With great sadness, Movieline reported two weeks ago that Law & Order: Criminal Intent was discharging several key characters from its force including Goren and Eames, the beloved lead detective team played by Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe. Instead of sitting tight while Criminal Intent writers transition Jeff Goldblum's ivory-tickling, ethnic food loving, matinee-catching detective (and whichever actor they recast as his straight partner) as the program's top bananas, Goren/Eames fans are banding together. On October 16, USA Networks will be deluged with jars of marshmallow filling, the same Fluff fans allege they will be watching if the network does not renew D'Onofrio and Erbe's contracts.
The Save Goren & Eames campaign extends beyond Fluff though. There is a petition to keep the actors onboard ("By letting them go, you are destroying the show. They are the show"), and a barrage of messages being sent via email, digital postcard, Twitter and a boycott on Criminal Intent sponsors including Applebee's, Macy's and Wendy's.
It is still unclear why the actors won't be returning, although there are rumors on Law & Order fan websites that D'Onofrio and Erbe were offered half of their current salaries to return for the ninth season, which begins in March 2010. D'Onofrio is expected to appear in the two-part season premiere to say his goodbyes.
Law & Orders franchise creator, Dick Wolf has survived a number of casting changes switch-ups before and has remarked how fans prefer the story lines to the actual actors: "I'm a firm believer that the Law & Order audience, in a sense looks forward to these casting changes." In 2007, Law & Order: Criminal Intent was moved from NBC to its sister network, USA, while repeats continued to air on the major network.