"Law & Order": Moving Violation

Speculation has been rampant in recent weeks that Law & Order (the original) might not get renewed by NBC this fall in light of declining ratings. As an aside: the network moved the show to Fridays at 10pm, not necessarily the hottest TV watching time. That may not matter however, because there are reports out today that TNT may pick up the show if NBC declines to. This makes sense since TNT is already basically branded with the show, airing somewhere around a score of eps a week (not counting the occasional holiday marathon).

Also, I think the cable outlet would be more willing to air new episodes in a more prestigious time slot then that to which NBC has relegated it as of late. In fact, imagine what a 1-2 punch an evening of The Closer followed by a new Law & Order (or vice versa) would pack. My only fear is that TNT might not have the budget to pay for the current cost of episodes (reportedly $4M per), thus the move from network to cable might mean a major cast shakeup; a proposition which may not be all that bad to some fans of the show.

I rely almost exclusively on TNT to watch L&O, so the change suggested suits me just fine. In fact, I would probably be more apt to watch first run episodes if they aired at a better time - maybe Tuesday nights - on TNT. My only request is that the network start incorporating earlier episodes of the series into their rotation of reruns. I've seen the pack of early '00s episodes so many times I'm beginning to speak in an Elisabeth Rohm inspired monotone.