Little Boy 'Blue'

Clearly, the decision to cast Schroder has piqued public interest to a degree that a more conventional choice probably wouldn't have — a welcome development for the show's producers at a point when viewership had started to slip. Just the same, cocreator Steven Bochco insists, this was no stunt. ''If anything, [Schroder's background] made it harder to go with him,'' says Bochco, who's covered this turf before, having skillfully cast Susan Dey on L.A. Law despite the bubblegum baggage she brought with her from her Partridge Family days. Besides, he adds, ''In general, I don't like to cast well-known actors. It's much more fun to let a role create a star than to burden a star with having to create the role. But Rick just won the part.''

Family man Schroder, meanwhile, is wrestling with the prospect of a different transition: Uprooting his wife and kids if all goes well with the show. Since he's so enamored with their life on the ranch, though, he seems prepared to just tough out the commute. ''For the five years I was on Silver Spoons,'' the New York-born Schroder remembers, ''my mother, sister, and I were in California, and my dad would fly out every weekend. But family is very big to all of us, so we just do what we need to.''

What Schroder the actor needs to do, right now, is prove to Blue fans that he can hold his own opposite Emmy winner Dennis Franz. ''I've always gotten along well with older actors,'' says Schroder, who's worked with the likes of Jon Voight (The Champ) and Robert Duvall (Lonesome Dove). ''People knew that when they got beyond my [youthful] impatience, I was a real good listener. I'm hoping that's the kind of mentor relationship Sorenson will have with Sipowicz. Sorenson will listen, and not just bluff when he doesn't know what he's doing.''

His estimable predecessor, for one, thinks Schroder already knows what he's doing. ''Rick doesn't need my advice,'' says Smits. ''He'll be just fine.''