You're reading it here first.
The brand-new Law & Order spin-off, Law & Order Los Angeles that just started this past Friday on M-Net at 20:30 will very soon be gone and is creating one of those little Mara Louw-type problems the pay broadcaster probably wish it didn't have.
Law & Order Los Angeles only produced 8 episodes at the end of last year and a new episode was supposed to be broadcast in America on 8 February. Now however the broadcast of the show in America - having just fired main cast members Skeet Ulrich, Regina Hall and Megan Boone whilst furtively doing a creative overhaul - has indefinitely been put on hold. It means that M-Net will show the last available episode of Law & Order Los Angeles on 4 March and then have to find a replacement show.
This unexpected Law & Order Los Angeles problem (M-Net has not yet advised about any scheduling changes on Fridays) is not something the pay broadcaster likes. Firstly M-Net doesn't like to put a show on its schedule with a limited running order of just 8 episodes that won't have time to find and build an audience before it disappears. Secondly M-Net expects every single show on its flagship channel to perform in a matrix of buzz, viewership figures and critical acclaim. Law & Order Los Angeles has none of these and instead garnered a tepid reception and low viewership in America.
The problem is that M-Net acquired the broadcasting rights for the show before Law & Order Los Angeles started in America and it came with a guaranteed full first season in October. That full season might well still happen, the problem is just that it won't happen right now.
