Law and Order isn't going anywhere. The legendary NBC franchise has been renewed for additional seasons, which means it will continue to set records when it comes to live-action television. There is going to be some changes made to the franchise, however, in an effort to keep costs down. It might not look identical to the Law & Order we've grown accustomed to over the past two plus decades.
Let's start with the good news. Law & Order: SVU is coming back for season 27, which makes it the longest-running live-action show in small screen history, and Law & Order is returning for season 25 after resuming its own impressive run in 2022. Deadline confirmed the renewals only a few days after NBC ordered new seasons of another beloved Dick Wolf franchise, One Chicago.
Law & Order and SVU will employ cost cutting measures
Like One Chicago, however, Law & Order is going to be subjected to some tweaks moving forward. NBC has made it clear that it intends to cut down on the costs of long-running procedural shows, and no two shows better fit the bill of "long-running" and "procedural" than Law & Order and SVU.
Law & Order is subject to the most change at the moment. The flagship series does not put up the numbers that SVU does, and is populated by big name stars like Tony Goldwyn, Maura Tierney and Hugh Dancy, just to cite a few. Contract extensions have yet to be worked out with every single cast member, but Deadline suggests that salary cuts will be discussed, as will attempts to cut down on the number of episodes each cast member appears in.
This practice is becoming increasingly commonplace for NBC. The network has discovered that the way to keep beloved characters in the mix, while simultaneously ensuring each episode cost less, is to bench characters when their presence is not integral to the plot of a given episode. A few lines of exposition saves a lot of cash, and this is something that will seemingly be stressed in season 25 of Law & Order.
SVU is losing two detectives before season 27
Law & Order: SVU will part ways with cast members Octavio Pisano and Juliana Martinez following the season 26 finale. There is also talk of reducing the number of episodes that the remaining cast members appear in per season, which, again, is becoming the way of the TV world in 2025. It's not ideal, but in the case of SVU, the damage is actually not as severe as you might think.
Despite being one of NBC's most popular procedural shows, SVU has managed to keep its episode costs down in comparison to its long-running peers, and its steady, excellent performance across all platforms means that the show is not expected to suffer more losses to the main cast beyond Pisano and Martinez. For the time being, at least.
Law & Order: Organized Crime, the lone franchise title that airs on Peacock instead of NBC, remains the odd man out. The network's decision to renew Law & Order & SVU did not come with an update for Organized Crime, which is currently airing its fifth season. Peacock operates differently when it comes to renewals, however, so we are still hopeful for a green light.