Law & Order Cancelled

Today, NBC announced it has cancelled Law & Order after 20 seasons on the air.

The final episode will air on May 24th.

If it had remained on the air for another season it would have surpassed Gunsmoke as the longest running series in the history of television.

But its ratings have declined steeply in recent years. Besides, you can't keep something on TV for the sake of keeping something on TV if people are losing interest. Or as former Law & Order star Michael Moriarity put it last December in an article on breitbart.com, "Methuselah was the longest running star of the Bible...but I hardly think his memory brings a smile or tear to anyone's eye."

Law & Order became far more stridently left-wing and thus both less appealing and interesting.

Of course, Law & Order became far less interesting once Jerry Orbach left the series and then left this mortal coil.

However, L&O fans can still watch Law & Order:SVU as well as Law & Order: Criminal Intent on the USA Network. However, L&O:CI isn't the same without either Vincent D'Onofrio or Kate Erbe even if Saffron Burrows is deliciously gorgeous.

NBC and series producer however are due to launch Law & Order: Los Angeles in the fall. A lot of scenes in L&O revolve around walking outside and L.A. doesn't exactly lend itself to travelling by foot.