# Fred Thompson replaces Dianne Wiest on L&O **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888 "2002-08-28T03:12:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/1 "2002-08-28T03:12:45Z")
I just saw the news on [www.cnn.com](http://www.cnn.com). I think this will be great. I was never that much of a fan of Wiest on the show. I’ve liked her elsewhere, though. ---
**Author:** ![LolaBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LolaBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaBaby)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/2 "2002-08-28T04:51:28Z")
I think I believe him more as an actor. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/3 "2002-08-28T06:28:39Z")
Good. Wiest did _not_ make a believable D.A. She made a pretty damn boring D.A., in fact. I really miss the dry wit of Adam Schiff (Steven Hill). IMHO, the show went way downhill after he left. It’s not bad enough that I won’t watch it, and it’s still better than most of the crap on TV, but damn I sure do miss 'ol Adam “Make a Deal” Schiff. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/4 "2002-09-03T09:43:55Z")
I hated Wiest! I’m glad she’s gone. And the new ADA chick has got to go to. God, I miss Abby!!! ---
**Author:** ![Vorae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@Vorae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vorae)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/5 "2002-09-03T10:47:17Z")
Wow, I knew _L&O_ had a rotating cast, but these people might as well be signing on as special guest stars. Still, Thompson will be a marked improvement over Wiest. [SLIGHT HIJACK]Four strikingly beautiful ADAs in a row? Is it just me, or should someone be looking at filing sexual harassment charges against the DA’s office?[/SLIGHT HIJACK] ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/6 "2002-09-03T14:48:55Z")
**Vorae** If that were the case, I believe I will bring Sam Watterston up on charges. I missed 4 hours of perfectly good sleep Sunday night. Talk about your sexual harrassment! ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/7 "2002-09-03T15:10:19Z")
I hear ya, spooje. I really liked Angie Harmon as Abby. The new chick’s, well, just not right. As far as Wiest goes, I didn’t _mind_ her but my hubby hated her. No one, in my opionion, can replace Steven Hill, though. On a more shallow note, Fred Thompson sure will be hard to look at. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/8 "2002-09-03T15:33:10Z")
Ah, my fave senator getting a regular acting gig. i may have to watch the show now. I wonder how many other politicians have made the jump to acting. Usually it’s the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/9 "2002-09-03T15:45:45Z")
WOW! I _hated_ Wiest with a passion. Her character was more whine than pragmatism (“Death penalty? For God’s sake, he’s only eighteen!”). The Thompson story link is [here](http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/01/thompson.televsion.ap/index.html). Now I just hope they’re realize their mistake in casting Elisabeth Röhm. I dislike her, too. Bring back Carey or Angie or even Richard, please! ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/10 "2002-09-03T15:54:33Z")
Preach it, brother spooje. I am probably the biggest L&O fanatic on these boards. (How many hours did **you** watch of TNT’s L&O marathon this weekend? I’m embarrassed to tell you how many I did. Hint: Think double digits.) I didn’t think Weist was too bad. Nowhere near the great, crotchety Adam Schiff, however. Fred Thompson will be **excellent** in that role. One of the things I love about the show is its uncanny ability to plug in new characters when others leave, without really missing a beat. Recently, they did this very well with Jamie Martin’s cop character, who I think is a fine fit and not a carbon copy of past cops. However, perhaps the worst misstep the show has ever taken, IMO, is this new blondie ADA. I profoundly dislike her. And it doesn’t seem to be improving over time. The writing seemed a little less consistently good in this past season, too. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/11 "2002-09-03T16:05:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vorae \* > \*\*[SLIGHT HIJACK]Four strikingly beautiful ADAs in a row? Is it just me, or should someone be looking at filing sexual harassment charges against the DA’s office?[/SLIGHT HIJACK] \*\* That issue’s been raised in the show, **Vorae** … Jack has quite the predilection for young attractive assistants. Apparently it’s even gotten him in trouble in the past (before he came on the show). _grin_ **Milossarian** , you’ve got competition here. I’ve been into “Law & Order” for many years, and I’ve watched a large percentage of the L&O marathon for two years’ running. Got a good chunk (18 hours or so) of it on tape last year. I even had a dream a few years ago that I met Constantine Makris, the cinematographer and sometime-director of the show. I have to say that, while I still love the original show, I’m pretty disappointed by all the spinoffs. Even SVU (which is at least pretty good, most of the time) just doesn’t live up to the spirit of the original. My favorite ADA was Jill Henessey… I watch “Crossing Jordan” mainly for her, though that’s not a bad show in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/12 "2002-09-03T16:25:35Z")
I am such an L&O junkie that I can identify 98% of episodes accurately from their opening scene. I am not as big a fan of SVU; I just don’t care for Mariska Hargitay and I think Christopher Meloni makes a much better murdering scum than cop. Richard Belzer and Ice-T are the only things that make that show watchable for me. CI is much better. Vincent D’Onofrio is a fine, fine actor (and not hard to look at, either) who I feel was egregiously overlooked by the Emmy folks. Next year, for sure. I too am partial to Jill Hennesey’s dearly departed Claire Kincaid and Angie Harmon’s Abby Carmichael as the (female\_ second chair ADAs. Carey Lowell’s Jamie Ross was just a bit too strident, and Elisabeth Rohm, well, in the militant L&O fancircles, she’s known as the Fembot or Lawbot. 