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Dick Wolf’s TV shows practically rule primetime, but some are more
successful than others. Now on its fourth season, Law & Order: Organized Crime
hasn’t scored as high of ratings as its predecessors, which leaves fans wondering: Is Law & Order: Organized Crime renewed for Season 5? Well, the answer isn’t so simple. Keep reading to find out.
Law & Order: Organized Crime is the sixth spin-off in Wolf’s Law & Order franchise. It follows SVU‘s Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) as he returns to the NYPD to battle organized crime after his wife’s murder. The series first premiered in 2021 and also stars Rick Gonzalez as Detective Bobby Reyes, Danielle Moné Truitt as Sargeant Ayanna Bell and Ainsley Seiger as Detective Jet Slootmaekers.
The Law & Order franchise has anchored NBC’s Thursday night lineup for the past few years and viewership remains strong for the flagship series, currently on its 23rd season, and SVU, currently on its milestone 25th season. As for Organized Crime, the numbers are still good, but significantly lower than that of its sister series. Additionally, the show has gone through several cast and crew changes in the four years that its been on air.
Nevertheless, there is still a loyal fan base for Organized Crime, who would hate to see the show get cancelled. Here’s everything there is to know about Law & Order: Organized Crime‘s Season 5 renewal.
Law & Order: Organized Crime
Law & Order: Organized Crime
Is Law & Order: Organized Crime renewed for Season 5? The answer is yes — however, there’s a twist. The Hollywood Reporter reported on April 25, 2024, that Law & Order: Organized Crime was renewed for a fifth season consisting of 10 episodes, however, it will no longer air on NBC. Instead, the series will move to the network’s streaming service, Peacock, where it will exclusively air.
The news of Law & Order: Organized Crime‘s move to Peacock comes after early renewals for NBC’s other Law & Order shows — Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU — in March 2024. While both series received early renewals by NBC for the 2024-25 broadcast season, Organized Crime, on the other hand, was left in limbo.
Although NBC did not reveal at the time why Organized Crime‘s renewal was still in discussion, it is most likely due to ratings. So far, Season 4 of Organized Crime is averaging 3.583 total viewers with a 0.38 demo rating, which is a down from Season 3’s 3.45 million viewers and 0.44 rating. In comparison, Season 23 of Law & Order is averaging 4.73 million viewers and has a 0.41 demo rating. Meanwhile, SVU is Thursday’s most-watched and top-rated show; the current season has an average of 5.03 million viewers and 0.53 rating.
Additionally, Organized Crime has gone through a number of different showrunners, which has likely made it difficult for the young show to find its footing. Matt Olmstead was the original showrunner, but he was replaced by Ilene Chaiken. Not long after, Chaiken was replaced by Barry O’Brien. Bryan Goluboff, Sean Jablonski and David Graziano all followed. The current showrunner is John Shiban.
Dick Wolf’s other hit NBC franchise, One Chicago, also received an early renewal and all three of the Chicago-set dramas will be getting new seasons. Chicago Fire will be getting a 13th season, Chicago P.D. scored a 12th and Chicago Med will be heading into its 10th. FBI, Wolf’s third franchise, is still up in the air, as CBS has not yet announced their 2024-25 broadcast season.
The renewal of One Chicago and the two other Law & Order shows doesn’t bode well for Organized Crime, but there is still hope. Fans would certainly be devastated to lose Christopher Meloni again, as he previously left SVU in 2011 and did not reappear in the Law & Order universe for over a decade. Viewers will just have to keep tuning in to get the ratings up, especially if they want to see more Stabler and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) reunions during crossovers.