‘Law & Order’ Season 23: Jeffrey Donovan Exiting NBC Drama
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It looks like there’s going to need to be a new detective working alongside Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) when Law & Order returns for its 23rd season (a premiere date has yet to be announced).
Jeffrey Donovan, who has played Detective Frank Cosgrove on the NBC drama since it returned for its 21st season in 2022, is exiting ahead of the new season, reports TVLine. According to the outlet’s sources, he “was let go for creative reasons” and there will be a new series regular joining the cast, which, in addition to Brooks, includes Sam Waterston (D.A. Jack McCoy), Camryn Manheim (Lieutenant Kate Dixon), Hugh Dancy (ADA Nolan Price), and Odelya Halevi (ADA Samantha Maroun).
Brooks came in as Cosgrove’s partner last season after Anthony Anderson, who returned from the original run as Detective Kevin Bernard for one season, exited. Now, it’ll be Shaw’s turn to get a new partner. We’ll have to wait and see what their dynamic will be like; Cosgrove didn’t immediately get along with either Bernard or Shaw.
The Law & Order Season 22 finale didn’t set up an exit for Cosgrove in any way, but given that there could very well be a significant time jump — the writers and actors’ strikes delayed production on the new season — it’s easy enough to imagine him having left off-screen and someone new already working alongside Shaw in the Season 23 premiere. Law & Order could also use the premiere to introduce a new character, similarly to what it did with Shaw in Season 22, and then bring that character in on a permanent basis.
Donovan is the latest exit from a Law & Order show in the past year. Law & Order: SVU said goodbye to Kelli Giddish (Amanda Rollins) mid-season last year (and she then returned to guest star in the last two episodes, as part of a crossover with Organized Crime), and Molly Burnett left at the end of the season. Organized Crime killed off Jamie (Brent Antonello) in the finale.
Law & Order, Season 23 Premiere, TBA, NBC
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