'Practice' regulars to leave series
ABC made a big deal of the fact last week that it was returning "The Practice" to its 10 p.m. Sunday time slot after the failed move to Monday nights this season.
When it does return, however, the show will look vastly different, as more than half the regular cast, including leads Dylan McDermott and Kelli Williams, is leaving.
McDermott's departure was set up in the season finale, after his character, Bobby Donnell, had a final falling out with his wife, Lindsay Dole (Williams). Lara Flynn Boyle, Marla Sokoloff, Lisa Gay Hamilton and Chyler Leigh -- who joined the cast this season -- are also departing.
Series creator David E. Kelley says "economic and creative realities" forced the cast shakeup. ABC reportedly picked up the show for 2003-04 on the condition that its $6.5 million-per-episode license fee be sharply reduced.
"It hurts, professionally and personally," Kelley says in a statement. "This is perhaps the finest group of actors and people one could ever hope to work with. I'm indebted to each and every one of them."
The show will enter its eighth season with a core cast of Camryn Manheim, Steve Harris, Michael Badalucco and Jessica Capshaw. McDermott is expected to guest-star in several episodes, and Kelley says the door is open for the others to recur as well.
According to news reports, Kelley hopes to rejuvenate the show with new cast members the way other long-running dramas, such as "ER," and "Law & Order," have done.
Oprah To Talk Through 2008: Television's top talk show host, Oprah Winfrey, has had second thoughts about retiring.
Winfrey extended her contract with King World Productions by two more years, taking her through the 2007-2008 television season, and agreed to make more shows over the next few years than planned, it was announced Monday.
At her last contract extension, Winfrey, 49, had said she would quit her show after the 2005-2006 season.
"It's fulfilling being able to do this kind of television," Winfrey said, "and I believe continuing to have a voice and a platform to speak to the world is still the right thing to do."
After a few years of decline, ratings for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" have increased this year. She's also watched her one-time protege, Dr. Phil McGraw, start his own successful talk show.
