With a similar format to the original "Law & Order" show, which was canceled this year, the new spinoff "Law & Order: Los Angeles" is aiming to refresh both the franchise and NBC, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The new program, which debuted Wednesday, brought a sharp reminder to creator Dick Wolf of the demise of his original creation, the story says. Even after the program was canceled in May, he held out hope that it would be picked up by another network. But soon he accepted that the original program wasn’t going to continue.

"Not having it continue was the ultimate disappointment. Nobody expected it to be canceled. Hundreds of people who worked on the show were thrown out into the street without much warning. That really hurts," he says.

But having the Los Angeles-based spinoff of the show, which the article says is a sunnier version of the original, made the decision to cancel the original much easier, says Angela Bromstad, president of NBC’s prime-time entertainment. "I felt we had really explored that world completely, and it was hard to make it seem fresh. This is an important brand for our network, and this is a way we could make it work," she tells the publication.

While the show maintains the original’s "ripped from the headlines" approach to storytelling, it also adds a few Los Angeles touches, such as references to the tabloid Website TMZ and brighter visuals, the article adds.

While the original’s format rarely ventured into the detectives’ personal lives, "Law & Order: Los Angeles" will feature one cop’s wife, played by Teri Polo, prominently, the article says.