law and order ci

It seems like we have new casting news and/or rumors about Law and Order: Criminal Intent every week or so. Here's the latest.

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has been cast as the new captain on the show. She replaces Eric Bogosian who has left after a few seasons on the USA Network show. She'll join another new cast member, Saffron Burrows, who replaces Julianne Nicholson, who decided not to come back to the show after having a baby.

I started watching Law & Order during the Briscoe and Green days, so I don't know a whole lot about Detective Rey Curtis, Briscoe's former partner from '94-'99. What I do know is that Benjamin Bratt is pulling a Chris Noth and returning to the show that gave him his big break.

Bratt, whose A&E series, The Cleaner, was just canceled, is reprising his role as Detective Rey Curtis on the original Law & Order. However, it doesn't look like the current crime-fighting duo of Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Bernard (Anthony Anderson) have anything to worry about: Bratt is only signed up for one episode.

Last week we told you that Julianne Nicholson had decided not to come back to Law and Order: CI after having a baby, and in the same post we hinted that other changes might be coming to the USA show too. This could be those changes.

The Hollywood Reporter and set sources are both saying that Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, and Eric Bogosian are all being written out of the show. That would mean that Jeff Goldblum would be the star of the show and that new cast members would have to be hired. D'Onofrio might make guest appearances in the future.

I can see Bogosian going, since he always seemed like a recurring character at best and you can replace those. But D'Onofrio and Erbe are the heart of the show, really, and it's interesting if Goldblum (who I always assumed would last for a season or two and then be on his way back to the movies) would be the lead character on the show now.

TBS pulls the plug on 'The Bill Engvall Show,' Vincent D'Onofrio departs 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent,' Heidi Montag books 'The View' and more of today's top TV headlines.

Fans of the Law and Order shows (all of them) are used to big cast changes and turnovers. When you have shows that last so long, you're bound to see characters leave and new ones pop up. Now it looks like we're about to have a new cast member on Law and Order: CI and an old one that won't be coming back.

Julianne Nicholson has decided not to come back to the show after leaving for a while to have a baby.

USA may bring back 'Law & Order: CI' for a ninth season, Bob Saget is returning to 'America's Funniest Videos,' Oprah books 'Mad Men''s Jon Hamm and January Jones and more of today's top TV headlines.

The Colbert Report is in vacation right now (it returns on September 14), so how about we look at the career of Stephen Colbert to get us through these weeks?

Rolling Stone has a new cover story on Colbert and an interesting feature up at their site that gives an overview of what Colbert has done over the years. Not just the stuff we've all seen (like The Dana Carvey Show and Strangers with Candy), but also his work on the short-lived sketch show Exit 57, a dramatic turn on Law and Order: CI, and voiceover work for a really terrible-looking video tennis game.

And so ends the first season of Law and Order: Criminal Intent with Jeff Goldblum as one of the stars (alternating the lead role with Vincent D'Onofrio). There are fans who love the Goldblum episodes and those that only want to see the veteran D'Onofrio in the lead. I noticed that the plots of the Goldblum/Nicholson episodes seemed to be really ambitious, but I don't think that made them better.

What grade do you give Goldblum for his first season?

• At 7, NBC has a new Dateline, followed by Pre-Season Football, Bills vs. Titans.
  
• At 7:30, Disney has a new Hannah Montana.
• At 8, ABC has the premiere of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, then the series premiere of Shark Tank and a new Defying Gravity.
• CBS has a new Big Brother at 8, then the series premiere of There Goes The Neighborhood.
• Retro TV has two episodes of the original Mike Hammer at 8, then The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
• ESPN has the Red Sox/Yankees game at 8.
• At 8:30, Disney has a new Jonas.
• At 9, Lifetime has a new Drop Dead Diva, followed by a new Army Wives.
• USA has the season finale of Law and Order: CI at 9, then the season finale of In Plain Sight.
• HBO has a new True Blood at 9, followed by new episodes of Hung and Entourage.
• A&E has two new episodes of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels, then Animal House: The Inside Story.
• History Channel has a new Ice Road Truckers at 9, followed by two new episodes of Pawn Stars.
• There's a new Web Soup on G4 at 9.
  
