Fans might finally know the fate of Law & Order: Organized Crime. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the police procedural is looking to move to Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, exclusively for Season 5. The move will also result in a ten-episode Season 5, led by Christopher Meloni back again as Elliot Stabler. Executives at NBC Universal and Peacock, as well as creator Dick Wolf, have not commented on the move as the deal is not final.
Law & Order: Organized Crime marked the return of the Law & Order: SVU character Elliot Stabler. Meloni played Stabler for the first 12 seasons of SVU before exiting without notice from the series. In 2021, Meloni returned to the role of Stabler with Organized Crime, which has performed well on Peacock. With the move to Peacock, the show will also have one of its lowest episode counts to date, with 10 episodes. That’s down from the Season 4 episode count of 13, which is likely a result of the actors’ and writers’ strikes last fall. Seasons 2 and 3 had a full 22-episode count to align with the other Law & Order shows.
When NBC renewed both Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU back in March, fans were left wondering if Organized Crime was instead on the chopping block. The network has since cancelled the rebooted Quantum Leap after only two seasons but when cancellation news of Organized Crime did not come with that series of axes, this move to Peacock could provide hope for one of the newer Dick Wolf police procedurals.
What Is ‘Law and Order: Organized Crime’?
After Meloni’s abrupt exit from Law & Order: SVU, he would not reprise the role for a decade. Stabler initially joined organized crime to find who killed his wife and the rest is history. Now leading his own team, Organized Crime follows Stabler and his coworkers following single arc storylines for the full season rather than the traditional formula Law & Order shows have consisted of in years past where everything is typically isolated to episodic stories with some longer standing arcs mixed in every few seasons.
Meloni has appeared as Stabler on SVU since Organized Crime began with crossovers between the two shows including Organized Crime’s pilot, reuniting with longtime costar Mariska Hargitay, bringing Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson back into one another’s lives once again.
‘Law & Order’ Continues to be Popular
Back in March, both Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU were renewed for their 24th and 26th seasons respectively on NBC. It’s little wonder the network decided to renew both shows, as both remain ratings juggernauts well into their third decades on air. SVU is the top show on Thursday nights in the coveted 18-49 demographic, and pulls in an average of 11 million viewers, while Law & Order isn’t far behind, with 7.7 million viewers tuning into the flagship series.
All Law & Order shows air on Thursdays on NBC and are available to stream on Peacock the next day. Season 5 of Organized Crime does not yet have a release date. Stay tuned at Collider for more.
via Collider