Smits’ Departure Forces ‘NYPD Blue’ Changes

The producers of “NYPD Blue” are hoping the addition of former “Silver Spoons” star Rick Schroder to the cast will reinvigorate the police drama as the ABC series heads into its sixth season.

Deeming Jimmy Smits “irreplaceable,” co-creators Steven Bochco and David Milch opted to go in a different direction by introducing the 28-year-old Schroder as a young detective who will be paired with the gruff Andy Sipowicz, played by three-time Emmy winner Dennis Franz.

Schroder will fill a void left by Smits, who has chosen to leave after four years on the series to pursue other opportunities. Smits will appear in an undetermined number of episodes this fall to write out his character, Bobby Simone.

Bochco--who confirmed Schroder’s casting Friday--wouldn’t say whether there will be any overlap between the two. Production is scheduled to resume Aug. 10, with the new season to begin in October.

The expectation is that the series will establish more of a mentor-protege relationship between Schroder’s character and Sipowicz, whose first partner was played by David Caruso.

“Our general approach has been not to try to replace Jimmy Smits, who I think is irreplaceable,” Bochco said, suggesting that the cast change would alter various aspects of the show.

While he didn’t welcome Smits’ decision, Bochco said, “As long as you’ve got to go through it, you should do it as comprehensively and as interestingly as possible.”

After starring as a youth in the movie “The Champ” and the comedy series “Silver Spoons,” which ran from 1982 to 1986 on NBC, Schroder has been active in TV movies and miniseries--appearing in the popular western “Lonesome Dove” and its sequel, as well as a “Call of the Wild” remake.

Ratings for “NYPD Blue” declined 14% last season, to about 15 million viewers per week. Part of that can be attributed to ABC’s poor performance in the half-hour prior to the show, hurting the flow of viewers into it.

Several other long-running series have had to grapple with major cast defections this year. NBC’s “Law & Order” is still working on a replacement for actress Carey Lowell, while Giancarlo Esposito is joining “Homicide: Life on the Street” with the series losing Andre Braugher.