The Caruso count-down is under way.
When "NYPD Blue" returned last week, the cast was still headed by star David Caruso as the butt-baring Det. John Kelly - but not for long. As every blue "NYPD" fan knows, Caruso will leave the ABC cop show after four episodes, to be replaced by former "L.A. Law" star Jimmy Smits as Det. Bobby
Simone.In real life, production on that final Kelly episode is already completed and Caruso is already gone - though in some ways, it seems like he was gone before production even began. (Did you see him sitting all by himself at the Emmys, far away from the "Blue" contingent? It was enough to break your heart.) Soon, viewers will know the fate of his character, possible choices being death, demotion (the fate worse than death), or departure from the police force and exile to New Jersey (the fate worse than the fate worse than
death). The fate of the actor won't be clear for some time. Jumping from television to film (or vice versa) is a risky business; the two mediums put quite different demands on its stars. Will Caruso be Bruce Willis or Clint Walker, Robin Williams or - appropriately enough - Jimmy Smits (who, having left TV for the movies, is now leaving the movies for TV)?
But let's face it: Is Caruso's career really your main concern? If you're an "NYPD Blue" fan, aren't you more worried about what his departure will mean to the show? This should, after all, have been the breakthrough season for "Blue," if only because a lot more people are getting a chance to see it. The show debuted last season to a politically inspired boycott: 57 ABC affiliates, covering 10 percent of the country, refused to carry it. By this Tuesday, that list will have dropped to 19 ABC affiliates, leaving only 2 percent of the nation un-"Blued"
What will those new viewers be seeing? Well, for one thing, Emmy-winner Dennis Franz, who is used to such cast-about upheaval. He joined "Hill Street Blues" in 1985, after it had already lost Michael Conrad, and right before it had a last-season makeover that jettisoned many of the secondary characters (including Barbara Bosson's Fay Furillo).
With Franz in place, "NYPD Blue" has a good chance of surviving Caruso's departure, but it's no sure bet. Kelly was more than a red-headed sex symbol; he was the show's moral center, the touchstone against which we judged the other characters. Replacing the actor will be hard enough. Replacing the character will be a real test of the writers' skills.
But it can be done. As a comfort, here's a list of some shows that made the transition successfully - and, as a warning, a few that didn't:
- "St. Elsewhere": When "St. Elsewhere" premiered in 1982, the best known member of the ensemble (at least to TV audiences) was David Birney. His new show, however, apparently turned out to be more of an ensemble than he had hoped, and he left after one season. To his probable dismay, no one noticed. "St. Elsewhere" went on to become an Emmy-winning cult favorite, and Birney went on to become famous for divorcing Meredith Baxter.
- "Charlie's Angels": Considering how closely associated with the show she still is, it's amazing to think Farrah Fawcett only spent one season as an "Angel." After the first poster-selling year, she left for a film career that got sidetracked by legal battles and bad choices (her first film, "Somebody Killed Her Husband," was nicknamed "Somebody Killed Her Career"). Meanwhile, "Charlie's Angels" rolled on - that is, until Kate Jackson left, and the show was done in by the double whammy of Shelley Hack and Tonya Roberts.
- "Three's Company": On the other hand, even though Suzanne Somers stuck it out for four of "Company's" seven years, in popular memory she gets lumped with Farrah Fawcett as an early deserter. When she demanded more money in 1980, the producers cut back her role, and then replaced her with Priscilla Barnes. The show suffered no drop in quality, because it never had any to drop, and stayed a Top 10 hit for two more seasons.
- "Love and War": Dey in, Dey out. When this so-called comedy failed to generate any noticeable audience affection, the producers blamed star Susan Dey, and replaced her with Annie Potts. It's still terrible. It's also still
on. - "Cheers": This war-horse was actually three hits in one. There's the original - and best - "Cheers," with Ted Danson, Shelley Long and Nicholas Colasanto. There's the transitional - and weakest - "Cheers," when Colasanto was replaced by Woody Harrelson. Then there's the final, longest-running version, with Kirstie Alley, which was the highest-rated version as well. Long's departure had no popular effect at all, but the artistic effect was devastating.
- "Valerie": It's fairly common for a show to go on without a star, but not when the star's name is in the title. This sitcom premiered as a vehicle for Valerie Harper, but Harper was unhappy with scripts emphasizing the sons and she walked off. Instead of canceling the show, NBC changed the name to "Valerie's Family" and then "The Hogan Family." Ratings actually picked up, so maybe NBC knew what it was doing.
- "MASH": No, I'm not going to pick on McLean Stevenson, the Patron Saint of Foolish Actors (poor McLean, doomed never to live down leaving). I'm only going to point out that the same year the show lost Stevenson, it also lost Wayne Rogers as Trapper John. The immediate effect was extremely negative: Despite the addition of two better co-stars, Harry Morgan and Mike Farrell, the show plummeted in the ratings. Take heart, though, "Bluesers." A year later, "MASH" recovered and went on to have a phenomenally successful
run. - "Law & Order": This isn't a series; it's a revolving repertory company. This show has had more leading men than Shelley Winters. In fact, the best thing about watching the reruns on A&E is trying to figure out what season you're in (if that's George Dzundza, it must be 1990). So far, none of the changes seem to have mattered, though one does wonder if the show might have made more of a ratings impact if viewers knew from one week to the next who they'd be viewing.
- "Designing Women": Though most people don't realize it, "Designing Women's" ratings actually increased when Delta Burke and Jean Smart left. The bump, however, was only temporary, as a combination of bad casting (Jan Hooks and Julia Duffy) and inattention from Linda Bloodworth-Thomason did the show in. "NYPD Blue Lesson": You can't just fill the hole with a similar character; you need a new actor who is similarly personable.
- "Dukes of Hazard": We've saved the worst for last. "Dukes" is the textbook illustration of what can happen when actors and producers let ego overwhelm common sense and common interests. After three inexplicably popular seasons, stars Tom Wopat and John Schneider walked off over unmet financial demands. The producers, who figured any redneck could drive that car, replaced them with two good-looking stiffs, and the ratings fell. The boys were hurriedly returned, and the ratings stabilized. But the show, which had gone as high as No. 2, never again made the Top 20.
It's enough to give a "Blue" fan nightmares. Then again, everything about "Dukes" is enough to give a fan of quality TV nightmares, but that's another story.