# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/21 "2002-09-04T01:22:34Z")
Interesting. Seems whenever a well-loved character leaves, the replacement will be despised. To wit, everyone here seems to have loved Steven Hill (as do I, and all right thinking people) and dislike the Wiest character. Ditto for Angie harmon and her Stepford replacement droid. Some sort of over-compensated comparison-effect, perhaps? Kinda like when you buy an album because you love one particular song, and you end up especially hating the song that immediately follows it. But maybe that’s just me…Timmy ---
**Author:** ![Vorae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@Vorae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vorae)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/22 "2002-09-04T02:38:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Avalonian \* > \*\* > > 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_\*\* Yeah, I remember that old blond girlfriend of his…quite a piece of work, she was. I think everyone agrees something fishy’s going on at the DA’s office, but isn’t this the sort of thing that should be made an issue of at some point, for realism’s sake? I always liked it when outside concerns (elections, diciplinary committees, ex-husbands, etc.) interfered with the case at hand. Anyway, yeah, the male-female assistant dynamic has worked for some time, but we’ve hit the expiration date. Time for something new. Death to Rohm! ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/23 "2002-09-04T02:49:29Z")
**Timmy** - your theory might work 'cept that Benjamin Bratt (as far as I’ve seen) was well liked and well respected, coming after the well liked character of Mike Logan. Ditto for Jack McCOy. And Lenny Briscoe. And (ceptin for me) Jessie. So far as I can see, while some folks may prefer one DA/Cop to another, the only ones that have elicited whole sale ‘yech’ response are the current little blond piece of fluff Assistant DA, and Diane Wiest. (who was merely ‘not liked as much’, in many cases) ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/24 "2002-09-04T02:51:42Z")
There may be something to that, Tim, but it doesn’t always fly. In almost every other cast replacement, I really liked the person who left, and I really liked their replacement. (Stone to McCoy; Robinette to Kincaid to Ross to Carmichael; Greevey to Cerreta to Briscoe; Logan to Curtis; etc. etc. etc.) I can’t say I always liked the replacement as much. But I can say I always liked the replacement. Until Rohm. She is a real sour note. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/25 "2002-09-04T03:14:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CaptMurdock \* > \*\ ***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… > \*\* I think that’s Fred Grandy. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/26 "2002-09-04T05:55:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ivylass \* > \*\*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? > \*\* No, he lost a woman he loved in a car crash. There were all kinds of hints that Claire and McCoy were together, but nothing with any of the others. And in one episode, Ross set Jack up on a blind date that went fairly well. Never did hear any more about that. > [@](#): > > \*\* > 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. > \*\* While those are both pretty good ideas, the rookie cop with Lenny is not too likely. It takes a bit of time for a cop to make it to detective. ---
**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 4, 2002, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/27 "2002-09-04T07:01:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Milossarian \* > \*\*Until Rohm. She is a real sour note. \*\* She’s also quite dull. She’s pretty, but I can never believe she’s a lawyer. Abby was a pistol. A DP advocate, and damn fine too. Ross had some fire to her. Claire was beautiful when she let her down. She was more liberal, but still she exuded confidence and competence. ---
**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 4, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888/28 "2002-09-04T17:19:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snooooopy \* > \*\* > > I think that’s Fred Grandy. \*\* Quite right! My bad. Thanx for the correx. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-thompson-replaces-dianne-wiest-on-l-o/125888.md?page=1)