You know times are rough when even Law & Order is cutting shifts
Casts on the Law & Order series are getting the TV equivalent of when your boss starts cutting hours at the Sizzler
Aux News Law & Order
We don’t usually think about Dick Wolf needing money. Dude just pulled down renewal notices for six different TV shows (Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD) all at the same time, which is the sort of power move you can accomplish if you’re Dick Wolf, and basically no one else in TV. You’d imagine he has money to burn.
So take it, maybe, as the ultimate expression of TV budget tightening right now that Deadline reveals this week that even Wolf is having to cut costs, despite those big, expansive orders for those big, expansive TV procedurals. Specifically, it’s being reported that, while each of Wolf’s six new seasons of TV will be the usual length (about 22 episodes in most cases; half that for Organized Crime), each series will only be putting their various actors in 18 to 20 of those episodes. (That is, everybody will miss—and not be paid for—a couple of episodes apiece, something you can only do with the kinds of ensemble casts the Wolf shows specialize in.) Deadline notes that your Mariskas Hargitay and such might be exempt from the restrictions, but everybody else is getting the TV equivalent of when your boss starts cutting hours at the Sizzler because times are getting tight.
The Deadline piece notes that this is actually a less drastic move than what some other casts have been doing lately; Blue Bloods over on CBS just had the cast take a pay cut of 25 percent, apparently across the board, to help keep the show on the air. Bob Hearts Abishola just logged a similar cut; at least with The Wolf Method, the actors in question will get the same amount per time they spend filming, even if it sums out to a similar drop in pay.
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They’re cutting down Olivia Benson kidnappings to only twice a season!
“even Wolf is having to cut costs…” Horse shit. He’s not ‘having’ to do anything. Like most rich people, he’s happy to take money out of other people’s pockets to make sure he makes more.
Plus, Wolf =/= NBC.
It’s usually not the producing company that sets the budgets, it’s the networks. So it’s very possible this cost-cutting is being imposed upon the shows.
Except for the original Law and Order (and maybe Organized Crime) hasn’t Mr. Wolf been doing this for the last season or so with all his shows (including the FBI’s on CBS)? At least one character often seems to be off somewhere training, on loan, in court, etc., per episode.
I’m not sure about the others, but he’s been doing it with SVU for years now. There’s usually only 2, maybe 3 of the main cast per episode, while the other(s) are like you say, off doing whatever. Though I’m sure Hargitay (and maybe Ice-T?) gets paid every episode no matter what.
There was also that season (seasons?) of Criminal Intent where there were two detective duos that would switch off each episode.
Oh yeah, I really liked the Julianne Nicholson/Jeff Goldblum pairing from those. I think they did that for the last 3 or 4 seasons with those two, and the Chris Noth pairings with Alicia Witt, Annabella Sciorra, and Nicholson, all switching off with the original D’onofrio/Erbe pair.
Alicia Witt? Where?
She was on Criminal Intent as one of the reoccurring detectives.
I like Alicia Witt but she was awful in Criminal Intent.
Quite honestly I can’t really remember – I do remember really liking Goldblum/ Nicholson pairing though.
That was less cost cutting and more of a D’Onofrio is a little more touched in the head than normal and needs a break for his own good and/or Erbe is on maternity leave reason.
That was also partially due to the fact that Vincent D’Onofrio requested some time off as he was getting exhausted from the filming schedule
I think he hurt his back at one point and couldn’t be walking around NYC all day.
That was because D’Onofrio literally collapsed from exhaustion on set.
I know some of that was related to Vincent D’ Onofrio being exhausted by the work schedule.
I’m way behind on SVU, but in the prime, Benson/Stabler era, two of the detectives would be the main investigators for the case, but the other two would still be around at the precinct to drop some exposition or other important information.
Yeah, they don’t even keep em around in the background anymore. If you’re off that week, you’re probably not even getting mentioned in passing.