• Also at 9: Food Network has a new Iron Chef America.
• At 10, Comedy Central has the Joan Rivers Roast.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken.
• At 1am, Cartoon Network has a new Mighty Boosh.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• Shark Week stars on Discovery Channel today.
• Travel Channel has a Man vs. Food marathon all night.
• At 7, NBC has a new Dateline, followed by a new Merlin and the conclusion of The Storm.
• At 8, ABC has Ty's British Adventure, then the series premiere of Defying Gravity.
• CBS has a new Big Brother at 8.
• At 8:30, Disney has a new Jonas.
• At 9, USA has a new Law and Order: CI, then a new In Plain Sight.
• Food Network has the season finale of Next Food Network Star at 9, followed by a new The Best Thing I Ever Ate.
• Lifetime has a new Drop Dead Diva at 9, then a new Army Wives.
• A&E has two new episodes of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels at 9.
• There's a new Ice Road Truckers on History Channel at 9, followed by two new episodes of Pawn Stars.
• G4 has a new Web Soup at 9.
• Also at 9: HBO has a new True Blood, then new episodes of Hung and Entourage.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken.
• At midnight, Cartoon Network has a new Squidbillies.
• At 12:30am, Cartoon Network has a new Mighty Boosh.
  

Check your local TV listings for more.

• Discovery has a Cronkite Remembers marathon all night.
• At 7, NBC has a new Dateline, followed by a new Merlin and the miniseries The Storm.
• The CW has a new Easy Money at 7.
• At 7:30, Disney has a new Hannah Montana.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• TCM has High Noon at 8.
  
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8, then new episodes of Next Food Network Star and Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece Mystery!
• USA has a new Law and Order: CI at 9, then a new In Plain Sight.
• HBO has a new True Blood at 9, then new episodes of Hung and Entourage.
• There's a new Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime at 9, followed by a new Army Wives.
• A&E has two new episodes of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels at 9, then two new episodes of Hammertime.
• History Channel has a new Ice Road Truckers at 9, followed by two new episodes of Pawn Stars.
• Also at 9: G4 has a new Web Soup.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken.
• At 12:30, Cartoon Network has a new Mighty Boosh.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• Nickelodeon has a marathon of new SpongeBob SquarePants episodes starting at 7.
• At 7, CBS has That's The Way It Was: Remembering Walter Cronkite, then a new Big Brother.
  
• The CW has a new Valentine at 7.
• At 8, NBC has a new Merlin, followed by the conclusion of Meteor.
• ABC Family has the movie Labor Pains at 8.
• Discovery has a new Deadliest Catch at 8.
• TCM has An American in Paris at 8.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece Mystery!
• There's a new Law and Order: CI on USA at 9, then a new In Plain Sight.
• HBO has a new True Blood at 9, followed by new episodes of Hung and Entourage.
• ESPN has the ESPY Awards at 9.
• Lifetime has a new Drop Dead Diva at 9, followed by a new Army Wives.
• Food Network has a new Next Food Network Star at 9, then the season premiere of Ace of Cakes.
• A&E has two new episodes of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels at 9, then two new episodes of Hammertime.
• Also at 9: History Channel has a new Ice Road Truckers, followed by the series premiere of Pawn Stars (two episodes).
• At 10, HGTV has the season premiere of Design Star.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Squidbillies.
• At 1am, Cartoon Network has a new Mighty Boosh.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7, The CW has a new Valentine.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• NBC has a new Merlin at 8, then the miniseries Meteor.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8, then new episodes of Next Food Network Star and Iron Chef America.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece Mystery.
• USA has a new Law and Order: CI at 9, followed by a new In Plain Sight.
• Lifetime has the series premiere of Drop Dead Diva at 9, followed by a new Army Wives.
• A&E has two new episodes of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels at 9, then two new episodes of Hammertime.
• History Channel has a new Ice Road Truckers at 9, followed by a new Expedition Africa.
• Also at 9: HBO has a new True Blood, followed by a new Hung and the season premiere of Entourage.
• At 1AM, Cartoon Network has a new Mighty Boosh.

Check your local TV listings for more.