And since when does the franchise really work on characterization? The show is about the cases more than it is about the characters and their background, histories, etc. And for most shows, you will almost always see a decline in ratings. LOLA has more of a chance of becoming renewed than a lot of the new shows on NBC. Wolf's shows has almost always put out for the network. Do you honestly expect ratings to remain strong over a course of twenty years? With that, of course you will see a decline, especially with the great (God rest his soul) Jerry Orbach's death. That was when the show started to slip. It started to progress when Roache, Anderson, and Sisto joined the cast, the writing became fresh, rich, and made people remember why the mothership was, is and will forever more be the best. The ratings were improving for a show that has been on the air for quite some time. You will never see a show compete with that. I'm glad and fortunate they've decided to bring Alana back. This could help, not only 'cause she's from the mothership, but because she's a pretty damn good actress. I'm iffy about her working with Howard versus Waterston/Roache, but I guess we will have to wait and see. Also, I want to make another point. NBC does not make shows to compete with each other. They make shows to compete with other networks. So be it if they want a show similar to Southland or LOLA, it's on their network and on their dime. That doesn't spell doom for LOLA. And LOLA itself, it's just a different taste of scenery from the norm. NYC was a character within itself for the mothership. It feels odd to watch LOLA in another setting other than New York, but it's still managed to tell a story, whether on one half, or the other. Let's hope with this shake up, they can piece what they have missing together.
Are you on the site all day to lobby, Esaul?
Its not about shouting people out. We just have viewpoints,all valid. they dont need to be counterargued as soon as they are given. Just accept differences with grace and without being argumentative.
Whatever is said officially,NBC does make shows that compete with each other...check out the ratings sites for analysis on that.They are all competing for limited slots according to ratings.
Ratings for Mothership were consistently between 1.5 and 1.8 in the key demo. Even the Finale only brought in 1.9, and that is low even for NBC. Check out the ratings sites for that.
This is a decision about "staying safe" instead of being adventurous.Some like that but i dont, thats all. Its no big deal. I just stop watching.
@xfool: "Southland is a much better representation." - That's a lie. Southland is NOT a better representation of Los Angeles. Southland is following the drama of what vice/narcotics units do with patrol officers/homicide detectives.
There is not all the drama, shootings, and profane language in that section of LAPD.
LOLA depicts LA homicide detectives to the "T". Take it from someone who has a relative who has spent decades on the LAPD, with commendations and awards.
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I wish mothership fans would let go (frankly I grow tired of seeing/hearing about it - although true how NBC rushed the series off the air). I doubt Wolf is going to invest millions of dollars to get a 20 year old drama back. Maybe if CI was canceled on the spot he would. The mothership has too much milage (which that's a good thing, it gives NBC a reason to think about renewing SVU and LOLA for a while)!
Plus the cast has gone on, I think Anthony Anderson's trying to get back into movies, Linus Roache just took on a role, S. Epatha wouldn't have returned anyway, Jeremy Sisto is now doing part-time work/taking care of his kid, and Sam Waterston is reclining on his L&O money with his family.
I think guest apperances or a crossover should come into effect with LOLA but that's about it.
I'm fine with LOLA! I'm glad Alana's coming! I'm glad Skeet Ulrich is out!
I think this is a great move, but as Esaul says, it'll be interesting to see how they explain this.
Agree with those who say that Molina and de la Garza would have been a much more powerful pairing.
In other news... the mothership season 20 episode "Innocence" has been nominated in the 22nd GLAAD Media Awards for an Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular LGBT character), as has the "Law & Order: UK" episode "Samaritan". I really enjoyed "Innocence" and sincerely hope it wins! (Source: http://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/22/nominees)
Yawn. This just screams desperation. I don't think Wolf expected such a huge backlash on the the LOLA Facebook against the letting-go of Ulrich and now they are trying to bring in the original cast members to bring in viewers from the Mothership people.
Unless they bring back all the writers too, none of this matters.