A lot of that was for time reasons when shooting 22-25 episodes a year. It was super common back in the day. There were X-Files episodes that Mulder or Scully weren’t in because they sometimes did 25 or 26 in a season. It was considered wild that SMG appeared in every single Buffy episode in some capacity.
Ice T is one of my personal heroes and one of the things I love about him is the insane number of lanes he’s in for paychecks. In addition to SVU, the guy tours with his metal band, still does rap shows, does loads of voiceover, stars in national name brand commercial campaigns, has a podcast, does loads of public speaking… dude is constantly folding bank.
He does have a crazy work ethic. I remember hearing him talk about doing the Leprechaun in Da Hood movie because he got a $50,000 Cadillac out of it. Of course he is a born….
Word, he pulls the trigger long!I also heard him talking about how he responded to someone dissing him for starring as a kangaroo in Tank Girl. He was like, “I made $850,000 for that movie. The dude shut the f*ck up.”
“I die harder than Bruce Willis.”Classic line.
Well, SVU and the voiceovers and commercials may be just “lanes for paychecks” but I think the bands and podcasts and public speaking are things he actually wants to do with his time.
Definitely… and the guy had an established rap career that he put at significant risk by starting a metal band… that shit was just *not done* in the 90s and in fact is rarely done successfully these days either.
I mean, it’s incredibly common for a large ensemble show to not feature every single cast member in every single episode. You can go watch old episodes of, e.g., M*A*S*H and Houlihan or Mulcahey or whoever just won’t show up for whatever reason. I’d never thought of it as a cost-cutting measure so much as a writing logistics issue of having to find something for a boatload of characters each episode.
That’s why they got rid of Spear-Chucker, right?
“…something you can only do with the kinds of ensemble casts the Wolf shows specialize in.”Pretty sure the CW does/did this with just about every single one of their shows. I think there was even an episode of the Flash without… the Flash.
It was very noticeable on the last couple seasons of Legends of Tomorrow.
I think some of that was writing around COVID protocols. Even in scenes characters were rarely in the same 2-shot, and if they were they were at a noticeable distance.
The Deadline piece notes that this is actually a less drastic move than what some other casts have been doing lately; Blue Bloods over on CBS just had the cast take a pay cut of 25 percent, apparently across the board, to help keep the show on the air. Bob Hearts Abishola just
logged a similar cut; at least with The Wolf Method, the actors in
question will get the same amount per time they spend filming, even if
it sums out to a similar drop in pay.
I wasn’t good at math(s) but isn’t this method better than what’s happening to Blue Bloods/Bob Hearts Abishola’s casts? If I’m getting paid 25% less for 25% (or so) less work, then I’m not really losing out. Compared to someone still doing 100% of the same work, but for 75% of their previous pay.
Pff, Deadline? With Oliver Platt? And Bebe Neuwirth? Cancelled after five episodes, and modeled after the fucking New York Post? I wouldn’t take anything they say too seriously.
you’re saying the same thing.
The revived Law & Order is such a pale imitation of the original flavor it bums me out. The trashy yet more popular SVU was kind of dragging it into the gutter during the end of its initial run, it was almost a mercy that it got canceled in 2010. But now it’s a zombie shell of its former self.
The new L&O is like drinking Crystal Pepsi again – what is the point of this? The difference is stupid? But wait…I do like Pepsi. And as such I do like the new L&O. But it sure doesn’t feel as good, thats true.
Yeah, I was pretty excited for the revival because original Law & Order, while corny/melodramatic at times, was always dependably entertaining and well-made. It had that slice of life feel while the new one is too sleek and boring. The stories in the new one were also severely lacking and felt like they would just end abruptly.
The original wasn’t prestige TV, but it was a solid boots on the street show often thoughtfully weighted legal quagmires, and occasionally got a little sensational. It even perfectly blended with David Simon’s Homicide and landed Julia Roberts at her peak. Sure, it look liberties with court room procedures, but every episode of the revival I’ve watched my wife and I are just like “this would never be allowed to happen”. There was one episode where key discovery was dumped in casual conversation after a commercial break – it’s a procedural, folks!
