“Law & Order” Looking For New Home At TNT

Law & Order may be getting a new lease on life — on TNT, Variety reports.

The police procedural — featuring Sam Waterson and S. Epatha Merkerson — ran for 20 seasons and spawned several spinoffs (Special Victims Unit, Criminal Intent, Trial By Jury) before the network axed the show last week. It is currently tied with Gunsmoke as television’s longest-running drama.

NBC Universal is in talks with TNT about working out a licensing deal that would open the door for new episodes of the long-running crime drama to run on the cable network — which is already home to reruns of Law & Order.

Last year, the networks reached a similar deal that paved the way for NBC’s gritty cult hit Southland to make the move to TNT after being booted from The Peacock.

“The patient is not dead,” L&O creator Wolf said Tuesday. “It is in a medically induced coma, and we are hoping for a cure.”

Wolf tells The New York Times that he is courting offers for the show from other networks, and there might even be a two-hour Law & Order TV movie in the works.

A nationwide appeal to save the show has drawn more than 17,000 people to the Facebook group “Save Law & Order!”

The New York City government is among the fans disappointed to see the series go: the show generates $79 million in business for the Big Apple each season.