http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070513/ap_en_...BAAZmB8fqdpMhkF
NBC OKs deal to save 'Law & Order' shows By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
Sun May 13, 5:21 PM ET


NBC Universal and producer Dick Wolf struck a last-minute deal Sunday to keep "Law & Order" and its two spinoffs on the air, although "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" episodes will first be seen on the USA cable network.

The deal ensures an 18th season of "Law & Order" on NBC. That's second only to "Gunsmoke," which aired from 1955 to 1975 and was the longest-running network drama series on TV.

NBC announces its fall television schedule on Monday, opening a week where all the broadcasters outline next season's plans to advertisers in New York.

NBC had essentially concluded it had room for only two of Wolf's series on next year's schedule. "Law & Order: SVU" has the highest ratings of the three, so that was safe. After some brief conversations about shifting "Law & Order" to Time Warner Inc.'s TNT, the decision was made to keep "Criminal Intent" for USA, said Jeff Zucker, chairman of NBC Universal.

NBC and USA are corporate cousins within NBC Universal, and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" reruns make up some of its most popular programming. Now USA will be able to premiere a full season's worth of 22 episodes of what had been an established network series, a first for the business. The series is entering its seventh season.

"This was a strategic decision by us," Zucker said. "We are really taking USA to a new stratosphere."

It's not clear when "Criminal Intent" episodes will air on NBC; they will likely be used to fill a hole when a new fall drama fails.

"Law & Order" sank sharply in the ratings this year, although that was partly expected with a move to Fridays, one of the least-watched nights on television. While it will be back for an 18th season, NBC executives declined Sunday to say whether it will start in the fall or midseason.

The deal also forces Wolf to cut production costs for the series and hit new financial targets, although they weren't publicly outlined. Wolf said this wouldn't result in any significant cast changes or be visible to viewers.

"Nobody was casting aspersions on the creative process," he said. "It was just costing too much for the realities of how the business has evolved."

NBC has suffered in the ratings this season, particularly this spring, with only "Heroes" emerging as a new hit. At the same time, USA is a very profitable operation.

NBC said the status of Fred Thompson, who plays District Attorney Arthur Branch on "Law & Order" and is considered a potential GOP presidential candidate, had nothing to do with the discussions. Thompson is under option for another season of ripped-from-the-headlines crime drama, but Wolf said Sunday he knew nothing of the actor-politician's plans.

"I haven't talked to him for the last two weeks," he said. "So your guess is as good as mine."

Keeping "Law & Order" on the air long enough to eclipse the "Gunsmoke" record is his "ultimate dream," Wolf said.

"Creatively, the show is still firing on all cylinders and I have no doubt the show's quality can and will continue for years to come," he said.

___

AP Television writer Lynn Elber contributed to this report.

"The deal ensures an 18th season of "Law & Order" on NBC. That's second only to "Gunsmoke," which aired from 1955 to 1975 and was the longest-running network drama series on TV...
Keeping "Law & Order" on the air long enough to eclipse the "Gunsmoke" record is his "ultimate dream," Wolf said."

I am glad Law & Order is continuing. I am even glad for the fans of CI that it is also renewed.
But I have an issue if Dick Wolf thinks 20 seasons of Law & Order will eclipse 20 seasons of Gunsmoke. That's comparing apples and oranges. Law and Order at 17 seasons has 393 episodes averaging 22 per season. Gunsmoke has 635 episodes and 5 two hour TV movies. When they start airing, the season was 39 episodes and when they finished they were down to 23.
To truly catch Gunsmoke, Law & Order needs another 242 episodes or another 11 seasons at the current rate of 22.

Here's additional info to check out, if you'd like: http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_di...t_id=1003584764
I can't believe they're moving CI to USA and keeping L&O and moving it to Sundays after football. Hopefully, it'll be good moves for both....

Remember that Gunsmoke also started off as a 1/2 hour show and then later moved into being an hour-long.

Besides, they're not comparing episode count, only season count, which L&O is close to matching.

I'm glad that L&O and L&O:CI are both being renewed. I hope that they both get higher ratings.

"Remember that Gunsmoke also started off as a 1/2 hour show and then later moved into being an hour-long."
Gunsmoke had 233 30 minute episodes and 400 hour long episodes. Which makes 516.5 hours of programming

"Besides, they're not comparing episode count, only season count, which L&O is close to matching."
But that's my problem. Episodes per season vary and using seasons to count is inequitable. Compare Gunsmoke(1 hour version) having 26 episodes to Law & Order having 22 episodes to Monk(Season 2-5) having 16 episodes. Are they really viewed as being the same? It's not a rhetorical question. I'm trying to understand how things that are so different can be considered the same. When people look at prices from 1987 to compare to prices now, the dollar value is adjusted for inflation. Shouldn't there be some adjustment for comparing television seasons?
I don't really expect the world to be fair, but I do feel compelled to point out when it runs amok.

Don't care about the Gunsmoke stuff, I'm just happy all my L&Os will be back next year. YIPEE!!!!!

No one said in the article that L&O is going to match Gunsmoke's episode count. Only that they're closing in on the same number of seasons.

This is no different than comparing the Gregorian calendar with 12 months alternating between 30 and 31 days with poor February getting shafted with either 28 or 29 to make things work out to the Native American passage of time being the cycle of the moon, which is 28 days long. They both end up being a year long. So what does it matter if it's 12 months or 13 moon cycles?

I am not a fan of either the original Law and Order or Criminal Intent so as long as SVU is renewed I am a happy girl.

Although SVU is my favorite, I'll still watch CI or Original Recipe, just not quite as religiously. I'm happy to hear they are both resigned (esp. the original...I think Jesse L. Martin is FINE!!)

You know, IMO, even a 'so-so' episode from any of the L&O franchise is still LOADS better than half of the crap that is on television these days.

I wonder how they would handle things if Fred Thompson does indeed throw his name in the ring for the Republican nomination. Isn't there some rule for the amount of face time that a presidential candidate can have on the major networks?

I thought Bonanza ran for 25 seasons, I know it was still on the air when I was little. Michael Landon went straight from it to Little House. And also, what about Little House, I mean Laura was like 6 when the show started and a grown woman when it went off. Does anybody know the numbers for these shows?

I thought Bonanza ran for 25 seasons, I know it was still on the air when I was little. Michael Landon went straight from it to Little House. And also, what about Little House, I mean Laura was like 6 when the show started and a grown woman when it went off. Does anybody know the numbers for these shows?

Bonanza run from 9/12/59 until 1/16/73.
Little House ran from 9/11/74 until 3/21/83.