Chris Meloni's Law & Order: Organized Crime Will Return For Season 5 - With A Big Catch
"Law & Order: Organized Crime" seems to be on the verge of a Season 5 renewal ... but it'll make a small move in the process.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, sources claim that NBC, home to Dick Wolf's massively successful "Law & Order" franchise, declined to renew Christopher Meloni's series for another round. Apparently, the show is set to move to a streaming-only format on Peacock; currently, the episodes are available on NBC Universal's proprietary service the day after they air (which is on Thursday nights).
THR also notes that the show "overperforms" on Peacock, though apparently it doesn't fare as well in a traditional primetime slot — which may explain why Wolf's other shows, including the reboot of his flagship "Law & Order" and the long-running procedural "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," the series where Meloni began playing Detective Elliot Stabler in the first place. The report indicates that a fifth season of "Law & Order: Organized Crime" would only run for 10 episodes, marking a shorter outing for the series (though many TV shows are airing abbreviated seasons this year after the joint WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike that took place in the latter half of 2023). So, after four seasons, is it surprising that "Law & Order: Organized Crime" might move to Peacock?
Law & Order: Organized Crime brought Elliot Stabler back to the small screen
When Christopher Meloni left "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" during its 12th season in 2011, fans were devastated to lose such an important character ... and years later, in March of 2020, Meloni announced that he'd appear in a then-untitled spin-off and reprise his role. In 2022, he officially rejoined the "Law & Order" franchise with a crossover episode on "Law & Order: SVU" alongside his former partner Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay).
The two have reunited several times now on crossover episodes between "Law & Order: Organized Crime" and "Law & Order: SVU," and there's no reason to expect that won't continue even if THR's report comes to pass and the former series moves permanently to Peacock. It is worth revisiting the offer Meloni received for his spin-off, though; the original deal was for five years and a whopping nine-figure payout for Meloni to entice him to return.
Still, that's not to say that "Law & Order: Organized Crime" hasn't been a success in its own right; it's popular with fans of the franchise, and Meloni's performance is as excellent as ever. Thankfully, NBC doesn't seem to be pulling the plug entirely, and will just move the series to Peacock.
"Law & Order: Organized Crime" airs a new episode on May 2, 2024.