Law & Order: Organized Crime

• Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler, who returns to New York City to lead a new task force against organized crime.
• Dylan McDermott
• Tamara Taylor

• Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson, Commanding Officer of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, and Stabler's former partner.

On March 31, 2020, it was announced that NBC had given a 13-episode order to a new crime drama starring Christopher Meloni as his character from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Elliot Stabler. It was also announced that Dick Wolf, Arthur W. Forney, and Peter Jankowski, would serve as the executive producers, with Matt Olmstead being looked at as showrunner and writer. The series came following Wolf's five-year deal with Universal Television, which will serve as the series' production company along with Wolf Entertainment.[1] The series was originally planned to be set up in the twenty-first season finale of Law & Order: Special Vicitms Unit, with Stabler's wife and son returning. The episode would also have revealed the whereabouts of the Stabler family following Meloni's departure as the character in season twelve. When asked whether or not the storyline would instead happen in the twenty-second season premiere, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit showrunner Warren Leight said that "it's pretty clear that Elliot will be in the SVU season opener."[2] Craig Gore was set to be a writer for the series, but was fired by Wolf on June 2, 2020 for controversial Facebook posts about looters and the curfew put in place in Los Angeles due to protests about the killing of George Floyd.[3] Gore had listed himself as co-executive producer on the series on his Facebook profile,[3] but Meloni confirmed that Olmstead will be the showrunner for the series, not Gore.[4] The same day, it was also announced that the series would be titled Law & Order: Organized Crime.[3] The first teaser for the series was released during the 30 Rock: A One-Time Special, on July 17, 2020.[5] In July 2020, Meloni stated that he had not yet seen a script, and that the writers were still working on the story.[6] In October, it was announced that Olmstead had stepped down as showrunner,[7] and he was later replaced by Ilene Chaiken in December 2020.[8] On December 2, 2020, Hargitay posted a photo of a virtual table read with Meloni, as well as the rest of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit cast and crew, in which the table read served for the backdoor pilot leading into the spin-off.[9]

On July 29, 2020, Meloni confirmed that Mariska Hargitay would make a guest appearance as her character from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Olivia Benson.[10] On January 27, 2021, it was announced that Dylan McDermott had been cast in the series, with Tamara Taylor joining the following month on February 2.[11][12]

Like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the series is filmed on location in New York.[13] Production was set to begin on the series in August 2020,[14] however, on September 14, 2020, it was announced that the series was the only one produced by Wolf Entertainment to not be given a start date for production.[15] The series later began production on January 27, 2021, with Meloni and Hargitay sharing pictures on set.[11][16]

On June 16, 2020, it was announced that the series would air on Thursdays on NBC at 10 p.m. EST, the former timeslot of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, with the latter moving up an hour to 9 p.m. The series was the only new series on NBC's fall lineup at the moment for the 2020–21 television season.[17] In August 2020, the series was pushed back to 2021[18] and on February 4, 2021, it was announced that the series would premiere on April 1, 2021, as part of a two-hour crossover with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.[19]

The series is set to be available on NBC's streaming service, Peacock, with episodes being released on the service a week after they air on NBC for the service's free tier, and the next day for the paid tier.[17]