The good news: NBC has renewed Law & Order: SVU, its highest-rated drama, for an 11th season. The bad news: The network is threatening to replace Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni, according to EW's Michael Ausiello.
This shocking development comes as the two leads have reportedly banded together to negotiate pay increases in the form of a share of the back-end profits. An NBC representative told TVGuide.com that it is their policy not to comment on talent negotiations. While a hard-line threat is a common tactic in salary negotiations, it seems unlikely that NBC would follow through with the firings.
But it raises the question: Could SVU exist without its two popular leads?
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Christopher Meloni is best known for depicting intense scary guys in shows from NYPD Blue to Oz and his current long-running gig as Law Order SVUs Det Elliot Stabler But hes also been known to moonlight as freaky characters in gross-out comedies like Wet Hot American Summer and the Harold and Kumar flicks Meloni again is veering off the usual path in two upcoming projects tonights Nickelodeon family movie Gym Teacher Friday Sept 12 at 8 pmET and the romantic weepy Nights in Rodanthe hitting theaters Sept 26 We talked to the busy actor during one of his SVU lunch breaks Ileane RudolphTV Guide Has tough guy Christopher Meloni gone soft First youre reading on Noggin then Gym Teacher a Nick movie Whats up with that Christopher Meloni I like to think of that as expanding my fan base Trying to capture the under-12 market I like to exercise and sometimes its nice to change up the exercise a little bit and go to different places Comedys a
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As production of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's new season kicks into full gear, TVGuide.com talked to star Richard Belzer on Tuesday in New York at the Paws for Style benefit (where he and his pup, Bebe, were strutting their stuff in Von Dutch). Coming off of his first day back on set, Belzer said "it was great to see everybody." So what can we expect from the upcoming season? Look for an exciting season premiere: "James Brolin is in it and he's a great guy," says Belzer. Brolin will be playing an ex-military man with a connection to Detective Elliot Stabler, played by Christopher Meloni. "He's got a big fight scene with Stabler, so that should be fun," said Belzer. And for all you Munch fans out there hoping he'll have more screen time, it looks promising. As for his storylines, "Well, I can't say, but there are some big surprises coming up."Law & Order: Special Victims Unit returns to NBC on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 10 pm/ET. — Robyn RossRelated• The Latest Meg...
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For all you bloggers who want L&O:SVU to go back to investigating sex crimes I think we can all agree that the rape of a young boy is going to qualify.Now since Olivia was the featured detective in last week's episode it was pretty obvious that we'd be treated to a little Elliot Stabler tonight. But lo and behold who is that dapper chap standing next to him? Well if my eyes don't deceive me I do believe it's our long lost conspiracy minded investigator Det. John Munch. Haven't seen too much of Richard Belzer since NBC sidelined him at the beginning of this season. NIce to have him backWonder what came first though? Did the Orthodox Jew storyline logically dictate Belzer's presence or did they figure: well we're committed to putting Richard in one episode this year so let's throw his religion into the mix? If that's what its going to take I guess we won't see Munch again until SVU starts investigating hate crimes or someone defaces a synagogue. Shame. They even dumped him ...
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Jeers to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for cheating Christopher Meloni — and viewers — out of a potentially powerful plotline. The promos for this week's episode made it look like the Emmy-nominated star would be dealt a dramatic challenge when his character, Det. Elliot Stabler, gets blinded by a perp. As it turned out, Stabler only suffered temporary blurred vision, and the story gave miscast guest star Arye Gross (as a schizophrenic serial rapist) and generic supporting player Diane Neal (as ADA Casey Novak) showier roles. Anybody who remembers Meloni's captivating performance as sociopath Chris Keller on Oz knows he deserves better.• Read and react to Bruce's opinions on Heroes' David Anders, Curb Your Enthusiasm and more!• Share your own raves and rants about other shows on the brand-new Reader Cheers & Jeers discussion board.• We may feature your Cheer or Jeer on TVGuide.com or in TV Guide magazine!
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