The previously greenlight Law & Order spinoff, Law & Order: Hate Crimes, has hit a bit of a snag at NBC. The network has decided to delay the release of the series.
Back in September, the network gave the spinoff a 13-episode series order which was supposed to be introduced as a planted spinoff from Law & Order: SVU in an episode during the latter part of the veteran drama’s current record-tying 20th season before launching next season.
This looks like it will no longer be the case. Creator Dick Wolf and Law & Order: SVU showrunner Warren Leight remain in active development on the series but needed more time to truly flesh out the show and what it would actually be about. SVU has not been renewed yet but likely will be so it can break the record for the longest-running drama series jointly held by Gunsmoke and Law & Order, so the spinoff could be introduced during SVU‘s 21st season witch some insiders thinking it could be the veteran series’ last although that has not been confirmed.
Law & Order: Hates Crimes is based on New York’s real Hate Crimes Task Force, the second-oldest bias-based task force in the U.S. The unit, which pledges to uphold a zero-tolerance policy against discrimination of any kind, works under the NYPD’s real Special Victims Unit and often borrows SVU’s detectives to assist in their investigations. It would mark the seventh Law & Order series, following mothership Law & Order, SVU, Criminal Intent, Trial by Jury, LA and last season’s anthology True Crime.
