PASADENA, Calif. -- He doesn't think it's icky if you call him Ricky.

"It doesn't bother me at all," says Rick Schroder. "My mother, my wife call me Ricky."

But with a prominent new role as a mean-streets detective in "NYPD Blue," Rick has a more dignified, more substantial ring than Ricky.

Besides, the onetime sitcom kid from "Silver Spoons" is all grown up with a family of his own. He and wife Andrea have three kids. He's 28 now.

And, replacing the notably buff Jimmy Smits as cop-shop compadre for Dennis Franz's combustible Andy Sipowicz this season on "Blue," Schroder has a nudity clause in his contract.

So Rick it is. And he doesn't seem too worried about the possible birthday-suit scenes.

"Jimmy is tall, dark and handsome and I'm short, blond and skinny," jokes the down-to-earth Schroder about comparisons with Smits. And how about that Rick rear view? "My wife says I've got a great one."

Schroder will make his debut on the show sometime during the first six episodes of the fall season. Those are the episodes in which Smits will be exiting as Det. Bobby Simone.

Though the scripts have been written, series producers Steven Bochco and David Milch aren't revealing exactly how Smits departs.

"The episodes in which Simone's character will appear are, Steven and I both agree, the most challenging and interesting and compelling storytelling we've ever done," says Milch.

"And, as eagerly as we anticipate Rick's arrival, we feel that much regret about Jimmy's departure and a corresponding obligation to see that his character is treated with all the respect and complexity it deserves."

Though Smits is leaving, Kim Delaney, whose Det. Diane Russell married Simone on last year's season finale, is sticking around.

"Absolutely," says Milch of Delaney. "She's a great character. She functions in the show independent of Jimmy."

So far, though, the only thing we know about Sipowicz's new partner is that he's in his late 20s, like Schroder. And he may not be a seasoned veteran, but he's no rookie either. A name? They don't have one.

"I think we've always had in the back of our minds that we would like to add a younger character to the show," says Bochco.

Instead of two equals -- like Sipowicz and Simone -- the new "NYPD Blue" will focus on two partners at different stages in life and in their police careers.

"Now we have a real slanted sort of relationship," says Franz, speaking with enthusiasm of this new acting challenge.

Of course, it's not the first time Sipowicz has had to break in a new partner. After "NYPD Blue" enjoyed a supercharged opening season five years ago, redheaded wonderboy David Caruso, who played moodily handsome Det. John Kelly, shocked Bochco and everyone else by packing his inflatable ego and jumping ship to pursue a movie career that quickly flamed out.

Bochco had to scramble and called on his old "LA Law" star Smits to come to the rescue in the summer of 1994.

"You know, we knew less about Jimmy's character than we know about Rick's character at a comparable stage," says Bochco. "David (Milch) and I really created Jimmy's character on the fly. It must have taken us the better part of a full season before we began to really feel comfortable with who this guy was and how he functioned in the unit."

The transition to Schroder should be somewhat less hectic.

Two years ago, Schroder came up with the notion of trying to land a role on a quality drama series.

"I talked to my manager, my agent. And I said, 'Can you guys help find me a one-hour drama? I want to go back into series television,' " recalls Schroder. "And I said preferably a cop show and preferably one that's a hit. I swear to you, it's the truth."

His short, sweet wish list? "Homicide: Life on the Street," "Law & Order" and "NYPD Blue."

It's not like Ricky just suddenly became Rick last week. That happened when he was 18, when he landed his first notable non-kid role with a critically praised supporting performance in the acclaimed 1988 miniseries "Lonesome Dove." And he followed that up with numerous other dramatic TV movies.

But joining the talented ensemble of a smart crime drama like "NYPD Blue" could supply Schroder a major prestige boost.

When he auditioned for the role, Bochco and Milch had Schroder do a scene from one of last year's episodes. He took the Smits part of Bobby Simone, playing opposite Franz as Sipowicz. And he nailed it.

"He did it an entirely different way and brought his own colors to the performance," says Milch. "That's a real pleasure for a writer, when you see an actor beat the page or turn it on its ass."

Franz also was very favorably impressed by Schroder's ability and their instant acting rapport.

"Rick had -- my immediate impression was an honesty that I had gotten from him. There was this stripped, honest character there. I didn't see anybody pretending, I didn't see any acting."

That honesty and lack of pretension also comes through in person.

Schroder isn't Hollywood glitzy at all. He and his family live on a ranch in Colorado. He works the ranch. He has a life.

"I've got many other hobbies and interests beside (acting)," Schroder says. "This is a part of my life."

Though he has long been aware of "NYPD Blue" and its high quality, he has never really watched the show. But then, Schroder doesn't really watch television in the way millions of Americans do.

"My life is not that way. I don't have the discipline to sit down every day at a certain time to watch TV," Schroder says. "I'm running a ranch. I'm raising three kids. When I do watch TV, it's usually A&E or Discovery Channel."

There's a bit of earnest, engaging candor and stubbornness to Schroder. He seems very comfortable with himself.

That's not true of some actors, among whom thin skins, neurotic insecurity and defensive ego displays are not uncommon. But on "NYPD Blue" Schroder isn't playing a detective named John Kelly.

"I think it's very exciting to have Rick and what Rick represents in terms of his relationships, not only with Dennis, but with all of the characters who are going to be adjusting to him in very interesting ways," says Milch.

"And when Rick and Dennis worked together, it was the first time that I started to see additional possibilities," Milch adds. "And they began to improvise together, and that's a real good sign."

Not that Schroder is necessarily buying into the notion that he and Sipowicz will have any sort of father-son or old-vet-young-pup partnership.

"Whatever guy they create for me I'm sure is going to have his own father and he's not looking for a new father," says Schroder. "And he's standing up on his own two feet. He's already a homicide detective on his own. He doesn't need anybody to carry him anywhere."

He's not cute, cuddly "Silver Spoons" Ricky anymore.

Oh, sure, he doesn't mind if you call him Ricky. But it might help if you were his mother or his wife.

Otherwise, Rick Schroder's the name. And "NYPD Blue" is his gritty new game.