14 DAY TRIAL // Negotiations have come to a dead end between actor Chris Meloni and NBC, and he will not be reprising his role on the highly popular “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” come this fall, when the 13th season premieres.
The news will come as a shock to fans of the series, no doubt, especially since, just a few days ago, they were told that Mariska Hargitay’s role would be downsized in the second half of the season.
What this could mean is that the show is on the way to moving forward without the original leads, TVLine points out. It is also the e-zine to break the news of Meloni’s departure.
“Chris Meloni will not be reporting back for duty when Law & Order: Special Victims Unit launches its 13th season this fall, TVLine has learned exclusively,” the publication says.
“Protracted talks between the actor – who has played Detective Stabler since the NBC crime drama’s 1999 debut – and studio NBC Universal broke down on Tuesday, says a source,” TVLine reports.
Negotiations started right after producers promised Mariska she could get less time onscreen for the same money, which is when Meloni asked for a raise, as we also reported a few days ago.
It turns out things didn’t go as planned – and now fans will have to deal with the reality of watching “SVU” without the characters they fell in love with so many years ago.
In other words, plans are probably already in motion to have Meloni replaced. They certainly are where Mariska is concerned.
“Franchise creator Dick Wolf is said to already be searching for a big name to bring in opposite the series’ female lead, Mariska Hargitay,” TVLine says.
Moreover, asked about the possibility of having another female detective later on in the upcoming season played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, NBC boss Robert Greenblatt said he wouldn’t rule it out.
“Jennifer Love is somebody we’ve been circling, but I don’t know that that is going to happen at all,” he said.