BURBANK, December 5: NBC has announced that Law &
Order and Law & Order:
Criminal Intent will return to its lineup
on Wednesdays, beginning in early January.
The 18th season of Law & Order will kick off with a two-hour season premiere on
Wednesday, January 2 at 9 p.m., and will continue on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. the
following week. On January 9, Law & Order: Criminal Intent will make its hour-long debut in its regular
timeslot at 9 p.m., preceding Law & Order’s weekly broadcast.
New to the cast of Law & Order are Jeremy Sisto, who will play Detective Cyrus, and
Linus Roache as chief assistant district attorney Michael Cutter. Cutter
reports to Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), who has been promoted to district
attorney, replacing Arthur Branch (Fred Thompson). Additionally, Rene Balcer is
returning as showrunner.
Last season, Law & Order averaged a 2.7 rating with an 8-percent share in adults 18 to 49, and 9
million viewers overall. This represented a 12-percent improvement in adults 18
to 49 over NBC’s average for the season prior. Additionally, according to the
network, the show delivered Friday’s most affluent audience (in concentration
of homes with $100,000-plus incomes in its adult 18-49 audience).
Law & Order: Criminal Intent also averaged a 2.7 rating, with a 7-percent share in
adults 18-49 and 8.7 million viewers overall, representing a 23-percent build,
on average, on its adult 18 to 49 lead-in. Furthermore, Criminal
Intent’s telecasts on USA Network have
generated an average of 1.8 million 18- to 49-year-old viewers, more than
doubling USA’s Thursday 10 p.m. results of a year earlier, and leading USA to a
70-percent increase in its Thursday prime-time average, according to NBC.
“The last time Rene Balcer was showrunner of Law &
Order we won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama
Series,” said Dick Wolf, creator and executive producer of Law &
Order. “I am thrilled he is back. Jeremy
and Linus bring a new energy to the cast and we hope the return to our longtime
timeslot of Wednesday at 10 p.m. will bring renewed success to the show, not
just from our core fans, but from a new generation of viewers as well.”
—By Ned Berke
