'SVU' exclusive: NBC to replace Chris and Mariska?! Apr 8, 2009, 04:27 PM | by Michael Ausiello and Lynette Rice
Categories: Law & Order: SVU
They wouldn't dare.
Multiple sources are confirming that NBC is threatening to replace Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni on Law & Order: SVU if the actors persist in their demands for more money.
Last week, NBC closed a deal with L&O boss Dick Wolf for an 11th season of SVU -- which, at 10.5 million viewers, remains the Pea****'s No. 1 scripted show. That opened the door to a new round of negotiations with the stars, whose $350K-per-episode contracts will expire in May. Yet a source close to the matter said talks stalled when the duo -- who, like in their previous negotiations, are banding together -- attempted to go after back-end profits, a perk that's almost never granted in the L&O universe (although exceptions were made for Vincent D'Onofrio and Chris Noth).
As a result, NBC cautioned that it may be forced to replace the MVPs -- a risky move considering how integral Hargitay and Meloni are to the show. Many feel the Pea**** won't make good on its threat (reps for the network, studio and the actors would not comment for this story). "I don't think in this environment, there's any chance they could re-launch the show with both of them gone," says a high-ranking exec at a rival network. "It's a horrible time to retool a show. They already have to change the time-slot, because it's not going to be airing at 10 pm next season." At the same time, a Pea**** insider says, "I can't imagine either actor walking away from over $7 million a year."
For now, Wolf is putting a positive face on the talks. Through his spokesman, he said, "It is my fondest hope that both Chris and Mariska will be back next season."
What do you think? Can SVU exist without Chris and Mariska?! Cast your votes in the comments section below!
This message has been edited. Last edited by: caresa,
Posts: 5425 | Location: "Stay Classy San Diego!" | Registered: June 15, 2006
Law & Order survived cast changes, but SVU is a different show and I'm not sure it could survive without either Hargitay or Meloni, let alone both. Does NBC really want to risk losing the stars of their highest rated scripted show, especially when everything else at NBC is in the tank? I'm sure they'll reach a deal.
Okay, Lindsay, are you forgetting that I was a professional twice over— an analyst and a therapist. The world’s first analrapist.
Good luck to NBC if they can still manage to have a decent show ratings-wise of they killed either Meloni or Hargitay. I can smell that they'll fold on this one and give in to the raise.
I hope The Office wins as Best Comedy Series for this year's Emmy Awards.
Posts: 13057 | Location: Manila | Registered: August 19, 2006
Originally posted by nrlondon76: I'd love Chris Meloni to arrest me.
Anyhoo, I think the show could survive without Mariska and Chris. The show has a generic formula. They'd just have to find good replacements.
Possible Duos:
- Katherine Heigl & T.R. Knight - Maura Tierny & James Gandolfini - Heather Locklear & James Spader
The shows format would be fine, but the thing is nobody would watch it. Mariska and Chris have been part of it so long....that's what people associate it with.
Posts: 802 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: September 25, 2008
This show's writing has gotten so bad I stopped watching it more than a year ago. If they wrote out Harigtay and Meloni and mixed it up with new actors, I might actually give it another shot. Frankly, I'm kind of sick of the Stabler/Benson dynamic. They're very self-important characters, and constantly unprofessional. I can't speak for the rest of the viewing audience, but I'd be as happy without them as with them.
"CSI" has managed to survive without Gil Grissom. And the original "Law & Order" has major cast upheaval every few years. I think "SVU" could survive without Stabler and/or Benson. Though, to be honest, I think TV would be better off without "SVU" entirely if the writing stays the way it is.
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
Most die-hard fans of the show who I know associate the show very much with the characters of Stabler and Benson and have an attachment to one or both of the characters. If NBC replaces them, they will lose a good majority of their audience. Their hope would be that the replacements could garner enough interest to attract some new viewers. The fact that Mariska is the only principal cast member from any Law & Order show to win an Emmy shows how much she is associated with the show.
Replacing them would be a huge mistake, IMO.
Posts: 10040 | Location: Iowa | Registered: June 09, 2005
Originally posted by nrlondon76: I'd love Chris Meloni to arrest me.
Anyhoo, I think the show could survive without Mariska and Chris. The show has a generic formula. They'd just have to find good replacements.
