'Criminal Intent,' Season 8

LOS ANGELES -

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

will remain on the case for another season on USA Network.

The show has been renewed for a 16-episode eighth year, the network said Thursday.

Part of the three-series

Law & Order

franchise created by Dick Wolf,

Criminal Intent

originally aired on NBC. But when the network decided that this season's schedule had room for only two of the shows, a deal was struck to show

Criminal Intent

first on USA, then on NBC.

NBC and USA are corporate cousins within NBC Universal, and

Criminal Intent

reruns on USA already were among its most popular programs.

"We're thrilled to have

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

for another season," Bonnie Hammer, president of NBCU Cable Entertainment & Cable Studio, said in a statement, adding that USA "forged new ground" by debuting what had been an established network series.

The new order from USA trims the series from the 22 episodes ordered for the seventh season. The show returns June 8, after a break.

Criminal Intent

, which looks at cases from the perspectives of both police and lawbreakers, stars Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Julianne Nicholson and Eric Bogosian. Chris Noth, of the

Sex and the City

TV show and movie, also stars.

Both

Law & Order

and spinoff

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

will return to NBC next season.