'Nuff said. The only show in which she was even remotely evocative was the episode in which she misrepresented herself (by omission) to a perpetrator to get him to release a hostage. And even then, she was only passable, nothing special at all. All that said, the idea of a conservative (and yes, the new DA will be a conservative) DA in NYC has left me a slobbering fangeek. That the character will be played by the good Senator, well, stick a fork in me, I’m done. I’m looking forward to this with a great deal of enthusiasm. I think that this may be the best season of L&O (Fembot notwithstanding) in quite some time. I can’t wait for September to end, already. PS **Avalonian** - I _have_ met Constantine Makris and Michael Chernuchin, as well as Ben Bratt. I just happened (totally unexpectedly) to stumble upon a location shoot. (Ah, the benefits of living in NYC.) It was from the season closer when Claire Kincaid died and Bratt’s character Rey strayed with a coed. I saw the shooting of the scene in which Rey met and hit on the coed in the park, and got to tell Makris, Chernuchin and Bratt how much I enjoy the show, and they were all extremely nice to the smattering of clearly die-hard L&Oers who had gathered. Makris and Chernuchin especially so, they knew that we were serious fans when we recognized _them_ so they spent a little time chatting. It wasn’t a bad experience. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/13 "2002-09-03T16:30:37Z")
watched (and taped) not only the marathon noted above, but the other one on A & E. Yes, Weist gone + Thompson in = much better. when the hell are we gonna get rid of that new ADA. I’m not real fond of Jesse, but don’t hate him as much as the ADA. 2 of my favorites were the ones w/ the comedy club wife killing schmuck. sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/14 "2002-09-03T17:02:56Z")
> [@](#): > > I am probably the biggest L&O fanatic on these boards. (How many hours did you watch of TNT’s L&O marathon this weekend? I’m embarrassed to tell you how many I did. Hint: Think double digits.) **Milosarrian** , I don’t want to sound crazy but I used to schedule college classes around the 1:00pm showing of Law & Order. The sad thing about this is that I would still watch it again at 7:00 p.m. Wednesdays were Nirvana for me as I could watch three different episodes of Law and Order. With TNT showing it now, I estimate I’ve seen every episode several times. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/15 "2002-09-03T17:07:59Z")
Couple of questions… Fred Thompson…that’s not the guy that played Gopher on The Love Boat, is it? I saw on the TNT marathon numerous promos that TNT was now the **only** home for Law and Order. Did A&E lose its L&O rights? In the first season with Claire and Jack, Jack mentions he’s had affairs with only three female assistants, one of whom he married. Claire finds out at the end of the show that he’s only had three female assistants. So, a)Is Jack making up for lost time with all the female assistants and b) he had an (unspoken) affair with Claire, but not with Jamie, Abby, or Serena. Is he losing his touch? I would like to see Jack with a male assistant (someone with the fighting instinct of Jamie and the eye candy appeal of Mike Logan) and Lenny with a rookie female cop that reminds him of his dead daughter. Okay, that was more than a couple of questions. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/16 "2002-09-03T17:13:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tlw \* > \*\*PS Avalonian - I _have_ met Constantine Makris and Michael Chernuchin, as well as Ben Bratt. I just happened (totally unexpectedly) to stumble upon a location shoot. (Ah, the benefits of living in NYC.) It was from the season closer when Claire Kincaid died and Bratt’s character Rey strayed with a coed. I saw the shooting of the scene in which Rey met and hit on the coed in the park, and got to tell Makris, Chernuchin and Bratt how much I enjoy the show, and they were all extremely nice to the smattering of clearly die-hard L&Oers who had gathered. Makris and Chernuchin especially so, they knew that we were serious fans when we recognized _them_ so they spent a little time chatting. It wasn’t a bad experience. \*\* Well, colour me jealous! Sounds like a _great_ experience. That episode you describe, by the way, is a standout of the whole series. Perhaps my favorite episode of the show, one of the few where they break out of the “investigation/prosecution” structure and do a real character episode. _Great_ stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/17 "2002-09-03T17:55:08Z")
Fellow fanatics should take a look at [this old thread of mine](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=20353), made in the pre-Cafe Society days. FTR. My picks still stand as-is. Though Angie Harmon’s character closed the gap on Carrie Lowell’s, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/18 "2002-09-03T18:10:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Ah, my fave senator getting a regular acting gig. i may have to watch the show now. I wonder how many other politicians have made the jump to acting. Usually it’s the other way around. Actually, he was an actor first, probably best remembered in _Die Hard 2]_ and _The Hunt for Red October_. I used to watch _L&O_ faithfully, but the inclusion of Rohm stopped the habit dead for me. She is by far the least convincing of any main actor they’ve had in the history of the show. Least convincing and impossibly boring. I won’t miss Wiest either, but the inclusion of Thompson is intriguing enough that I will definitely give it another shot. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/19 "2002-09-03T18:55:06Z")
**ivylass** : Naw, you’re thinking of Fred _Grady_, another “Fred” who went from acting to politics. Ah, the legacy of Senator Sonny Bono lives on… Did Fred (Dalton) Thompson resign from the Senate? I don’t remember him getting bumped in '00 and I can’t see him balancing an acting gig (even if they can knock off his scenes for one episode in a day) and His Duty to the American People For Which He Was Elected. Time management, much? Loved him in _Red October_…“The average Rooskie, son, don’t take a dump without a plan!” ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/20 "2002-09-03T22:24:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tlw \* > \*\*The only show in which she was even remotely evocative was the episode in which she misrepresented herself (by omission) to a perpetrator to get him to release a hostage. And even then, she was only passable, nothing special at all. > \*\* Yeah…I was sorta hoping it was a dramatic way to write her character out… 😉 BTW, your L&O preferences are eerily close to my mom’s. Well, except I think she likes SVU. (I kinda like SVU, except that I never remember to watch it.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888.md?page=2)