I'm not going to reinvest my time just so they can switch it all in a month to bring in another original cast member. I can't see Howard being there much longer (this would be a good thing) seeing as he is known for his Diva antics. Molina as a cop is just ridiculous.
@chris
Some of the mothership writers are already on LOLA (Richard Sweren, Julie Martin, Judith McCreary(/SVU)).
Rumor says Blake Masters is stepping doen and someone else is coming in. I agree with timbo 50/50: mothership ain't comin' back.
Even Balcer has said focus is on LOLA.
Finally, fans got their wish to add a Mothership cast member to the show. Now for the love of all that is good, stop complaining about its damn cancellation. If Wolf wasn't so damn greedy the show would still be there.
And yes, the mothership writers are all there working on the show. As for Morales, I think Molina will do a great job as a cop. He's definitely the best actor on the show, even when Skeet Ulrich was on.
By the way Janet sounds more like you are the cheerleader for the LOLA franchise. The fans simply want and love the original. Guess you won't be around after they cancel this one.
As for Sam, he is far from "resting on his LAO residuals". He's doing a show at the Long Wharf in preparation for a turn on Broadway with the same show. (Did he stand you up at the prom or something) Your obvious disdain for the mothership is quite obvious. We get it. Geez let it go. I understand how you'd want this version of the show to work out. It's just there are some of us that were content with the mothership.
I'm glad that Alana will be back on the air. I just wish it had been with Molina instead of Howard. May watch once just to see how they explain her move and if her character is written the same way.
MissKittyFantastico
I'm glad Skeet Ulrich is out - the only reason fans like him on LOLA is because he looks good (like Chris Noth did as Logan on the original series).
It ain't all about looks, it's about acting! I didn't like Noth on the original mothership until the season 2 premiere, when Greevy was murdered; the episode that made Noth a real actor on L&O! Which makes me mad since Noth basically puts down his L&O roles - that's where his fans love him the most - as hardass and yet soft Detective Michael Logan!
So to pissed off mothership fans, wake up and grow up: NBC is not only to blame, Dick Wolf's hands are in the pot too!
CI fans are next to be pissed when Law & Order: Miami comes out! Can't blame NBC/USA Network/Wolf for that one (the show ending, not the abrupt cast changes), blame yourselves for skipping out when Goldblum and Burrows starred!
the whole damn law and order franchise is in hell.
it doesn't matter if its in nyc, la, or miami. i grew tired of the mother ship anyway. svu is going down the toilet. criminal intent is following the mother ship. if this doesn't work out los angeles will follow both. if we get a miami version, it better be damn good.
i hope alana de la garza enjoys herself.
I actually really loved Chris Noth. Logan's one of my favorite characters, particularly because he's the most flawed. Noth's career, as many, was launched 'cause of L&O. ^_^'
Also, L&O: Miami is just a rumor at this point. Wolf has never, not once, said anything about that being his next project. All he has said is he made a deal with Vincent D'Onofrio to be in his pilot that USA agreed to let him do. That's it. Someone in the USA community, on their forums, started this rumor about L&O: Miami. He was speculating about what the next L&O show would be, and he stated he thought it would be interesting to have a L&O Miami, and it just took off from there. At this point, that's all there is to it.
