By law, “Law & Order” can now celebrate its birthday with alcohol.
NBC has revived the venerable procedural drama for a 21st season.
Rick Eid, one of creator Dick Wolf’s frequent collaborators, will serve as showrunner, while Wolf steps back a bit, listed as “creator and executive producer,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It’s not determined if the influential cop series will be in the 2021-22 broadcast lineup; or what actors from the original series may be involved -- though sources say that some former L&O cast members are expected to return. Details are still in the works.
That doesn’t seem to phase NBC, as they gave the series a rare straight-to-series order. “‘Law & Order’ is quite simply one of the most iconic shows in television history, and the idea of continuing its legacy and partnering with Dick on an all-new season is nothing short of exhilarating,” said Susan Rovner, chairman of entertainment content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.
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This is sort of a no-brainer for NBC. Not only was the original show a critical success -- it was nominated for more than 50 Emmys and took home the best drama series trophy in 1997 -- “Law & Order” was wildly popular (exponentially so in syndication), and has proven to be an influential template for crime shows.
Not to mention all the successful spinoffs from the series, including “Criminal Intent,” “Trial by Jury,” “L.A.,” “True Crime,” the recently renewed “Organized Crime,” and the longest-running primetime live-action show in American TV history, “SVU.”
Plus that whole BONG sound at the beginning has become a pop culture reference for the ages.
And if you think that often ceremonial “executive producer” title means Dick Wolf is in hands-off retirement mode, think again. The new “Law & Order” is part of two huge renewal deals he recently signed with NBC that are believed to be in excess of a billion dollars.
BONG!
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the deals included a number of spinoffs — a six-show streaming deal with Peacock that included library rights to select episodes from the flagship series, Criminal Intent, and the entire run of SVU. Ongoing Chicago shows “Fire,” “P.D.” and “Med” are also included in the deal and will have a streaming home for the first time ever.
It’s not all good news. The “L&O: For the Defence” series was scrapped; and “L&O: Hate Crimes” is in production purgatory. But then again, Wolf has three FBI shows over at CBS; and he’s also developing a procedural for Amazon-backed IMDb TV. So when it comes to Dick Wolf’s work schedule, as forcefully stated earlier…
BONG!
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