Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 1, 1994 TAG: 9402010034
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Moriarty sent a letter of resignation last Thursday to "Law & Order" producer Dick Wolf - a move the actor's publicist, Gary Springer, said stemmed from Moriarty's perception that his character, attorney Ben Stone, was being written out of the show.
That belief escalated into a "censorship" situation last week, Springer said, when Moriarty was yanked at the last minute from appearances on the NBC News prime-time magazine series "Now" and the "Today" show.
"When you get dropped from two shows on your own network within two days of one another, you know something's up," Springer said.
"It's obvious to Michael that NBC is trying to censor him and his views - cut him off and cut him out. He's also had this feeling for a while that he was being slowly weaned off of `Law & Order,' so the audience would get used to having him around less and less."
Wolf, in a statement issued Friday, said "Moriarty's request to be released from his contract comes as a complete surprise. . . . This is a very disappointing development as there were no plans or discussions to reduce his role in any way."
An NBC spokeswoman said Moriarty was not being fired or written out of "Law & Order."
"We happen to be in production on a show this week centering on the detective characters that doesn't feature Michael a lot, but that's atypical of the series. There were plans for him to continue on in his role."
Moriarty was unavailable comment on Friday, but he has not been silent, on his views about Reno's get-tough stance with the networks, taking out trade ads and conducting interviews taking the Clinton administration to task for its "creeping McCarthyism."
The last straw for Moriarty, Springer said, was his being dropped from this week's "Now" show during a five-day period when all NBC newsmagazine shows dealt with the issue of violence.
"Michael had taped an interview for the show in addition to his planned live appearance," he said. "But when the show aired, that had been trimmed, too."
Does this all stem from Moriarty's stance against the anti-violence crusade?
"Well, we happen to know NBC is not overly thrilled with his stand against the administration and the attorney general in particular. Michael is a visible personality who is making waves. That doesn't always go over well."
by CNB