Christopher Meloni Doesn’t Have Partner’s Back on LAW & ORDER: SVU

Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) - Locum

Christopher Meloni (as Elliot Stabler) will not be returning to LAW & ORDER: SVU in season 13, TVLine.com exclusively reveals! Despite protracted talks, Meloni and NBC Universal were unable to come to any agreement. Last week it was confirmed that the series’ female lead, Mariska Hargitay (as Olivia Benson), would be back in season 13 but in a more limited role. According to creator Dick Wolf, the search has already begun for “a big name” to act opposite Hargitay.

According to TVLine.com, NBC’s new chairman and president of programming, Robert Greenblatt, gave no hint of any problems concerning the renewal of Meloni’s contract. However, he did mention the possibility of someday continuing Law & Order: SVU without one of its two original lead actors.

The show already seems to have started the process of bringing in new blood, as evidenced by rumors about the prospective casting of Jennifer Love Hewitt. She reportedly would replace Hargitay midway through the upcoming new season. Greenblatt states that he doesn’t know if this will in fact happen, but Hewitt is being considered as a possibility.

With this news, what do you think of the show’s prospects? Meloni has been on Law & Order: SVU since the show’s debut!

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Author: Cordelia | May 25, 2011 | 5 Comments

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Lisa

It’s goodbye to SVU for me. I could have endured the thought of Mariska Hargitay appearing for only half of Season 13 for so long as I could at least see both her and Christopher Meloni for half a season. But now … Benson and Stabler (and thus Hargitay and Meloni) are the heart and soul of SVU and without both of them onscreen, SVU will never be the same. Dick Wolf always claimed that his shows would go on despite character changes – well, he’s about to learn the hard way that it’s the characters who make the show, and it’s through the characters that the stories are told. I’ve watched a lot of procedural TV dramas over the years, and I never saw another partnership with the same intimacy, intensity and intelligence as that of Benson and Stabler. Together, Hargitay and Meloni changed the face of procedural drama, and the small screen will never be the same again without them.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CHFJLOURUEVT6D33MGUYT5IN5I David

I”m with you Lisa. NBC can just SUCK IT!!! I’m not stayin’ up to see Jennifer Love Blewitt play detective. Guess I’ll start checking out that new Criminal Minds spinoff.
Susan

I am so annoyed by this. I will not watch one moment of SVU any longer. Chris Meloni was great and worked very hard for 12 years and deserved a proper send-off this is just garbage. They have managed to piss off most of their fans, the writing hasn’t been good for the last several seasons but the actors worked hard to sell it anyway. This was the last thing I watched on NBC and now I am completely done with SVU and NBC.
Heather

How about after 12 long years the headline reads Dickeless Wolf and NBC doesn’t have Stabler’s back?. That would be more appropriate. This was a horrible way to end one of the longest stints on a procedural show and destroy a great partnership. And freaking jennifer love hewit you gotta be kidding me. First they kill off regular Law and order and rush out that stupid L&O LA, fire the leads before the show gets going and now they make no attempt to have a smooth transition of SVU. Chris was one of only a few reasons my family and I were still watching SVU. It wasn’t for the great stories anymore he always worked hard and put thru compellng performances despite the increasingly lame writing. And it royally pisses me off that they could make accomodations for mariska and not for him. We are done watching SVU and this was the last NBC show we watched so adios to them too.
Kar

Now more than ever I watch SVU. Meloni was horrible in those seasons. That detective tough disappeared. Interrogating suspects he only knows how to give a sarcastic smile. Irony does not solve crime. He’s not a bad actor though. I expect a mature and talented actor to pair with Mariska. SVU I’ll still see it. Mariska is great.