NBC Takes Law & Order Producer To Court

Bosses at U.S. TV network NBC Universal are taking LAW & ORDER creator DICK WOLF to court in a dispute over how much he is paid.

Executive producer Wolf – responsible for the original legal drama and its spin-offs Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent – is arguing his contract guarantees him a certain fee or payment for producing 48 extra episodes of Law & Order, even though NBC has decided not to continue airing the show.

But NBC bosses claim they made no such agreement and their lawsuit – filed late last week (ends25Jan08) with the Los Angeles Superior Court – asks the court to clarify the contract signed by both the firm and Wolf.

Pam Rubem Golum, a spokeswoman for Wolf, says, “NBC Universal is trying to rewrite an existing contract.”

Law & Order is the second-longest running drama in U.S. TV history, after the 20-year run of Western series Gunsmoke.

(PAW/WNWCJS/LR)