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May 20, 2003
LOS ANGELES (AP) - "The Practice" may be looking for smaller offices next season on ABC.

The legal drama, returning from the brink of cancellation for its eighth season, will be minus star Dylan McDermott and five other cast members, series creator David E. Kelley said.

Kelli Williams, who played McDermott's wife; Lisa Gay Hamilton; Lara Flynn Boyle; Marla Sokoloff and Chyler Leigh are leaving the series.

Steve Harris, Camryn Manheim and Michael Badalucco will stay on. McDermott may return as a guest star in four episodes, and Kelley said he hoped other ex-cast members could also drop back in.

In a statement Monday, Kelley attributed the departures to "economic and creative realities." The license fee ABC pays for the show reportedly has been cut about in half, to about $3.5 million per episode.

"It hurts, professionally and personally," said Kelley, who produces the show with 20th Century Fox Television. "This is perhaps the finest group of actors and people one could ever hope to work with."

ABC said it supported the changes and was "sorry to see these talented cast members leave the show."

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