Law & Order: Criminal Intent will air episodes on USA Network prior to NBC
Law & Order: Criminal Intent will be back with a full season of 22 episodes, but those episodes will air first on the USA Network instead of NBC. The unusual deal means that L&O: Criminal Intent will stay on the air for its eighth season, and won’t make the rumored move to TNT.
After some brief conversations about shifting “Law & Order” to Time Warner Inc.’s TNT, the decision was made to keep “Criminal Intent” for USA, said Jeff Zucker, chairman of NBC Universal.
NBC and USA are corporate cousins within NBC Universal, and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” reruns make up some of its most popular programming. Now USA will be able to premiere a full season’s worth of 22 episodes of what had been an established network series, a first for the business.
The series is entering its seventh season.
“This was a strategic decision by us,” Zucker said. “We are really taking USA to a new stratosphere.”
It’s not clear when “Criminal Intent” episodes will air on NBC; they will probably be used to fill a hole when a new fall drama fails.
An interesting move, but I am sure CI fans will be happy to watch it wherever it airs, whether that is USA or NBC.
Law & Order was also picked up for its 18th season by NBC.
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