Ch-ching! The original “Law & Order” is finally make its streaming debut later this year on NBCUniversal’s Peacock.
The deal between producer Dick Wolf and NBCU calls for six Wolf Entertainment series to be made available on Peacock. The pact covers more than 1,000 episodes of “Law & Order” plus spinoffs “Law & Order: SVU” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” as well as Wolf’s trilogy of Chicago-set dramas for NBC: “Chicago: Fire,” “Chicago: P.D.” and “Chicago: Med.”
The shows are not exclusive to Peacock. The mothership “Law & Order” series, which aired on NBC from 1990 to 2010, will not offer all 456 episodes at the outset, probably because rights are tied up in pre-existing deals. But Peacock will be the first to offer the three core “L&O” series in one place.
“I’m extremely pleased, gratified and excited by Peacock’s decision to lease my key NBC assets,” Wolf said. “As we all move into the new era of television, it is reassuring to know that it will be one-stop shopping for our fans on the new platform.”
“SVU,” the only “Law & Order” series still in active production for NBC, has been available for streaming for some time on Hulu.
“Law & Order” and its offshoots proved to be workhorses in traditional TV syndication for TNT, A&E Network and other cablers. But the “Chicago” series have been a tougher sell in the current market. A package of the three series was shopped a few years ago, but didn’t have much traction with cable buyers. Instead, the “Chicago” series have had limited streaming distribution via Amazon Prime and YouTube. “Chicago Fire” has been made available for free ad-supported streaming via Amazon’s IMDb website.
WME and attorney Cliff Gilbert-Lurie repped Wolf in the deal.