The original Law and Order premiered on NBC back on September 13, 1990. The show has been a staple on the network ever since, and can be largely credited for the growth and popularity of the legal/courtroom drama genre, with producer Dick Wolf developing some of the most popular series across multiple television stations. While it was canceled in 2010, the station rebooted it on February 24, 2022.
The popularity of the original led to a spin-off series, Special Victims Unit, airing on September 20, 1999, and has also reached massive success and critical acclaim. It has been on television ever since, breaking the longest-running primetime live-action series on American television. A third entry for the series, Organized Crime, launched on April 1, 2021, on NBC with the return of fan favorite character Detective Stabler, previously of SVU acclaim. Once the original Law and Order rebooted, this gave NBC an entire night lineup of Law and Order series entries.
Unfortunately, NBC did not feel they were seeing the same success with the serialized version of Organized Crime and the direction they wanted to take, and to fans' dismay, removed it from the regular lineup on May 16, 2024. Instead, it moved exclusively to the NBC-affiliated streaming service, Peacock, with the goal of allowing the series to be both more serialized and much darker thanks to more flexible rules. Well, the fans that were heartbroken can breathe a sigh of relief, as starting this fall, Organized Crime is coming back to Thursday Law and Order nights on NBC.
Law and Order Organized Crime is coming back to broadcast TV
The Christopher Meloni-led spin-off focuses on, as the title indicates, Organized Crime, or powerful crime syndicates such as mafias, drug gangs, etc. Unlike the original Law and Order and even SVU, Organized Crime does not take an episode-to-episode approach with its storyline. Instead, the focus is on Detective Stabler and his personal life, along with longer investigations and undercover missions, leaving stories to span entire seasons.
On July 28, NBC released its fall lineup, and surprised everyone with the information that Organized Crime was going to come back to Thursday nights at 10 PM, following Law and Order and Law and Order: SVU. These episodes will not be brand new, however, and instead will be releases of season 5, which have already aired on Peacock.
It is not clear yet what NBC plans to do with season 6, which has yet to be renewed on either NBC or Peacock. Perhaps fan reaction to both the news of the show's return to broadcast television and the success of the show once it airs will help executives make a final ruling moving forward.
It is exciting to see NBC make the decision to bring Organized Crime back to the masses. While the show differs from the series structure, it gives a unique look into some criminal organizations from the police perspective, something that The Wire was able to show with great success decades earlier. Hopefully, fans will show the network that the move is highly appreciated, and Season 6 will get picked up soon after.
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