NBC Benches ‘Law & Order: For The Defense’; New ‘Law & Order’ Spin-off in the Works

NBC has announced it is now moving forward with “Law & Order: For The Defense”, which was slated in the Thursday 8 p.m. ET hour into veteran “Law & Order: SVU” and “Law & Order: Organized Crime.” Instead, the upcoming ninth season “The Blacklist” will shift to Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET this fall, which was originally set to return to the Friday 8 p.m. hour. This isn’t the first time a “Law & Order” series had been announced but then didn’t move forward following “Law & Order: Hate Crimes.”

“Law & Order: For The Defense” was set at a criminal defense law firm. Carol Mendelsohn (“CSI”) was set as showrunner, with “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf, Arthur Forney, Julie Weitz, Peter Jankowski and Mendelsohn executive-producers. Universal Television and Wolf Entertainment were to produce.

There is, however, another new title under the “Law & Order” banner in the works at NBC, according to insiders.