Fans did not like the whole Burrows/Goldblum thing. SVU and CI don't follow the mothership's revolving cast, so we become attached to these characters, who have more in-depth to them than the original show. VDO and Erbe made this show. Goldblum left the show because of the ratings, he didn't want to be attached to a show that would fail. Burrows I don't believe has "officially" left. I haven't heard anything on her end, but I could be mistaken. Criminal Intent isn't ending because of the cast changing. It's partly ending due to ratings, but the overall picture is the fact that it's been on the air for such a long time. Production values, and contracts become more and more expensive as time progresses. You're also looking at a non-USA original show, that went from broadcast to basic. I'm also failing to see how Wolf's to blame too. He tried the best he good with the hand he was dealt. He wanted to save the mothership, he tried, but in the end there wasn't much he could do. I blame the networks of NBC, USA and TNT. They owe A LOT to him. Because of Wolf, it helped launched these three to what they are today. Both USA and TNT are able to have original programing, TNT has produced an emmy winning show that may have a spin off, or may even continue on without Kyra Sedgwick. USA has hits like Burn Notice, Monk, Psych, etc. None of this would have been made possible without Wolf. LOLA was already in the works before the mothership was cancelled. And him removing actors from a show, that isn't unheard of. At least he's removing the ones that don't necessarily work for the most part. And bringing in Alana feels to me as a little bit of a compromise for something he had no control over. That's just my two cents really.
Julie Martin is a LOCI writer,not Mothership.She was prominent during seasons 6/7.
Yes, I appreciated LOLA as I appreciated LOCI but I have no liking of the Mothership after the 90's so no interest in Mothership characters. In the 90's it was the show of its Times.I hoped for LOLA to be current of its Times too,not retro with regurgitated characters.Thats just quick fix and, as others say, a hint of desperation.It reminds me of what happened to LOCI after season 7.
Timbo,Id love to hear more about your LA experiences and how LOLA reflects it.Its interesting that you say LOLA is close to the experience of LA.
People on other sites say Southland is closer.But what interests me is this show of diversity and why some agree with Southland, and others with LOLA.
I dont think either show is real because at their most basic they are entertainment, and at their most aspirational they are Art.
Is it to do with class do you think? Is LOLA middle class perception and Southland working class perception? Or is that too simplistic?
Thinking about it,I tend to think all these dramas give a false impression about real criminals and crime. Dramas are,by their nature,larger than life and designed to excite the audience.I think most real criminals are quite dull and ordinary. Perhaps we elevate crime and the law that surrounds it when we dramatise it. In fact its mundane...but would we watch that if shown on TV? I doubt it.
What we need is an anti-crime procedural to redress the imbalance...like an anti-hero!!!
I tweeted WolfFilms about that when D'Onofrio came back to CI and the rumors came out about Law & Order: Miami.
I got a response: "He [Wolf] has many ideas for projects it may be one of them. He also is writing books. Who knows, it’s possible in the future."
So you'll have to wait and see what befalls this year or next year. But for now it is a bunch of [LOCI] fans fantasies that got kicked up when USA said they gave Wolf a pilot, and it being used as a continuing wheel for Vincent D'Onofrio. I saw a blog on this website which is a fan of D'Onofrio's work and they mention that they'd like to see him be showrunner of said Miami spinoff.
Fans follow actors/actresses more so than the shows themselves (only works for LOCI, and E/O shippers on SVU) for what they are (in LOLA's case for the story). Skeet fans are pissed, yet some of them will stick with LOLA now because Alana de la Garza is coming back. Plus Alfred Molina and Terrence Howard fans.
I don't see LOLA getting canceled by May 2011. And since it's under this overhaul, some of the writing staff have likely been moved off the LOLA project and on to another (CI/SVU). Besides NBC is not going to make that mistake again anytime soon because of what they did last year.
(me speculating) LOLA probably would get renewed a second season if nobody watched just because NBC knows they rushed to cancel L&O!
As for LOCI last year, CI was meant to revolve around D'Onofrio's Goren and later Chris Noth's Logan. I think season 9 episode 2 should have been the end of the series - it has caused a big gap between then and now for season 10. The passionate diehard fans who have departed for good likely won't return when D'Onofrio/Erbe fans do. But at least LOCI's getting closure; where the mothership did not.
@janet: The anti-crime procedural's already been done (Exhibit 1: Showtime's 'Dexter') :P.
@ Truth Teller
If it was about acting -- Terrence Howard would be out and not promoted to every episode. I have a feeling he has a no trade clause. Molina is the stronger DA so to demote him to cop is a bad move. They should have kept him as sole DA and dumped Howard and his melodramatic soap-opera delivery.
