The last piece of NBC‘s fall 2026 schedule to fall into place was Law & Order, whose Season 26 renewal didn’t close until end of the week, hours before the network was to unveil its lineup Monday morning.
As Deadline reported, negotiations were believed to have gone down to the wire over budget reduction-related matters.
We asked Lisa Katz, President of Scripted Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, what kind of trims we can expect on the show and whether actors may be cut.
“Obviously there are budget concerns, but I don’t think there’s anything drastic coming that I’m aware of,” she said.
According to Katz, scheduling considerations, including the impact of The Traitors taking over Law & Order‘s 8 PM Thursday slot on the size of the drama’s order, also played a role in the renewal delay. (The L&O mothership is believed to be producing a full season in its new Thursday 10 PM time period.)
Budget cuts have become customary for long-running broadcast series, including the Dick Wolf dramas on NBC. They have resulted in reductions of episode orders as well as the number of episodes longtime cast members appear in each season, and, in some cases, departures of series regular cast members.
While Law & Order and spinoff Law & Order: SVU both retained their spots on NBC’s 2026-27 schedule, not returning next season is the youngest entry in the venerable franchise, spinoff Law & Order: Organized Crime starring SVU alum Christopher Meloni.
The series, which featured more serialized storytelling vs. Dick Wolf’s typical close-ended procedural fare, aired on NBC for its first four seasons before moving to Peacock for Season 5. (The fifth season subsequently got a second-window run on NBC.)
“We feel like it ran its course,” Katz said about the decision not to continue with Season 6 on Peacock — or NBC. (She oversees scripted programming for both the network and the streamer.)
The transition to its new home proved bumpy for Organized Crime, which struggled with its dual broadcast-streaming identity in its fifth season. The series also had a hard time keeping a creative team in place with five showrunners in as many seasons.
English (US) ·