'Law & Order' Was Almost Canceled, But a Major Cast Decision Saved It

Law & Order may be gearing up for its 23rd season with a full franchise under its belt, but it wasn't always popular. In the legal drama's early days, the NBC series was very close to a cancellation. Around the time of Season 3 in the early '90s, Law & Order's ratings were declining. Luckily, the series made a major casting decision that saved the show and likely changed the future of the franchise moving forward.

Former NBC executive Preston Beckman was a guest on the podcast The Town with Matthew Belloni. He admitted that Law & Order was "almost canceled at NBC," but after bringing up some interesting research to producer and fellow former NBC exec Warren Littlefield, a change was made. "At the beginning, ratings weren't all that great, and this is a true story," Beckman shared. "If you remember, the original Law & Order had six male leads. It had no female leads. There was a recurring character, she was, I think she was the forensic psychiatrist or something, and she goes undercover, and it was a really good episode, and the ratings jumped."

"And I took a look because even though I was the scheduler, I had a pretty good research background," Beckman continued. "I took a look at the demos for the episode, and I saw there was a big spike in the women who were watching the show. I went into Warren, I showed him the data, he immediately, while I was there, he said, 'We're gonna call up Dick Wolf.' He said to Dick, 'Do you want the good news or the bad news?' Dick said, 'Gimme the bad news first.' He said, 'Look, I'm gonna cancel your show.' Dick exploded, and Warren said, 'I'll keep it on the air if you add two female characters.'"

S. Epatha Merkerson and Jill Hennessy were added to the cast for Season 4, marking the first time women played any role of Law & Order's six main characters (detective's supervisor and ADA), and it remained that way for the remainder of the show's initial run. Now, considering that Mariska Hargitay has led Law & Order: SVU for 24, almost 25 seasons, who knows what would have happened if that casting choice wasn't made way back when. It just proves that women really do rule the world, and more representation is definitely needed.