Mr. Big out, Goldblum in for ‘Criminal Intent’

updated 5:07 p.m. ET June 26, 2008

LOS ANGELES - Mr. Big is out, and Mr. Goldblum is in.

Jeff Goldblum will be joining “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” while Chris Noth — Mr. Big in the “Sex and the City” TV show and movie — is leaving after three seasons, a series spokeswoman said Thursday.

“Criminal Intent,” part of the “Law & Order” franchise that includes the original series and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” recently was picked up for a 16-episode eighth season by USA Network.

“Jeff’s presence will add a new dimension to an already successful show,” series creator Dick Wolf said.

Noth’s character, New York police Detective Mike Logan, was a member of the “Law & Order” family since the start, Wolf noted, adding, “We all wish him the best.”

Noth played Logan on the original NBC series from 1990 to ’95, in a “Law & Order” TV movie and then on “Criminal Intent” starting in 2005. The show’s seventh season airs Sundays on USA.

A call requesting comment from Noth was not immediately returned by his representative.

Goldblum recently starred in the short-lived NBC series “Raines” but is mostly known as a film actor with credits that include “Jurassic Park,” “The Lost World,” “Independence Day” and “The Fly.”

He shared an Academy Award nomination in 2005 for the live-action short film “Little Surprises.”

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“Criminal Intent” originally aired on NBC. But when the network decided that last season’s schedule had room for only two of the shows a deal was struck to air “Criminal Intent” first on USA, then on NBC. (MSNBC is a joint venture between NBC Universal and Microsoft.)

NBC and USA are corporate cousins within NBC Universal, and “Criminal Intent” reruns on USA already had proved among its most popular programming.

“Criminal Intent,” which looks at cases from both the perspective of police and lawbreakers, stars Vincent D’Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe and Eric Bogosian.

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