Fall TV: Law and Order Criminal Intent's Much-Anticipated Move to USA

It's been a few months since NBC announced it would be airing new episodes of Law and Order Criminal Intent on sister station USA. Now, finally, the date for the first show has been announced. Law and Order Criminal Intent's first new episode will be shown at 10 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4. That time slot will, for the time being, be permanent. A date has not been set for when episodes will debut on mother channel NBC.

The new time slot is not as comfortable as the 9 p.m. Sunday even slot occupied by the show on NBC for the past three years. For me, settling in with the detectives became an end-of-the-weekend tradition. While a second viewing has not been set, an earlier showing perhaps the following Monday or Tuesday is a guarantee. The show appears to be remaining in the popular rerun slots, airing at 7 p.m. every weeknight. Bravo-TV is also planning to continue its Sunday night marathons, showing episodes from 6-11 p.m.

Why so much news over just another Law and Order franchise? Well, Criminal Intent is much different than the other two Law and Order franchises, giving viewers a bigger glimpse into the lives and motivations of the detectives involved. Fewer characters appear in each show and viewers have a chance to learn about their childhoods, families and how they moved through the department to the major case squad. Cases solved during the show's sixty-minute episodes range from serial killers to crooked cops to kidnapped executives. Unlike the other two franchises, the show is wrapped up at the end. A guilty verdict may not be handed down, but the audience has no doubt who is guilty, how the crime happened and that punishment will be fitting and swift.