The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that four major cast members on Boston Legal are getting cut. The contracts for Julie Bowen, Mark Valley, Constance Zimmer and Rene Auberjonois have not been renewed. Instead, John Larroquette will join the cast as a regular in the lastest David E. Kelley production shake-up.
Kelley last did a major cast makeover on his hit series "The Practice" when he bounced six major cast members and brought in James Spader and Rhona Mitra as regulars. That move was brilliant - it launched the successful "Boston Legal" spinoff and brought "The Practice" to a satisfactory close.
There is still a chance that Julie and the others might return next season in recurring or guest-starring roles. Julie is keeping pretty busy though - she became a mom on April 10, 2007, with the birth of her son, Oliver.
New cast member Larroquette -- who won an Emmy in 1998 for a guest role on "The Practice" -- will portray a senior partner from the New York offices of Crane Poole & Schmidt who transfers to Boston.
Production on the fourth season of "Boston Legal" starts June 27.
