NBC's Thursday nights provided three full hours of Law & Order action starting from the original show's first revival season in 2022 through to the end of the 2023-2024 TV season. In the fall 2024 TV schedule, however, Christopher Meloni's Law & Order: Organized Crime is nowhere on NBC's lineup, and its former Thursday slot will be occupied by Found. It's a big change, and Law & Order star Mehcad Brooks shared his thoughts in a recent interview with CinemaBlend.
As always, Law & Order will air at 8 p.m. ET and be followed by Law & Order: SVU at 9 p.m. ET this fall, but Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Shanola Hampton's Found will air in the 10 p.m. slot due to Organized Crime's move to streaming for fans with Peacock subscriptions. Found is a crime procedural as well, although with a considerable twist involving the main character and the man she was keeping in her basement.
When I spoke with Mehcad Brooks, who reprises his role as Detective Jalen Shaw alongside new cast member Maura Tierney in Law & Order Season 24, I asked for his thoughts on Found closing out NBC's Thursdays this fall instead of OC. He shared:
I'm not familiar with Found other than the show's creator [Nkechi Okoro Carroll] is a friend of mine, and she's incredible, and she's very smart, and she's an incredible writer, so I think that she can handle that time slot. It's a coveted time slot. But I think if there's someone and a show that's perfect for it, I think it's Found. And NBC knows what they're doing. They got it covered. I mean, they've had my eyes locked on that network since the '90s. [laughs] They know what they're doing. I wish [Found] well. I haven't seen much of the show, but I'm looking forward to feasting my eyes. Welcome to Thursday nights, guys.
Welcome to Thursday nights indeed! As Brooks said, the post-SVU time slot is a valuable one in primetime, and I have to agree that Found should be a good fit after I was glued to the TV throughout its first season. That said, it will feel strange not to have Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 paired with Special Victims Unit, not least because there's no word so far of when OC will premiere its first season as a Peacock streaming original.
Law & Order: Organized Crime came full circle with its Season 4 finale in May to set up the move to Peacock, which has been a long time coming. When NBC didn't renew Organized Crime at the same time as SVU and Law & Order, fans began to worry about a cancellation. Instead, the move to Peacock is due to OC's success streaming after airing episodes on NBC, which is also why other shows like Quantum Leap didn't get a rescue.
As for Found, NBC renewed the freshman drama all the way back in November after what one star referred to as the show's "fantastic numbers." It also ended Season 1 on a cliffhanger for Mark-Paul Gosselaar's Sir, and I'm curious how Found's serialized elements will fare when the episodes air after the almost entirely procedural Law & Order and SVU. According to Mehcad Brooks, L&O will be "updated" this fall, but not to the extent of rewriting the hit drama's formula.
All in all, NBC has plenty of crime action to fill primetime on Thursday nights even without Law & Order: Organized Crime. Found was one of my favorite new shows of the 2023-2024 TV schedule, and I think it has earned the post-SVU time slot. If you didn't check the show out in its first season, you can do so now streaming via Peacock.
NBC's different but stacked Thursday lineup premieres on October 3, starting at 8 p.m. ET with Law & Order Season 24, continuing at 9 p.m. ET with Law & Order: SVU Season 26, and concluding with Found Season 2 at 10 p.m. ET. As for Organized Crime... well, hopefully we'll have news soon about when to expect Season 5 of Peacock!
