Law & Order: Organized Crime is undergoing yet another shakeup.
In a surprising move, Bryan Goluboff is stepping down as showrunner before the Season 3 premiere of the spin-off.
He will be replaced by Sean Jablonski, who has experience producing the mothership Law & Order series.
There is no word on why the sudden change is happening, which makes Jablonski the show’s fourth showrunner in seven months.
This comes after Goluboff had talked in interviews about his plan for Season 3, which would have included shorter story arcs and more focus on the personal lives of Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and his squad.
The sudden change should not affect episodes that have already been filmed but will mean some adjustments as Season 3 prepares to premiere on September 22.
Law & Order: Organized Crime makes another big change
Since its premiere in 2021, Law & Order: Organized Crime has seen a lot of shifts in the showrunner department.
Matt Olmstead was originally chosen as the series showrunner but left in October 2020.
Ilene Chaiken took over as showrunner to craft the first season of Elliott Stabler returning to New York City and joining a new squad tackling organized crime.
Chaiken suddenly stepped down from the role in February 2022, midway through the show’s second season. Barry O’Brien became interim showrunner to finish Season 2.
Bryan Goluboff was announced in May as the new showrunner and, as late as last week, was speaking in interviews on his plans for the show.
This is why it’s so surprising that Variety reports that Goluboff has departed the series. His replacement is Sean Jablonski, who previously served as executive producer and showrunner on Gypsy and History Channel’s Project Blue Book.
Jablonski has experience with the franchise as he produced 20 episodes of the Law & Order flagship series from 2001-2002.
As of yet, there is no word on why the change has happened or how it will affect Season 3.
How will this showrunner change affect Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 3?
Suddenly changing showrunners just weeks before the season begins is a major shift for Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Just last week, Goluboff spoke about how in the future Stabler would no longer be working undercover and would be solving more day-to-day crimes.
It also would have explored more of the detectives’ personal lives, with Stabler facing an empty nest while Bell (Danielle Mone Truitt) is dealing with her wife Denise leaving her. It’s now unclear if these plans will be ditched.
Also, Rick Gonzalez and Brent Antonello have been cast as a pair of yet-unnamed detectives. And Gus Halper and Camilla Belle will play the owners of a casino that the Organized Crime Task Force targets.
Season 3 will begin the epic three-part crossover between the Law & Order series that airs on September 22.
However, a new showrunner may bring a different approach, and it’s possible there were behind-the-scenes reasons why Goluboff’s vision for Season 3 didn’t work with executives in Wolf Entertainment.
It seems that Season 3 of Law & Order: Organized Crime is already off to an intriguing start with a new showrunner to shake things up.
Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 3 premieres Thursday, September 22 at 8/7c on NBC.
“This comes after Goluboff had talked in interviews about his plan for Season 3, which would have included shorter story arcs and more focus on the personal lives of Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and his squad.”
– Love the idea of shorter story arcs, as the expanded season 2 with three main story arcs seemed to drag on interminably.
Definitely not keen on having more personal lives sub-plots though.
“Goluboff spoke about how in the future Stabler would no longer be working undercover and would be solving more day-to-day crimes.”
– This makes more sense as Staler has already infiltrated several major crime families, and the dirty cops Brotherhood, all in one city. He’s long been burned as an undercover.
And, apart from crossover Law & Order franchise DAs, where has been the Order in Organised Crime? High time they brought in a DA character who at least appears on a semi-regular basis.