Around 2010, Dick Wolf's vast television empire suddenly fell apart.
First, NBC abruptly canceled its flagship show “Law & Order,” which had aired for 20 years, surprising Wolf's small production company. A year later, two “Law & Order” spinoffs were casually released. All that remained was “Law & Order: SVU.” That was relatively thin for a company that focused on multiple revenue streams and made Mr. Wolf a millionaire. After all, Mr. Wolf has been repeating his “no show, no business” mantra for decades.
“For a moment, it was a little tough out there,” said Peter Jankowski, Wolf's longtime No. 2.
The television industry was moving away from the decades-old staple that had made Mr. Wolf such a dominant force in prime-time viewing: the close-ended “procedurals.” Shows in this popular genre typically depicted conflicts and neat resolutions in courtrooms, hospitals, and police stations in less than an hour (including commercials).
Instead, streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu began to emerge, luxury television (“It's not TV, it's HBO”) began to emerge, and complicated and quirky serials became all the rage. Farewell, “CSI” and “Law & Order.” Hello, “The Crown” and “Big Little Lies.”
Well, it was then.
Mr. Wolfe's style of programming has become popular again in recent years as Hollywood studios cut budgets and bid farewell to the era of peak television. The evidence is everywhere. Every year, Nielsen's most-watched streaming shows include “Criminal Minds,” “NCIS” or “Grey's Anatomy,” even though studios spend tens of millions of dollars on grittier shows. ” and other standby programs that have been going on for years are being rebroadcast. Cinematic fare. Old series like “Suits,” “Prison Break” and “Young Sheldon” became surprise hits last year when they started streaming on Netflix. Vulture recently proclaimed, “Network TV is officially back.”
