NBC’s all three shows of ‘Law & Order’, the original L&O, SVU and Organized Crime, will come together for a single story spanning their season premieres on Sept. 22. It’s a first for Law & Order but not for executive producer Dick Wolf, whose teams have pulled off similar three-show events on NBC’s Chicago dramas and CBS’ FBI franchise.
Law & Order showrunner Rick Eid and Chicago PD’s Gwen Sigan wrote the feature-length telecast. Franchise veteran Jean de Segonzac directs the first two hours; Alex Hall helms the third.
“Nothing demonstrates the power of the Law & Order brand more than an ambitious three-hour event with a story that is truly ripped from the headlines that starts on Organized Crime, then migrates to SVU and finally the trial on Law & Order,” Wolf said in a statement. “Rick and Gwen did an amazing job writing a compelling script, and I can’t think of a bigger and better way to launch the new season of Law & Order Thursday.”
The story begins with the death of a girl. Homicide Detective Frank Cosgrove (Jeffrey Donovan) teams up with Jalen Shaw (new L&O cast member Mehcad Brooks) to track down her killer. Capt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) are called in to help when they realize they have more than a typical homicide case on their hands. After uncovering key evidence, Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) and ADA Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) seek justice against an international crime ring, but complications threaten the case.
“This unprecedented scheduling block is a tribute to all the Law & Order fans who’ve been watching this iconic brand for four decades on NBC,” said Lisa Katz, president scripted programming at NBCU Television and Streaming. “We couldn’t be more excited to open our season with such a historic event.”
The nominal scheduling for the three shows is the reverse of their usual order, with Organized Crime leading off the night and SVU and L&O following. NBC will treat the crossover as one continuous show on screen, with no credits or opening titles at the top of the second and third hours.
Wolf, Arthur Forney and Peter Jankowski executive produce all three L&O series. Organized Crime is also exec produced by Bryan Goluboff, Barry O’Brien, John Polson, Paul Cabbad, and Meloni; SVU by David Graziano, Julie Martin, Hargitay, Norberto Barba and Ken Brown; and Law & Order by Eid. Universal Television and Wolf Entertainment produce.
A promo for the crossover is below.
