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Total Fan
Joined: Aug 2003
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Law & Order in the News
Quote:
'Law & Order' Trio Gets Renewals
By FRAZIER MOORE, AP Television Writer
NEW YORK - Fans of the three "Law & Order" shows can look forward to more — and No. 4. An agreement between NBC and producer Dick Wolf, announced Wednesday, includes pickups through 2005-06 for Wolf's current series, "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," extending them through their 16th, seventh and fifth seasons, respectively.
And it makes official the fourth entry in the franchise, "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," which will premiere at an unspecified time during the 2004-05 season. Previously, Jerry Orbach, a longtime star of the original "Law & Order," was announced as a transfer to the new series, which is described as "a richly textured drama set entirely in the arena of the courthouse."
Continuing "Law & Order" stars include Sam Waterston and Jesse L. Martin. Christopher Meloni and Richard Belzer are among the "Special Victims Unit" regulars, and Vincent D'Onofrio stars on "Criminal Intent."
All four dramas are filmed in New York.
"Law & Order," which premiered in September 1990 with a cast that included Michael Moriarty, Christopher Noth and Richard Brooks (all long departed), was critically acclaimed but at first struggled to attract an audience.
After a few seasons, it caught on with viewers, becoming not only a ratings powerhouse (it ranks 13th for the 2003-04 season) but also making history by spawning TV's first "branded" drama spinoffs: "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" in 1999 and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" in 2001.
The series all share a law-enforcement orientation and a gritty, New York look — as well as narration broken up by title cards and a trademark "ba-bing" sound effect.
Wolf, a former advertising man, has long envisioned "Law & Order" as a flourishing brand.
"A brand extension is always a good thing," he said in 2001, "unless you do something that doesn't live up to the expectations for that brand."
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NBC Sets Stage for Fourth 'Law & Order'
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC on Tuesday renewed its contracts for the three successful "Law & Order" crime dramas that it airs for another two years and ordered a new series, "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," for next season.
The shows, "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" -- are produced by Dick Wolf and NBC's sister company NBC Universal Television.
The announcement came on the same day NBC, a unit of General Electric Co, and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, formerly part of French media company Vivendi Universal, completed a merger to form NBC Universal.
Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Universal Television Group, called the deal "hugely important" for the company and said it "assures NBC and viewers of many more years" of the "Law & Order" dramas.
The deal calls for the three current shows to run through the 2005-06 seasons, so the original "Law & Order," which traces the steps by which a criminal is apprehended then put on trial, is assured of a 15th and 16th season on air. That will make it the longest-running police series and the second longest-running drama in U.S. TV history, NBC said.
The new show, "Trial by Jury," will begin airing with the start of the 2004-2005 season in September. It uses the same "Law & Order" focus on criminal justice, but is set entirely in the court system, NBC said.
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