"Law & Order" cancelled?

That's what Deadline Hollywood Daily has been reporting this afternoon, and it's what folks involved in the show are telling reporters. But NBC has not made any announcement, which has some speculating that negotiations are continuing with series creator Dick Wolf. The possible decision to cancel the flagship series, now completing its 20th season, came as a surprise to those associated with the show. From DHD:

According to that arrangement already in place, NBC/Universal Media Studios was supposed to go to TNT and negotiate a new deal (the old one was up) whereby the cable channel would finance some original episodes of Law & Order in order to continue getting runs of the show. "And, for whatever reason, NBC was unwilling to engage in a serious way with TNT. They didn't do it. At the last minute, they said, 'we'll pick the show up and this is how we're going to do it'. Which was ludicrous." That's when NBC threw its agreement with Wolf out the window and demanded Wolf kick in to help "finance the pickup of Law & Order out of all the money he's made. And his reps said, 'Never going to happen'," according to an insider. Another source explained the situation: "Graboff broke off the negotiations last night when they fell apart based on Team Dick's unwillingness to make certain deal concessions deemed unreasonable."

If the show is canceled, it would be a major blow to NY's TV production community, which has relied on the various iterations of L&O as a reliable source for work.