NBC cancels Law & Order

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

From Deadline Hollywood:

This one is a shocker. Veteran crime drama Law & Order will not get its shot at history after all. I hear that after long deliberations, NBC has decided to cancel the long-running procedural, which will end its run at 20 seasons, tied with Gunsmoke. This is very surprising as NBC brass had indicated lately that they would bring L&O for a record-breaking 21st season. But with strong development, especially on the drama side, and soft ratings for L&O, NBC apparently opted not to keep the aging series, which spawned several successful spinoffs. The latest, Law & Order: Los Angeles, will launch next season. L&O's renewal by NBC was also contingent on securing a sizable commitment from the series' cable home TNT whose off-network deal for the show was up at the end of this season.

 

[The Fatman]

wow.

really, wow. I just commented in another thread I didn't believe they'd ever cancel the show unless it was actively losing money. I guess without TNT that day is here already.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Update: Michael Ausiello and The Futon Critic are saying that the cancellation isn't quite finalized yet and that last-minute negotiations are still ongoing. It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I really would like to see L&O break the record. I hope this isn't true.

 

[bigdaddy]

What the fuck are you doing NBC?!?!

Your new drama shows will fucking fail like every other fucking thing you fucking do these days! You are a failure of a network!

L&O on a Friday night with no ads on a forth place network got over seven million viewers! Sure the demo sucked, but that's 7 million viewers on a network no one give a fuck about! If they become any worse they would have to change their name is CW!

13 episode 21st season to "close" the show off, that's it. Break the record, have tons of ads about it, and when ALL of NBC's new dramas do horrible because they are crap then they have a back up to fill in the wholes.

I mean really, in the last several years the only hour long shows that made it more than a season have been Heroes and Chuck, really sad.

 

[Winged Victory]

What the fuck are you doing NBC?!?!

Your new drama shows will fucking fail like every other fucking thing you fucking do these days! You are a failure of a network!

L&O on a Friday night with no ads on a forth place network got over seven million viewers! Sure the demo sucked, but that's 7 million viewers on a network no one give a fuck about! If they become any worse they would have to change their name is CW!

13 episode 21st season to "close" the show off, that's it. Break the record, have tons of ads about it, and when ALL of NBC's new dramas do horrible because they are crap then they have a back up to fill in the wholes.

I mean really, in the last several years the only hour long shows that made it more than a season have been Heroes and Chuck, really sad.

QFT! I could not agree with you more...what is wrong with the morons at NBC??? They have the best cast in YEARS, the writing has been terrific, and they are ONE year from breaking the record and NBC wants to cancel it? It makes no sense!

The show did very well on Fridays, like you said. The fans followed it there. Then they shuffle it to Mondays against Castle and CSI Miami. Of course NBC isn't going to get the same demos...if they cancel it because of this, I'll blow a gasket.

After the way they treated Conan over the Tonight show, I will be SOOO done with NBC if they cancel L&O....and I don't care if next fall's hit show is somehow, miraculously, on their network, I will not watch ever again.

Stupid NBC! I really hope that they will see the light and give it one more year... I'm so angry about this.

 

[wamdue]

they axed it because it had 7 million viewers? does NBC not realise most of its other shows get 2/3s of that if they are lucky

 

[wamdue]

they axed it because it had 7 million viewers? does NBC not realise most of its other shows get 2/3s of that if they are lucky

 

[auntiehill]

But....but....Law & Order is ALWAYS on. How could it NOT be?


*sigh*


I mean, really----the network is already down the toilet. Would it really kill them to go for one more season?

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

From James Hibberd at The Hollywood Reporter:

Reports are circling that NBC has canceled the longest-running drama currently on broadcast one season before it would have made TV history.

NBC is not commenting on the stories, with one reporter citing an executive producer on the show who heard the news from Dick Wolf's office.

If true, "Law & Order" will end its run after 20 seasons -- one more and it will have beat "Gunsmoke" as the longest-running drama in TV history.

Though NBC was expected to pick up the veteran series, this season's ratings have been dismal and the network is supposedly largely pleased with its new crop of drama series (which include, but is not limited to, J.J. Abrams' "Undercovers," and conspiracy thriller "The Event").

 

[Lindley]

If true, "Law & Order" will end its run after 20 seasons -- one more and it will have beat "Gunsmoke" as the longest-running drama in TV history.

