With ‘On Call’ Dick Wolf’s TV Empire Has Finally Found a New Trick 

It takes less than three minutes for the latest drama to bear Dick Wolf’s name to drop an F-bomb, adopt the dashcam, and violently kill off a familiar face at point blank range. For a man renowned for his ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it approach’ to network television, it’s akin to Dylan going electric.  

Initially planned for IMDB TV and then Freevee before finding a home on Prime Video, “On Call” is also Wolf’s first straight-to-streaming project (“Law & Order: Organized Crime” only moved to Peacock in its fifth season), while each episode is done and dusted within a binge-friendly 30 minutes.  

Unlike his other ten and counting procedurals still on the air, Wolf’s role is limited strictly to executive producer. Though having handed over the creative reins to son Elliot (and Tim Walsh), it’s still very much under the Wolf Entertainment umbrella that first opened in 1989 with short-lived CBS mystery “Gideon Oliver.”  

Since then, the Wolf empire has delivered primetime’s longest-running scripted drama ever (the 26 seasons and 559 episodes of “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit”), spearheaded the multi-arc TV crossover, and single-handedly saved NBC and CBS’ midweek schedules: the various “FBI,” “Law & Order,” and “Chicago” franchises were responsible for a staggering 200 hours of rating gold over the past 12 months. And the majority all contain a similar blend of first responder trauma porn, soapy will they/won’t they romances, and good versus bad battles so simplistic they make Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd’s appear nuanced.

Unsurprisingly, the one-man drama factory has reigned supreme with barely any critical or cultural kudos. The original “Law & Order” is his only creation to gain Emmy recognition, and you won’t find many think pieces about the ongoings at the New York Fugitive Task Force, 21^st District, or whichever fictional headquarters Wolf’s workplace dramas have rooted their high stakes in.  

Back in 2015, Wolf seemed entirely content with this state of affairs: “We make Mercedes S-class sedans,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in a clear display of his advertising background. “They’re black. They’re not flashy. But they run for hundreds of thousands of miles. That’s what they’re designed to do.” 

However, in recent years, there have been signs that their engines may be stalling. “Law & Order: Organized Crime” has gone through multiple showrunners while posting some of the lowest ratings in Wolf history, while each franchise has been hit by significant budget cuts. Of course, it’s unlikely the prime-time king will ever descend to the lows of 2010, when he had (shock! horror!) only one show on the air. Nevertheless, considering his demographics (the median age of Chicago franchise viewers, for example, is now 57), his monopoly won’t run forever.  

It’s little wonder, therefore, that his company has started exploring different kinds of vehicles. A scripted podcast soon to be adapted for TV (“Dark Woods”). A docuseries muscling in on the prestige true crime boom (Netflix’s “Homicide New York”). An engaging social media presence that’s amassed 1.4 million followers. “He’s not stuck in a formula,” NBCUniversal Television and Streaming’s chairman of entertainment Susan Rovner claimed to Variety. “He’s evolved and kept up with a changing world.” 

However, it’s “On Call” where this evolution will be most apparent to Wolf acolytes expecting another cookie-cutter procedural. Tidy resolutions and indeed high resolutions are by no means guaranteed in a gritty drama which at various points evokes the anti-buddy-cop tale “End of Watch,” the cinema verite realism of “Cops,” and the POV shoot-em-ups of “Call of Duty.”  

Best-known for their roles in Freeform teen dramas “Pretty Little Liars” and “Party of Five,” respectively, Troian Bellisario and Brandon Larracuente take center stage here; the former as Long Beach Police Department’s Traci Harmon, a no-nonsense training officer haunted by the tragedy of the cold open, and the latter as her new wider-eyed mentee Alex Diaz. And freed from the PG-13 shackles of prime-time TV, the pair’s R-rated dynamics instantly feels more authentic than that of Wolf’s usual frontline duos.  

Director Eriq LaSalle, who also appears on camera as Sargeant Lasman, certainly gives them plenty of opportunities to highlight the show’s hyper-realistic aesthetic, most notably sending Diaz on a high-speed, gun-toting chase which ends in a dilapidated squat. LaSalle has insisted “On Call” doesn’t have a pro- or anti-cop agenda (the Wolf stable has often been accused of siding with the profession, most notably in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests). But he sure makes it look cool. 

Of course, “On Call” also risks falling between two stools. Will Wolf’s loyal, older-skewering audience view the show’s dizzying visuals as a case of style over substance, particularly for the fact they’re getting less bang for their buck too? And can the crowd who wouldn’t even dream of switching on a Wolf programming block be tempted despite the lack of major stars — enjoying her first major recurring role outside the GAC universe since the College Admissions scandal, Lori Loughlin is arguably the most recognizable — and tangible hook? Especially on a platform which already boasts harder-edged crime fare like “Reacher” and “Cross.” Wolf’s brazen assertion he’ll be the last man standing in broadcasting may hold some weight (he still very much dominates the Nielsen ratings). Yet despite deploying several new tricks, the jury’s out as to whether his output can survive the streaming age, too. 

“On Call” Season 1 is streaming now on Prime Video.