The past month has been a stressful time for Law & Order: Organized Crime fans when it comes to the future of the show, as Christopher Meloni’s series was not renewed for Season 5 back in March when Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU got the good news. Updates have been few and far between since, but now the drama reportedly could move from NBC’s Thursdays to streaming on Peacock following the end of the 2024 TV schedule. That raises another question: how much of Season 4 is left to be produced and possibly set up any changes?
Law & Order: Organized Crime could shift over to streaming for Peacock Premium subscribers if NBC decides not to renew it for a fifth season, according to Deadline, which further reports that OC does well for Peacock while it is the lowest-rated of the six Dick Wolf TV shows on the broadcast network. (The three One Chicago series were renewed alongside Law & Order and SVU in March.)
It’s not altogether shocking the OC has a smaller broadcast network audience than the other two L&O shows, as both of those have fanbases going back more than 20 years and stick to a mostly procedural format that has been hugely successful for Dick Wolf shows. Organized Crime is far more serialized, and makes the most of the 10 p.m. ET time slot to delve into cases that can get even darker than especially heinous offenses on SVU.
Still, losing OC from NBC would mean the end of Law & Order Thursdays with all three hours of primetime set in that universe, so it would be a big change for both the show and the network if there is a move to streaming on Peacock. That said, it would still be viewable alongside its sister series, with new episodes of L&O and SVU streaming next day on Peacock anyway.
As a big fan of Organized Crime, I’d be perfectly happy with a move to Peacock if it meant a way for the series to return for a fifth season. The storytelling has been stronger than ever, in my mind, ever since Breaking Bad‘s John Shiban took over as showrunner, which Danielle Moné Truitt was hyping before Season 4 even premiered. Fingers crossed, but I’ll take Season 5 wherever I can get it!
Of course, Season 4 isn’t over yet, with Episode 9 – including a tense fight between Ellen Burstyn’s Bernie and one of the Stabler sons – released just one day before news of the potential move to streaming. When I spoke with Michael Trotter and Dean Norris this week about their roles as Joe and Randall Stabler, Norris shared that he has “already seen almost to the end” and has “one more script to read.”
That suggests that production on Organized Crime Season 4 is nearing the end, which makes it all the more stressful that there has been no official news on Season 5. If Season 4 ends with the expectation of a renewal, will there be a cliffhanger? Or will the finale involve a sense of closure, in case it is the end? And will anything change if OC is renewed for a fifth season on Peacock?
Unfortunately, we can only wait and see, although fans are circulating a “Renew Law and Order: Organized Crime” petition that you can sign to show your support. At the time of writing, nearly 3500 people have signed. You can also revisit earlier days of OC streaming on Peacock now, and keep tuning into NBC live on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET for new episodes.
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