December 31 [14:00 EDT] -- Ice-T's acting career has received a boost from NBC.

According to "Variety," the rapper's action series "Players" has been picked up for at least five more episodes by the network.

Ice plays Isaac "Ice" Gregory on the first-year drama, which has found a home on NBC's Friday night line-up next to "Dateline NBC" and "Homicide: Life on the Street."

The news must be especially rewarding for Ice, who told our colleagues in the MTV Radio Network that the show's premise sprung from his imagination.

"It's a story I wrote about three criminals who are released by the Justice Department to pull off one score for them because they are number one, the best people in the world. They can do it," Ice-T explained.

Now, apparently, fans can bug out on it a little longer.