In case you didn’t know, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is the longest-running live-action drama series on TV. In its twenty-fourth season with 538 original episodes under its belt, the series remains a heavy hitter in NBC’s Thursday night lineup and even spawned a spin-off series, Law & Order: Organized Crime, that seems to be doing just as well.
What Happened to the 'Law & Order: For the Defense' Spinoff? On May 3, 2021, NBC greenlit a straight-to-series addition to the Law & Order universe that would examine the work of defense attorneys, a first for the prosecution-focused drama franchise, called Law & Order: For the Defense.
However, a short two months later, on July 15, it was announced that the series had been scrapped. This surprised a lot of people, who were confused about how the show went from greenlit to abandoned in just a few months. So, what happened to For the Defense? Others think that the reason for the scrapping was because NBC felt a legal drama wouldn’t garner the same viewership as a police procedural, especially one about defense attorneys. Law and Order has always been about catching the criminals, and sometimes sprinkling in those grey area choices.