Possible Duos:
- Katherine Heigl & T.R. Knight - Maura Tierny & James Gandolfini - Heather Locklear & James Spader
I actually think they need the stabler/benson dynamic. It's one that works for the show, and no matter how bad the writing gets i think people want to see them. I doubt the ratings will go up if you replace them.
I like those duos, especially the Locklear/Spader one. However, I think those would make better dramedeies than Detective shows.
It's also important to remember that Hargitay was NBC's only nominee in any of the main Drama Races(include writing/directing). This was true at the Golden Globes and at the SAG awards.
They've been on the show for 10 years. They won't stick with it forever. If they don't leave this year, they probably will next year.
This show can work without them as long as they bring in good replacements. Just look at how good the original has gotten since half the cast changed these past 2 years.
'SVU' exclusive: Chris and Mariska are staying! Jun 29, 2009, 05:22 PM | by Michael Ausiello
Phew, that was a close one.
After months of tense negotiations, Law & Order: SVU headliners Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay have inked new deals to remain on the beat for not one but two more years, sources confirm to me exclusively.
The two-year part comes with an asterisk since, as you know, SVU has only been picked up for one more season (its 11th). Basically, if NBC renews the show beyond next season, Meloni and Hargitay are guaranteed to be a part of it.
As I reported in early April, talks hit a wall when the actors attempted to go after the show's back-end profits, something that's almost never granted in the L&O universe. A month later, NBC co-chair Marc Graboff told me that SVU would carry on with or without its two leads, adding that "there's an offer on the table."
So, who budged? Neither side is commenting, but indications are that a very happy compromise was forged that sweetens the duo's $385K-per-episode salary. In exchange, both actors agreed to add a second year to their pacts.
Relieved that Chris and Mariska are staying put? Sound off in the comments!
I thought they had reached an agreement weeks ago. I never doubted that Hargitay would be given what she wanted. It was Meloni who I thought might be let go.
I am very, very excited by this news. We all know she can act and i can only imagine the work she'll do with Hargitay, Meloni, Tunie and even Judith Light!
Praying The Daytime Emmys air on TV in 2010!
Posts: 20043 | Location: just outside Providence, Rhode Island | Registered: July 28, 2002
Lahti will appear in next season's first four episodes, after which she'll pass the rotating ADA baton back to the returning Stephanie March.
Wow. That's so great. I kind of wish she was joining the show full time, but I hope she can score a guest actress nom with this role. She's always great.
Meloni, Hargitay seal deal with 'SVU' Actors sign up for two more years of 'Law and Order' By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay have finally sealed a deal that will keep them on "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" for the next two seasons.
Also, NBC said Christine Lahti is set to guest star in next season's first four episodes of "SVU," while former series regular Stephanie March, who plays ADA Alex Cabot (and returned on a limited basis last season), will once again show up on the drama starting with episode five, for at least 10 episodes.
Meloni and Hargitay are believed to have secured a payday at just below $400,000 an episode -- slightly up from the approximately $375,000 each was making under their most recent deal. Although Meloni and Hargitay were also believed to also be asking for a single point of profit participation in the show, that wasn't believed to be included in the final deal. All sides were mum on the specifics of the two-year pact late Monday.
Talks between the thesps and "SVU" producer Universal Media Studios broke down in the spring over the contract, but heated up again about three weeks ago.
Even without a deal in place for Meloni and Hargitay, NBC picked up its Tuesday stalwart for an 11th season. At the time, execs made no bones about the fact that the show would go on with or without its anchor stars.
Longtime "SVU" showrunner Neal Baer also signed on to remain in charge of the show next season.
Meloni and Hargitay have starred in "SVU" since its 1999 launch. Hargitay, who had suffered a partially collapsed lung last season -- leading to surgery and, later, a second hospitalization -- had been asking for work flexibility to be written into her contract.
Meloni and Hargitay ultimately joined forces and put forth similar contract demands.
Posts: 5425 | Location: "Stay Classy San Diego!" | Registered: June 15, 2006
so if we have Lathi on for 4 episodes and March for 10 episodes thats 15 episodes, who will be in the rest of the episodes? Or maybe those episodes will simply feature some guest star?
Praying The Daytime Emmys air on TV in 2010!
Posts: 20043 | Location: just outside Providence, Rhode Island | Registered: July 28, 2002
WILLIAM PETERSEN: Well, this is a shock. The only explanation for this is that somehow in the last year, every one of you tried to act with rubber gloves and tweezers.
Posts: 6617 | Location: NY | Registered: December 01, 2002