I get the TV landscape has changed a lot since the late 1990s – Network TV budgets are slashed and more writers rooms available to talent than ever – but the revival feels like L&O fanfic but no one told Sam Waterston.
Exactly, well said. It was perfectly middlebrow—a turn off your brain kind of show, but the stories were interesting enough and actors compelling enough that it didn’t feel like slop. I wasn’t groaning constantly like in the new show, which is just mediocre to bad.Another issue with the new show was the cop pairing—the Burn Notice guy’s character was such an annoying asshole. Maybe that’s the most realistic thing they’ve done, but doesn’t make for enjoyable TV.
Honestly the last two years of the original L&O had a phenomenal cast. The whole thing just worked. The new cop pairing sucks because Bernard is already a bit conservative.
I’ll stand up for those final years too. They went out on a high note, with the best detective pairing in years, a tremendously watchable lead prosecutor, and newfound energy crackling from the writers’ room.
landed Julia Roberts at her peakIf decades-old memories of checkout-stand magazines laying around the dentist’s office can be trusted, Benjamin Bratt might’ve had something to do with that catch. I recall it as an exceptionally good episode, and that she played one of the very few L&O villains who got away with it, too.
The writing is just … so bad. I was talking about this with my dad just last night. I really, really like Mehcad Brooks and Hugh Dancy and was excited to see them in the revival. But the stories are just so milquetoast! Dancy’s character is weak and ineffectual and worst of all, boring. I miss Linus Roache. Cutter was always interesting to watch. It’s particularly bad in the courtroom half of each episode, but man, I would kick that Burn Notice guy in the teeth for nothing. All he does is grouse about minorities. It’s not funny, or poignant, it’s just mean and small-minded. If I wanted to listen to thinly-veiled racism and condescension I’d go out to Long Island. Like, I get that you’re not supposed to like him, but that’s annoying to watch week after week.
Yup. all the problems that took place in the season before it ended are here in spades. Orbach is turning in his grave.
I thought Jeffrey Donovan was growing into the role a bit in S1, but he’s right back to being a cartoon character. This is just not his role.He was absolutely brilliant in Fargo, though.
It’s been happening across the board in TV, no matter what kind of series. Ask production crew members: it’s been extra tough to find work lately. Series are getting axed left and right (especially if they are Discovery). Major networks and studios are being asked to cut billions from their budgets and of course, the cut costs are never going to be coming from the exec floor.
Can’t wait for the cross overs… Benson walks into the Chicago PD bullpen. “Where’s Voigt” .. “Oh he’s on vacation”. “But he asked me fly out here”.
It’s telling that I’m so old that when I read this my first thought was, “Even if he were still alive, why would Robert Guillaume’s character be guesting on Chicago PD?” Probably also because I’ve been watching old reruns since Prime added Benson recently.
With the possible exception of a certain (defunct?) cigarette brand, I’m pretty sure I always think of Robert Guillaume when reading the name “Benson.”Also: you’ll get no spoilers from me here, but if you haven’t already, you might want to check out Poker Face on Peacock.
That’s a shared universe I totally would’ve been on-board with.If nothing else we’d finally find out whether he won that election or not!
I wonder what the emphasis on crossovers means for this. SVU keeps having Organized Crime crossovers that usually involve main characters being absent so that Benson and Stabler can do something.
Dick Wolf is well known for being a cost-cutter which is how he keeps his shows on the air. There was an article years ago that explained that even small budget decisions like pouring soda by request rather than permitting cast members to have individual cans saved money and was a major driver on Wolf being a star producer.
REALLY they were on break for all but 1 episode in march and another 2 week hiatus in april, and legit my heart isn’t bleeding for actors making upwards of 300K per episode Wolf is clearing over 5 million a month and they can’t manage to staff the show or put together a complete season. Either they’re stupid or they think we are.
Ice-T: So, are you telling me this guy gets off……early today?(points thumbs towards self)
Deadline notes that your Mariskas Hargitay and such might be exempt from the restrictions“The Devil and all his Freddys Krueger”