THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410110053
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
I AM HAVING A devil of a time adjusting to the changes on NBC's ``Law & Order,'' which airs tonight at 10. A suicide case evolves into a homicide investigation.
It took me a while last year, but I finally accepted the transition of two characters. Jill Hennessy became the assistant district attorney who replaced Richard Brooks and S. Epatha Merkerson succeeded Dann Florek as the captain in charge of the precinct where the stories take place.
The producers were told by NBC to increase the series's estrogen level.
Before the arrival of Hennessy and Merkerson, there were other passages on ``Law & Order'' that also took some getting used to.
First, George Dzundza walked out on the role of a lifetime, playing the detective who was Chris Noth's partner. Paul Sorvino replaced Dzundza only to leave after one season.
Jerry Orbach is Noth's third partner.
And now. . . more displacements.
Michael Moriarty quit as assistant district attorney Ben Stone. In his place comes Sam Waterston, who is very different than Moriarty. As a matter of fact, Waterston as Jack McCoy is loads different than the lawyer (Forrest Bedford) he played on ``I'll Fly Away.''
I liked Bedford.
I'm not sure about McCoy.
It's obvious that Waterston decided that as a prosecutor in Manhattan working for a demanding boss (Steven Hill as district attorney Adam Schiff) he must be - what's the word? - prickly.
The man plays hard.
Where Moriarty (as Stone) had a close if not cozy relationship with the woman who plays the police psychiatrist, Waterston as McCoy treats her like dirt. In a scene last week, he chased her out the door of his office with this dialogue: ``You're not going to testify. I want an evaluation of the defendant's mental condition, not your emotional reaction.''
The case was about white slavery.
Here is how I have reacted to the changes on ``Law & Order'':
I like Orbach as Noth's third partner, Lennie Briscoe. He's been the best of the three.
I didn't like Hennessy as much as I liked Brooks in the role of assistant district attorney, but she's grown on me because she has loosened up.
I didn't like Merkerson as the new precinct boss, and still don't think she is 100 percent right for the role. Florek was better at it.
I'm undecided about Waterston as Jack McCoy.
But I'm not undecided about how I feel about Waterston as Waterston. I've interviewed the man several times. He's a great guy.
The last time we chatted was in Los Angeles early in the summer when he was about to head East to begin shooting ``Law & Order'' in Manhattan. At that time, Waterston wasn't sure how he would approach the role of Jack McCoy.
However, Waterston did say that viewers will never confuse McCoy with the noble lawyer he played on ``I'll Fly Away.''
No way he would transport Forrest Bedford from one series to another.
``These two characters couldn't be more unlike each other. We're talking about the same kind of a job with a different persona attacking it. It will be a tough trick I'm about to pull,'' said Waterston about replacing Moriarity, an actor the viewers had learned to care about.
At that time, he had shot one scene in episode No. 1.
When Waterston met TV writers in Los Angeles, the show's creator and executive producer, Dick Wolf, was at his side. Speaking of tough tricks, Wolf has managed one of his own in maintaining high ratings (11.4 rating, 19 share) for ``Law & Order'' while cast changes were plentiful.
Will audiences embrace Waterston? You bet, said Wolf.
``Viewers don't dwell on transitions,'' he said. I don't know about that. I'm still having problems with the new girl on ``Roseanne.'' by CNB