Law & Order: SVU Renewed for Landmark Season 18, Chicago Med For Season 2

NBC has signed a new deal with producer Dick Wolf through 2020

By Chris Harnick Feb 01, 2016 9:20 PMTags
Law and Order: SVU, Mariska HargitayNBC

Law & Order: SVU isn't going anywhere. NBC has renewed the long-running drama for a landmark season 18 as part of a new deal with mega producer Dick Wolf. SVU is currently the longest-running scripted drama on TV.

Chicago Med, Wolf's newest Chicago series, has also been renewed. Chicago PD and Chicago Fire were renewed earlier this year. Chicago Law, a fourth Chicago series, is also in the works.

"Dick Wolf is a without a doubt one of the greatest producers in the history of dramatic television," Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement. "The Law & Order legacy would have been enough to set him apart from all the rest, but the Chicago franchise now kicks him into the stratosphere. He has been a defining voice of NBC for over a generation, and he is most welcome at this company forever."

Wolf's new deal with NBC is through 2020.

"I've been in the same office, with the same phone number, for 30 years. I'm glad people won't have to learn a new one," Wolf said in a statement. "Staying was really a foregone conclusion. My partnership with Bob has been the best relationship I've ever had with the head of a network. He has also assembled a great team of executives at both the network and the studio who make it possible for the Wolf Entertainment team to turn out multiple shows. It is truly a synergistic group effort that makes me enormously excited about both the present and the future."

SVU season 17 has been averaging a 2.8 rating in adults 18-49 and 10 million viewers overall in live viewing plus DVR playback. Chicago Med has been averaging a 2.8 rating and 11.3 million viewers in L+7.

Law & Order: SVU airs Wednesday, 9 p.m. on NBC. Chicago Med airs Tuesdays, 9 p.m. on NBC.

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)