"Catching Up with Dick Wolf"

June 13th, 2023

Growing up watching TV variety shows, I often wondered how the jugglers could keep so many balls in the air at one time. Today I wonder the same thing about my friend Dick Wolf who has nine hour-long dramas on the air every week. No other writer/producer in the history of television has ever come close to that feat. In addition to Law and Order, Wolf produces Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,  Law and Order: Organized Crime, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med, FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, and FBI: International. Perhaps even more impressive is that in this era of the 500-channel universe and a myriad of streaming services, all nine of Wolf’s dramas air on a broadcast network, and all nine are commercially successful.

I first met Dick in the spring of 1999 at an event for the Museum of Television and Radio (now the Paley Center) in New York City. A few months later I interviewed him at length for volume one of my TV Creators book series. Back then we talked about our shared love of old TV westerns and heroes like Hopalong Cassidy. Dick also recounted how he spent his summer breaks from the University of Pennsylvania working at ad agencies, then eventually ended up creating national campaigns for major brands like Crest Toothpaste. “I’ve essentially never earned a dollar that wasn’t somehow writing related,” he told me. And Dick came by his talent honestly. “My grandmother wrote title cards for Paramount in the silent era, and my father was a second-generation screenwriter.”

We reconnected by phone late last month, but our conversation was marked by irony because it took place during a writers’ strike. And so, as I spoke with a legendary wordsmith, not a single word was being written for any of Dick’s nine shows.

Jim:: I remember seeing a survey from years ago that said even in normal times, most actors and writers only make a few thousand dollars a year, because they can’t get work.
Dick:: Right, there’s 90% unemployment, and I’ve been saying this for 35 years, “Why can people who cannot qualify for health insurance vote on throwing people out of work?” This strike is incredibly complex. This is the end of May, and it looks like they’re not even going to start talking to the writers again until they close with the actors and directors. So, you’re looking at a very protracted period of labor upset.
Jim:: Back when you were only producing Law & Order and SVU, you told me that you employed anywhere from 120 to 150 people on each show. Is that still the average today?
Dick:: It’s much more now. I was talking about actors and writers and crew. But when you get into post and scoring, and all the ancillaries that are not direct production costs, it’s closer to 300 people on a show. Right now, I’ve got about 3,000 people out of work.  This is my fourth strike, and in 1987 that strike went on for six months and two weeks. In my opinion, this current strike is going to go on just as long if not longer. And it doesn’t just affect writers and directors and actors. It affects everybody who works on those shows which are all shut down.
Jim:: Years ago, I asked you if you had a sixth sense about which shows will be successful, and you said, “It’s always a crapshoot.” Now that you’re the most successful TV creator in history, is it still a crapshoot when you start a new show?
Dick:: Every time. You never know what the audience is going to react to, but I’ve managed to at least cut down the size of the ranks. You do learn what not to do as much as you learn what to do.
Jim:: Somehow you and your shows have managed to stay relevant for over 40 years and across several generations. How have you managed to do that, and do you ever consciously concern yourself with going after the youth market?
Dick:: I have a strange belief that if you put out good stuff the audience will buy it, and I only do stuff that I want to watch, and there’s not that much on TV that I want to watch that I don’t make. It sounds terrible, but it’s true.
Jim:: Are you concerned about the trend toward artificial intelligence with regards to crafting stories and scripts?
Dick:: I’m not worried about it because I’m in a unique situation, but if I was a 30-year-old writer I’d be absolutely terrified. Five years from now, machines will be writing Shakespeare.  We should not pretend that the genie can be put back in the bottle. It can’t.
Jim:: Is it still fun for you, or is it more like work?
Dick:: Well, it’s both. The work IS fun. I mean, it’s taken 40 years and not many people say “no” to me anymore [laughs]. That’s not a bad position to be in.
Jim:: What’s changed for you over the years?
Dick:: When I got out here, I was always the youngest person in every meeting, and now I’m always the oldest by much more than a decade.
Jim:: You’ve innovated so many things like the split-format drama and streamlined pace.  What will be your final innovation?
Dick:: My last innovation will be coming up with a show that can’t be cancelled. [both laugh]