Law & Order: Special Renewal Negotiations Unit

Playing detective for a moment, here's my take on the cancellation of "Law & Order" that flared up yesterday and was finally confirmed by NBC today.

It was very important to Dick Wolf, the show's producer, to return for a 21st season and break "Gunsmoke's" longevity record among primetime dramas. And the folks at NBC knew that -- which probably made them think that they could impose very favorable terms on a complicated renewal deal that involved the participation of TNT.

But Wolf is a savvy enough businessman that he wouldn't agree to onerous provisions without pushing back, which probably explains the "dead, not dead" scenario that played out, as my colleague Michael Schneider documented.

Unfortunately, any of that nuance was quickly lost once the "canceled" story broke.

Even so, given "Law's" history and the possibility of TNT stepping in, I'd be wary of drawing a chalk outline around it just yet.

Addendum: Just finished watching the season (and now potentially series) finale, which will air May 24. It's perfectly fine -- with strong work by S. Epatha Merkerson, who is leaving the show and actually gets to play some personal scenes -- but also underscores just how tired the series has become, with a plot involving a threat to a school.

As I've stated before, "Law" was remarkable in the formula's ability to weather repeated cast changes, but the current configuration just doesn't do it for me, and I don't think the show has ever fully recovered from the loss of Jerry Orbach.

The program's longevity is certainly admirable and impressive. Not only was it launched during Brandon Tartikoff's tenure at NBC, but it's the only drama on TV that's older than my beard. Still, it will be perhaps best remembered for that attribute -- it's almost unfathomable when you realize the series launched during the first Bush administration -- as well as its fertility in spawning so many spinoffs, paving the way for the similar onslaught of "CSI" progeny.

For sentimental reasons, Wolf deserved the chance to break his record for years of yeoman service to NBC, but "Law & Order" clearly isn't the network's future at this point. And when the final "Ka-ching" sounds, it will hardly be a premature death knell.