*cough*Doctor Who*cough*

 

[JarodRussell]

First the Conan debacle, now this. What idiots are running NBC?

 

[Snaploud]

If true, "Law & Order" will end its run after 20 seasons -- one more and it will have beat "Gunsmoke" as the longest-running drama in TV history.

*cough*Doctor Who*cough*

*cough*Guiding Light*cough*

 

[Daneel]

If true, "Law & Order" will end its run after 20 seasons -- one more and it will have beat "Gunsmoke" as the longest-running drama in TV history.

*cough*Doctor Who*cough*

*cough*Guiding Light*cough*

I guess they meant to say "longest-running prime-time American drama", but thought that would be too wordy.

Anyway, if this is true, I'm sorry to hear it. The current cast gels pretty well, and from a creative standpoint, the show has seemed better than it has been in some of the more recent seasons. I would've liked to have seen it break the record.

I must admit, though, I've had a tough time following the show this year. First it was airing on Fridays, now it's... what, Monday? Between NBC moving it around and my crazy, irregular work schedule, I haven't been able to watch too many episodes. Usually, I just end up catching the reruns on Saturday, if I can...

 

[Admiral_Young]

NBC has shown time and time again that they clearly do not know what they are doing...I still remember the season before "Friends" ended that they were planning on canceling or ending it a year prior but couldn't find a suitable replace for that Thursday night time slot and decided to bring the show back for one last time. Then of course the debacle with Conan and Jay early this year.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Update from Deadline Hollywood:

Here's the latest news on this fast-moving story. A deal was in place if NBC picked up the Law & Order flagship for a 21st season consisting of 16 episodes. But insiders say Dick Wolf is now accusing the network of "reneging" on that deal: "He's so fucking angry, you have no idea." As recently as the start of this week, even NBCU chief Jeff Zucker was privately telling people that L&O would get one more season. That's certainly what Wolf and his longtime reps (UTA and Ziffren Brittenham legal eagle Cliff Gilbert) were led to believe. That is, until last night.

According to the arrangement already in place, NBC/Universal Media Studios was supposed to go to TNT and negotiate a new deal (the old one was up) whereby the cable channel would finance some original episodes of Law & Order in order to continue getting runs of the show. "And, for whatever reason, NBC was unwilling to engage in a serious way with TNT. They didn't do it. At the last minute, they said, 'we'll pick the show up and this is how we're going to do it'. Which was ludicrous." That's when NBC threw its agreement with Wolf out the window and demanded Wolf "finance the pickup of Law & Order out of all the money he's made. And he said, 'Go fuck yourself'," according to an insider. Another source explained the situation more politely: "Graboff broke off the negotiations last night when they fell apart based on Team Dick's unwillingness to make certain deal concessions deemed unreasonable."

But that's not all. Immediately, Team Dick contacted Gaspin. And that email exchange revealed that Gaspin didn't realize the show has been cancelled. But, this morning, NBC began calling reps for the show's stars and telling them, "We want to let you know before you read this on Nikki Finke."

Now Wolf wants to try to make a deal to take the Law & Order flagship to TNT, the same place that John Wells and Warner Bros took Southland after it, too, was cancelled by NBC. In that case, NBC tried to hold up the switch. And that could happen this time as well, or even something much more complicated since Law & Order is a UMS show.

It is possible, just possible, that this could be a game of chicken -- and NBC comes back to Wolf's reps with a better offer to save the show rather than risk the wrath of Wolf -- who, after all still has L&O: SVU, L&O: Criminal Intent, and the newest spinoff, L&O: Los Angeles -- or even worse, the flagship's rabid fans.

 

[Skywalker]

I don't watch L&O, but why the heck did they move it from Fridays? It was doing well there (for an NBC show/for a show on Friday), and probably could have lasted another couple of seasons on that night.

 

[AJBryant]

Those dodgy foreign shows never count.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

It's the record for longest-running prime-time drama in American broadcast history that its aiming for. There are other shows that have run for longer than Gunsmoke if you include other categories of programming. In the realm of American prime-time scripted programming, for instance, The Simpsons is currently in its 21st season and has been renewed for its 22nd season.

 

[Mistral]

I'm just trying to picture the idea of "no new L&O" on tv. I rarely watch primetime but if I do that is one of my go-to choices. The world has turned upside down.