We can’t say “Dick Wolf†on TV in the U.S. But as South Park taught us, Canadian television is looser, more provocative, more dangerous. It’s lawless up there, but it won’t be for much longer. NBC’s iconic Law & Order franchise is set to debut a new spinoff series, and this one will be based in Toronto. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Universal Television began development on Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent last year, and Citytv (which broadcasts Law & Order in Canada) has green-lit a ten-episode first season to begin production this fall. For once, the city of Toronto will actually get to play itself on TV instead of standing in for New York or Chicago, and the series will follow “an elite squad of detectives who investigate high-profile crime and corruption in Toronto.â€
This isn’t the first time Dick Wolf has gone international. Law & Order: UK ran from 2009 to 2014. But the timing of this spinoff announcement is interesting — one month into the WGA strike. As production on American scripted series is on pause, will studios look to Canada for content? The Writers Guild of Canada officially supports the WGA and considers American productions “struck work,†but its members are not themselves striking, and Canadian series are still in production. Either way, Toronto has had a number of high-profile crimes — enough to fill multiple seasons of a police procedural. These include Mayor John Tory’s pandemic hair, a bread price-fixing scandal, the great Phoebe Bridgers stampede of 2022, and unleashing Abel Tesfaye unto the world. Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent is set to premiere in spring 2024. In the meantime, Vulture has an exclusive preview: