Dick Wolf isn’t going to Netflix, wants to create more shows

Dick Wolf has no immediate interest in following Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy to Netflix, but he would like to get even more TV shows on broadcast air.

While some of TV’s biggest producers are leaving broadcast networks for lucrative Netflix deals, Dick Wolf isn’t going to be one of them.

Wolf is firmly ensconsed with NBCUniversal, having signed a new contract with the company last year that keeps him there through 2020.

He has multiple series on NBC‘s airwaves plus two more for its sister station Oxygen, and recently returned to CBS after more than a decade.

The broadcast model works for him, according to remarks Wolf made while at the Television Critics Association press tour.

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“I consider myself a broadcast television supplier,” Wolf (pictured above left with Mariska Hargitay and Robert Greenblatt at a Paley Center event this spring) told critics during a panel to promote his previously mentioned CBS series, FBI. “I have nothing against streaming, but the math is a little daunting.”

By that he’s referring to the number of episodes on broadcast TV versus streaming series—shows like the One Chicago franchise and Law & Order brand are afforded anywhere from 20 to 24 episodes in a season, while streaming shows are routinely much shorter.

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Wolf later told Deadline that “if I had the right show for a streamer, I’d be happy to do it there,” but he also reiterated that he enjoys doing more episodes.

Not only that, but the ever-prolific producer declared his intentions to keep creating more new TV shows, as well.

Deadline further states that Wolf told them he’ll be pitching “new broadcast series” this year, and that the pitches would be “both new ideas and extensions of his current shows.”

Their article doesn’t include specific quotes from Dick Wolf about that, rather just paraphrasing, so One Chicago fans should take this information with a grain of salt. But this information isn’t that surprising—Wolf had originally wanted FBI to be a spin-off from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit before taking it to CBS, and also launched Law & Order: True Crime this year.

True Crime has yet to be renewed or cancelled by NBC, while Wolf saw Chicago Justice cancelled after one season—meaning his two newest shows didn’t fare well (although in the latter case, it’s not entirely the show’s fault).

So will networks be receptive to putting more Dick Wolf series on the air next season? His next one would be his sixth scripted show, and ninth overall. But his name is a proven commodity on the small screen, and he’s created not one but two successful franchises. It could be possible to see him with nine, or even ten series if he can find an idea that audiences respond to.

Would you like to see additional Dick Wolf shows next season? Let us know in the comments and follow each one of his series in the Dick Wolf category at One Chicago Center.