Peacock Is Fueled by Crime Dramas, and David E. Kelley’s New Mystery Series Is Just the Latest
David E. Kelley has been a TV legend since the ’80s — and he’s shown no signs of stopping, being responsible for some of the most-discussed television shows of the last few years, thanks to hits such as “Big Little Lies,” “The Undoing,” and “Nine Perfect Strangers.” Now, Kelley is hoping to replicate his more recent successes at HBO and Hulu via “The Missing,” a new crime drama series that is slated to premiere on Peacock.
Peacock announced a straight-to-series order for “The Missing” on Monday. Kelley will serve as showrunner, writer, and executive producer on the eight-episode series, which is based on the international bestselling novel “The Missing File,” the first in a series of books written by Israeli crime writer Dror A. Mishani.
The news is the latest in a string of announcements that reinforce the idea that Peacock is becoming a streaming hub for crime programming from a variety of creators.
Many of the original shows on the streaming service, which launched in July 2020, are crime dramas or documentaries and Peacock also boasts a a large number of acclaimed crime programming from the NBCUniversal archives. The streaming service’s “Dr. Death” crime drama — one of the streamer’s few original dramas — premiered in July, while the “John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise” and “Monster in the Shadows” true crime docuseries also premiered earlier in the year. Crime programming is a consistently one of the most popular genres across the TV landscape and NBCUniversal has prioritized acquisitions of titles from the genre to bulk up its growing streamer: For American viewers, Peacock is also the exclusive home to crime shows such as “The Capture” and “Save Me.”
As for older titles, eight seasons of Dick Wolf’s “Law & Order” are available for Peacock’s premium subscribers, while spin-off series “Special Victims Unit” and “Organized Crime” are also available on the streamer. Another spin-off, titled “Hate Crimes,” is slated to premiere on Peacock in the future. Peacock is expected to become a hub for shows from Wolf, one of the biggest names in crime television since “Law & Order” launched in 1990; Wolf signed a five-year, nine-figure deal with the NBCUniversal-owned Universal Television in 2020 that will see him create shows for a variety of different platforms. Outside Wolf’s programming, Peacock is host to iconic crime programming such as “Forensic Files” and “Dateline NBC,” among other titles.
Which means that Kelley’s “The Missing” will fit right in. Per NBCUniversal, “The Missing” tells the story of NYPD Detective Avraham Avraham, whose belief in mankind is his superpower when it comes to uncovering the truth. Guided by a deep sense of spirituality and religious principles, Avraham is left to question his own humanity when a seemingly routine investigation turns upside down. A premiere date for “The Missing,” as well as casting information, is under wraps.
