The Original Law & Order Is Coming Back

NBC announces 21st season
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 29, 2021 12:00 AM CDT
The Original Law & Order Is Coming Back
Executive Producer and creator Dick Wolf speaks at the "Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders" panel during the NBC Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at The Beverly Hilton hotel on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif.   (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)

More than a decade after it last aired, Law & Order is coming back to NBC, the AP reports. The network announced Tuesday that it is bringing the cops-and-courts police drama back for a 21st season. When the show left the airwaves in May 2010, it was tied with Gunsmoke for the longest running prime-time TV drama. Deadline notes that it was "abruptly" canceled at the time, denying it the chance to break the record. NBC says the series will keep the split format of focusing on police officers investigating crime and the prosecutors who take the cases to court. No cast or premiere date have been announced, though some of the original characters are expected to at least make appearances.

“There are few things in life that are dreams come true,” series creator Dick Wolf said. “This is mine.” The Law & Order franchise lived on even after the original series was canceled, through several spinoffs including the popular Law & Order: SVU. Wolf's shows remain a popular draw for NBC, with his three prime-time Chicago series making up the network's Wednesday night schedule. The popularity of those shows help NBC beat out other networks as the new fall TV season gets underway, especially with the crucial 18- through 49-year-old audience.

(More Law & Order stories.)

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