Nellie Andreeva

NBC’s Law & Order: Los Angeles is being revamped, and, in its new incarnation, it will closely resemble creator Dick Wolf’s original vision for the spinoff (as well as the setup of the mothership Law & Order series). There will be 2 cops, one D.D.A. and one ADA. As we first reported, Skeet Ulrich, who plays one of the cops on the show, Detective Rex Winters, will be leaving, with his last appearance slated for Episode 14. His place will be taken by Alfred Molina, who plays D.D.A Ricardo Morales. It will be revealed that his character was on the LAPD for 15 years, reaching the rank of Detective, and his level of frustration as a prosecutor has reached the tipping point so he has decided to return to the force as a Detective, partnered with TJ Jaruszalski (Corey Stoll). Terrence Howard, whose character Jonah Dekker alternated with Molina’s Morales, will now be the sole D.D.A .on the show. Howard and Molina will both appear in each episode.

Having one D.D.A. was Wolf’s original plan for LOLA. But when he was able to land both Howard and Molina, he split the duties between the two. However, Wolf had been looking for a way to have both of them on the show full-time. “We have the fortune of two world class actors on LOLA, and it was frustrating to have one on the bench every week,” Wolf said. “It would be like having Peyton Manning and Tom Brady as your quarterbacks, playing alternate games.”

As part of the creative overhaul, also departing are Regina Hall and Megan Boone, who play assistants to the two D.D.A.s. Casting is underway for a new actress to play a new ADA working under Dekker. LOLA, which is filming Episode 12, returns with originals in February.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.