I actually like Terrence Howard on LOLA, he's just trying to hard. I actually liked him in "Hondo Field", "Ballona Creek", and "Playa Vista", the others not so much.
I heard LOLA is filming episodes 14 and 15 now.
NBC needs to hit up the schedule!
If they are filming episode 14 now I presume it will be the old cast up to that point? When does the connie character start up?
Gahks,I dont watch Dexter on a regular basis, but I think its of dramatic interest because it combines in one character what we usually divide into two sides, suggesting that Good and Evil exist together,that we are by nature as capable of murder as we are of law enforcement. What seperates it all is Choice.
By showing that dramatically they increase our understanding of human nature by offering a different perspective....
Its been going a few years now,hasnt it?
Thats too freaky...I had privately predicted this. :) I cant wait to see this!
I think LOLA will still continue to be dull, dull, dull.
As sad as it was that the mothership ended, (it was my favorite)there's no way it will ever come back, so I have turned my attention to LOLA and LOUK. I like both, although I think LOUK at the start had a better cast line-up than the original cast of LOLA. I didn't mind Skeet, but I didn't love him. I always thought Alfred Molina would have been better as a cop, although they're going to have to work hard to make that transition not seem kind of ridiculous. I also seem to be the only one who likes Terrence Howard. I loved Mccoy, and Howard isn't a passionate, yelling character like Mccoy was. But Howard reminds me of the quieter ADAs like Ben Stone from the first seasons of LO. I think this kind of character is missing because many LO ADAs act like Mccoy. Now that Connie is in the show, I think they will work well together and I think this show will be much better with the new cast.
Just for the records, my favorites are LO, LOUK, and LOCI. I don't like LOSVU. I liked Jeff Goldblum (Hes one of my favorite actors) in CI but after Goren and Eames left the show began to feel like a generic LO spinoff, while when they were on the show was a little different and reminded me of older classic cop shows.
I don't know how I feel about this. I know people are like shut-up about the original L&O but I can't. While I loved the character of Connie, the reasons for was of the cast interactions between her, Mike and Jack, and her Lupo and Bernard. They had chemistry.
Adding Connie to LA makes me think the mothership should have just went on a year hiatus It would be interesting to see how she ends up in LA but I would prefer they scrap LOLA and bring the show back to NYC.
On a side note, out of principle, I don't think I'll be watching LOLA anytime soon.
I'm getting sick of people hating on Howard.He's not the problem,the crappy scripts are!Molina's episodes are just slightly less crappy.Molina should be promoted to DA not demoted to cop.How exactly do they explain this?Skeet Ulrich never did anything for me but the character(Det.Winters) is so milquetoast it's really hard to care.Hell his wife may have put an innocent woman in prison and he doesn't seem to care.
Corey Stoll is no Jerry Orbach and his character in not Lennie Briscoe so stop trying for pete's sake.I wish Alana the best but I don't hold out much hope for LOLA.
The Mothership whiners never gave LOLA a chance and kept blaming the actors on that show for the original's demise.
Howard should be cast on a soap opera, that is where his 'talent' lies. Molina is a strong actor, but even he won't be able to pull off the cop thing. Two bald cops? Geez this is stupid. Stoll is the only likeable part of the show left.
I don't see many people blaming LOLA for the mothership's cancellation. What a lot of people don't understand is that LOLA was in the works long before NBC decided to end the original. I was reading about it during the time where someone from NBC was saying they would RENEW the show for a 21st season. So that right there, isn't true. I've either liked or disliked all the actors at one point or another, but they've also all had their moments. Also, I know this is a bit out there, but it isn't too late to bring back L&O, if they were smart enough to. But that won't happen. CW cancelled a show two years ago, and BET (I think that was the station) picked it up, reviving it. So, you never know. But I wouldn't get our hopes up too high. :|
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