Dick Wolf has been a successful television creator for many years, and NBC is depending on his shows more than ever, especially looking ahead to 2026. Best known as the creator of the Law & Order franchise, Wolf is a leading figure in television production. Although Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) currently has a larger number of shows being made, Wolf’s television work has spanned decades and includes some of the longest-running and most popular series in network history.
Dick Wolf is known for creating hugely successful TV shows that often lead to spin-offs – and sometimes even spin-offs of those spin-offs, much like Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy. While Law & Order first aired in 1990 and ran for twenty years, its 1999 spin-off, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has actually become more popular. Though Law & Order was brought back in 2022, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is the real powerhouse, with an impressive 594 episodes over 27 seasons.
This is just a small glimpse of Dick Wolf’s extensive work. Within the Law & Order franchise, there are multiple spin-offs including Criminal Intent, Law & Order: UK, Law & Order: LA, Law & Order True Crime, Law & Order: Organized Crime, and Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent. The 2018 series FBI also proved popular enough to create its own spin-offs, FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International. Similarly, the procedural drama Chicago Fire, which began in 2012, has run for 14 seasons with nearly 300 episodes and generated further series like Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, and Chicago Justice.
NBC’s Entire Wednesday Night Lineup Centers On Dick Wolf Shows
Wolf’s success is fantastic news for him, but it could be a concern for his network, NBC. While they’ve approved a reboot of The Rockford Files starring David Boreanaz for 2026, NBC still heavily depends on Wolf’s shows, especially since his programs make up most of their Wednesday night schedule.
Both Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU will continue on NBC, but Law & Order: Organized Crime has been canceled—a likely outcome after it moved to Peacock streaming service. Dick Wolf’s shows, including the One Chicago series and the Law & Order franchise, currently take up five hours of NBC’s primetime schedule each week. This makes it difficult for the network to approve new procedural dramas when they can instead expand existing popular programs from Wolf Entertainment.
Is NBC Too Reliant On Dick Wolf’s Franchises?
It might not seem like a big deal, but the new spin-off of The Big Bang Theory, called Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, shows there’s still strong interest in stories from this sitcom universe. Even with previous prequels like Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, people are clearly eager for more. If these shows continue to do well, it’s likely we’ll see even more spin-offs in the future.
This analysis doesn’t consider the new programs viewers are missing out on because of NBC’s focus on established procedural dramas. Dick Wolf’s Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Law & Order, and Law & Order: SVU dominate the network’s schedule in this genre. Often, promising new pilots – like one starring Emily Deschanel from Bones, called Key Witness – are overlooked in favor of yet another spin-off related to Wolf’s existing shows.
The show Key Witness had a fresh take on crime dramas, focusing on the victims rather than the criminals – a different approach than shows like Hannibal, Criminal Minds, and Mindhunter. Unfortunately, because NBC, under Dick Wolf, primarily produces Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU these days, Key Witness was never given the chance to air and audiences won’t get to see if it lived up to its potential.
2026-07-23 03:08