Peacock In Talks With Dick Wolf For Originals; ‘Law & Order: Hate Crimes’ & ‘New York Undercover’ On The Table

Peter White
·3 min read

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At the start of the year, Peacock closed a mega deal for the majority of Dick Wolf’s library including the Law & Order and Chicago franchises.

A month later, the uber producer signed a huge nine-figure deal spanning broadcast and streaming that will keep him at sibling Universal Television for at least five years.

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So, it’s no surprise that NBCU’s streamer is looking to do originals with the New York-born creator.

Bill McGoldrick, President of Original Content at NBCU Entertainment Networks and Direct-to-Consumer, told Deadline that it is currently in conversations with Wolf about his first project for the streaming service, which launches nationwide on July 15.

“We definitely want to do something with Dick Wolf but we haven’t landed on a specific show yet,” he said.

McGoldrick was coy about what that show might be, but we hear two possibilities that are on the table are Law & Order: Hate Crimes and New York Undercover, along with original concepts.

Hate Crimes was originally given a 13-episode order in September 2018 but NBC paused on the spin-off in early 2019. At the time, the network said that it wanted to get the spin-off right. Law & Order: SVU showrunner Warren Leight recently said that the show would be a “better fit” for the streaming service as the language that people use when they commit hate crimes is not acceptable for network television. “It is something we’ve talked about,” admitted McGoldrick.

The other project that could resurface in the streaming world is a reboot of New York Undercover. Last May, ABC passed on a pilot, which was based on Wolf’s 1990s cop drama. Universal TV at the time shopped the pilot, hailing from Wolf (left), Hand of God creator Ben Watkins and director Anthony Hemingway, which was headlined by original New York Undercover star Malik Yoba, reprising his tole as J.C. Williams, joined by fellow original cast member Luna Lauren Velez, who reprised her role as Nina Moreno. While it did not find a home, reviving the title has remained a priority for Wolf.

The original series, which aired for four seasons, starred Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo as undercover detectives, marking the first police drama on U.S. television to feature two people of color in starring roles.

“We are talking about various shows,” said McGoldrick when asked about the possibility of rebooting this show. “We’re talking about revisiting IP and new shows.”

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