NBC and Dick Wolf have put development on their latest Law & Order spinoff on hold, according to Deadline. Law & Order: Hate Crimes was greenlit by the network last September for a 13-episode first season run. It was set to be introduced during the latter half of Law & Order: SVU‘s 20th season this year.
Hate Crimes is set to be the seventh edition of the iconic series, following the original, SVU, Criminal Intent, Trial by Jury, LA and last season’s anthology season, True Crime. Hate Crimes will take its inspiration from the Hate Crimes Task Force in New York. The real-life task force is pledged to uphold a zero-tolerance policy on discrimination of any kind. The new series would offer plenty of cross-over potential with SVU as the Task Force works directly under the real-life SVU and often collaborates on investigations.
Back when the show was first picked up, Wolf commented on his excitement and vision for the new series. “As with all of my crime shows, I want to depict what’s really going on in our cities and shine a light on the wide-ranging victims and show that justice can prevail,” Wolf said. “Twenty years ago when SVU began, very few people felt comfortable coming forward and reporting these crimes, but when you bring the stories into people’s living rooms – with characters as empathetic as Olivia Benson – a real dialogue can begin. That’s what I hope we can do with this new show in a world where hate crimes have reached an egregious level.”
However, since then very little has been heard about the series until Tuesday’s announcement. Hate Crimes is still very much in development at the network as Wolf and showrunner Warren Leight just needed more time to really flesh out the idea. I would expect it to be introduced sometime next year during SVU‘s record-breaking 21st season. Wolf’s other TV endeavors are going well though as ABC recently renewed all three Chicago series.
Law & Order: SVU is currently airing its 20th season Thursday nights on NBC. No premiere date has been set yet for Law & Order: Hate Crimes.
