Several sources report that Danny Pino ("Cold Case") and Kelli Giddish ("Chase") are joining the cast of Law & Order SVU for season 13. They will be series regulars, along with Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Richard Belzer, and Dann Florek.
My initial reaction is not positive. I watched “Cold Case” for the first season and was unimpressed with Pino. I do not think his name or his reputation is big enough to draw in viewers, or replace the Chris Meloni fans who threaten to bolt next season. I also wasn’t thrilled with Giddish on “Chase” but I admit that I only watched one episode and the show itself was awful.
Does this mean the end of SVU - or will the addition of these two actors keep the show going past season 13? Always the Law & Order fan, I will, of course, continue to watch the show and hope that these new cast members help the series to thrive.
Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.
Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.
21 comments:
I doubt people will tune in to see these two...I don't think the show can survive without Meloni and limited Hargitay.
No Danny Pino! They said they were going to replace Chris Meloni with a big name and Pino is not a big name. Giddish will also be no replacement for Mariska once she gets in her new role on the show.
Terrible choices. Terrible. I feel cheated. I am not a Meloni fan so my reaction has nothing to do with him. Pino is just not anywhere near what I expected.
I only have one thing to say and I say it with great sadness:
RIP SVU..
I think people really need to give the show a fair chance after the shakeup. Look at what happened to Criminal Intent and they brought in a big name. Then again, they finished the show by bringing back the original stars...so I guess stop watching the show and you'll get Stabler and Bensen back?
I breathed a sigh of relief when they got Danny Pino. He isn't a big name, but he was a good character on Cold Case, hopefully he'll do fine. But I really don't like Kelli Giddish, but hey, it's better that JLH, I guess..
Danny Pino is good but Kelli Gidish is a show-killer. How she manages to go year after year of late with a main role in yet another show simply shows the idiocy of Hollywood and now New York too. She is an ok actress but not network-flagship-show-starring-role good.
Can we all say it together, NBC is trying their damnedest to kill off Law & Order while putting a positive spin on it.
RIP LOTBJ, C, LONY, LOLA, LOCI, and soon to be joining them LOSVU. Viva LOUK, which thankfully NBC doesn't broadcast.
@ Jessica stop acting like a drama queen. The show's that Kelli headed dying, had NOTHING to do with her. If anything she was the only good thing going for Chase. And NBC doesn't purposely hate Law & Order as a brand, they just make dumbass decisions.
On one hand I liked Kelli Giddish enough on Chase that I think she can be good on SVU if given the opportunity. Though I agree with everything all things said about Danny Pino. I just can't see him having a positive impact on SVU critically or commercially.
Also xfool WHO exactly said SVU was going to replace Meloni with a bigger name? I think that was just the assumption of the fans, not the promise of the SVU producers. Unless I'm mistaken.
In certain articles, it was said that the producers were "trying" to find a big name actor to replace Meloni. Apparently, they were unsuccessful. No surprise to me considering big names don't come cheap.
I can answer for xfool also. When TVline reported Meloni was leaving, they said,
"Protracted talks between the actor — who has played Detective Stabler since the NBC crime drama’s 1999 debut — and studio NBC Universal broke down on Tuesday, says a source. Franchise creator Dick Wolf is said to already be searching for a big name to bring in opposite the series’ female lead, Mariska Hargitay."
They weren't the only source that reported that Meloni would be replaced with a big name.
Here's the link: http://www.tvline.com/2011/05/chris-meloni-exits-law-order-svu/
I think that is what bugged me about Pino and any other other names they released for Meloni's replacement - they were not the big names that thought they would be trying to get.
So are both of these two going to be around from the beginning of season 13? Or is it going to be Pino at the start and Giddish in episode 14 or whatever it is?
I don't particularly like these moves but it could be worse I guess. I never watched Chase, but I do recognize Giddish from somewhere, just can't put my finger on it. No idea who Pino is though, I've seen a few episodes of Cold Case and don't recognize him at all (maybe I was just glued to Kathryn Morris the whole time).
Lol, according to Wikipedia (I know...), two of the male actors being looked at for the male lead role were Kevin Alejandro (the guy from 'Branded') and Michael Raymond-James, the guy who played Eddie Skinner in Smoked. No idea why I find that amusing.
I always thought the intention to get a "big name" to replace Chris Meloni was overly ambitious. Meloni hadn't talked about wanting to "do other things" or "broaden his horizens", so I think money had to have been the issue with the failed contract talks. If they weren't planning to shell out the money for Meloni, why would they think that they could get a big name for cheap?
I don't know who Kelli Giddish is, so can't really comment on that except to say I'm glad it's not Jennifer Love Hewitt. I kind of wish it was Annabeth Gish, she would have been an awesome choice.
On the other hand, I seem to be in disagreement with the majority here in saying that I like Danny Pino. He was alright in Cold Case, and he's a bit of a looker.
I am actually excited for these moves. No one is going to replace Marisa and Chris, but the show had to make a move, and I think this is a good one. What ever the show did, it wasn't going to please everyone.
I also kinda like that it wasn't some sort of big name coming in either. These are two actors that I think can bring a lot to the ensemble, and that is what the show needs IMO.
And I agree with nygma619, Kelli was one of the only redeeming factors on Chase, and even she couldn't fix some of the worst writing last season on any show.
I don't have anything against those actors.
It was obvious to me that at some point Wolf wouldn't be able to pay Meloni and Hargitay and they would have to be replaced.
The only question was when and by whom.
Obviously too that we all would have our own preferences and most of us wouldn't agree on who they should be.
shrugs.
I'll probably still watch the show and give the two newbies a chance to make it.
They will need excellent writing, something that has been spotty in recent seasons to be successful.
I'm not sure that will happen.
Kelli Giddish played Dixie Cooney Martin's half sister on All My Children for a couple of years. She first came to town posing as Dixie, and had everyone convinced until . . . (cue dramatic music).
I'm not thrilled with either new actor on SVU. Pretty Boy Pino was dull and wooden on Closed Case. Giddish was never a favourite either on the soaps or prime time. I'll still watch SVU because I love the stories.
I like the additions of Danny Pino and Kelli Giddish. Maybe it's because I have only become a regular viewer of L&O: SVU within the last few months. Of the two, I'm more familiar with Giddish from the days when I used to watch "All My Children". Hopefully, they are bringing both Pino and Giddish on at the beginning of the season. Since Mariska will be in the first 13 episodes, I think having Giddish there too will make for a smoother transition.
I agree with Yurune, I won't stop watching the show, even if they bring in Charlie Sheen I'll still watch.
I didn't know this since I've never even heard of Kelli Giddish before, but according to tvbythenumbers.com she's been on SVU before as a guest star. (What is it with the SVU repeat offender program?) I don't remember her at all and have no idea what season it was. I googled her picture and she doesn't look familiar in any way, I guess it's because she has a pretty forgettable face. But then again, Hargitay and Meloni were unknowns before SVU, so we'll have to wait and see.
I liked Danny Pino on Cold Case, too. I can see him working well with Mariska, and he's bound to be a very different sort of character than Stabler.
I don't know, I seem him kind of as a throwback to the early days of Mike Logan, with a little Rey Curtis thrown in?
Post a Comment