Law & Order: SVU spin-off Organized Crimes loses its showrunner, which could cause the series to be delayed. Christopher Meloni is set to reprise his most prominent role as Elliot Stabler on the small screen, which is exciting for his fans. However, it may take a while before this could come to fruition following the recent production woes for the offshoot.
After 12 years, Meloni walked away from Law & Order: SVU when negotiations for a new contract failed. His exit was abrupt, leaving writers to scramble how they'll write him out of the series, especially since his final episode ended in a cliffhanger concerning his character's fate. Eventually, it was revealed that he quit the NYPD after he was threatened to be investigated for a previous incident. Since the actor has maintained a close relationship with Mariska Hargitay, who played his on-screen partner Olivia Benson, fans never lost hope that Stabler will return in the police procedural. Earlier this year, they finally got the news that they'd been waiting for — Meloni is not only returning to Law & Order: SVU in a guesting capacity, he will also lead a new spin-off in Organized Crimes.
Now, however, it might be delayed indefinitely on the heels of its showrunner's exit. According to THR, Matt Olmstead has dropped out of the project because they failed to crack its story. He will, however, remain with Wolf Entertainment and is slated to land a new series soon.
Unfortunately, due to a few factors, including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the NBC offshoot has been delayed. The series was initially going to debut this fall after Stabler's appearance in Law & Order: SVU's season 22 premiere, but that's no longer happening with Organized Crime pushed to a midseason release instead. It's worth noting that Organized Crime is still slated to roll out during the 2020-2021 TV season, but with no showrunner, nothing is set in stone.
Aside from finding a replacement for Olmstead, there's also the massive task of hatching the series' story. Cracking the right story and treatment for a cop show at this point is extremely tricky, given that rampant police brutality against people of color has been at the forefront of the national conversation. If a reasonably liberal sitcom like Brooklyn Nine-Nine is being dubbed as a propaganda tool, it's safe to say shows like Law & Order: SVU will be under more intense scrutiny. This makes it a lot harder to launch an offshoot.
Looking at Stabler's history on Law & Order: SVU, it doesn't help that he has a history of aggression towards perpetrators. Between him and Benson, he often played the bad cop, while she balanced it out being the more empathetic one. Without Liv to soften her old partner's image, there's a risk of romanticizing his typical no-tolerance approach, which is a severe problem in the real world as this mindset has claimed countless lives. In hindsight, it would be better for Wolf Entertainment to carefully weigh in their options on how they can launch Organized Crimes. As much as fans would want to see Meloni back on TV as Stabler, it's much more important the writers have the appropriate story for the show to reflect the current times.
Source: THR