“Law & Order” shows getting Russian treatment

By Steve Brennan

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Russian television
viewers soon will be getting their own versions of two of the
“Law & Order” series — replete with local cops, criminals and
lawyers navigating the country’s justice system.

Localized versions of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and
“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” are in preproduction in
Moscow, and are scheduled to premiere this year on broadcaster
NTV, their producers said Tuesday.

They initially will adapt the original U.S. scripts, taking
into account language, culture and the local justice system.

“Realistically, both series travel better than the mother
ship because the legal systems do vary in each country,” said
series creator Dick Wolf.

However, he added that the Russian legal system is “coming
closer” to that of the United States. The State Department once
sent over 10 episodes of the original “Law & Order” series to
the Russian government to show how the U.S. legal system
operates, Wolf said.

“This has been a dream for a long time,” said Wolf, who has
long maintained that the franchise has enormous international
potential. Indeed, a French version of “Criminal Intent,”
announced in July, is slated for a spring 2007 launch on
broadcaster TF1.

Added NTV programming head Eugeni Kucherenko, “Whatever
differences may exist between Russia and the U.S.A., there is
one area where we are united — in our strong intent to fight
crime. TV is a very influential medium, and this is why we
strive to show that evil must not prevail and that law and
order will always be on top in the fight.”

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter