Law & Order: SVU in the Media

[WendyCR72]

The show has been renewed - for THREE more seasons.

[WendyCR72]

Maybe my ongoing joke about Olivia turning into Jessica Fletcher won't be so farfetched at the rate this is going...

[ForeverAlone]

At the rate this show lasts, Olivia will be forced into mandatory retirement. 😂😂😂

[mtlchick]

14 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

The show has been renewed - for THREE more seasons.

And yet the mothership got the boot at 20.  Sometimes, life isn't fair. 

 

4 minutes ago, ForeverAlone said:

At the rate this show lasts, Olivia will be forced into mandatory retirement. 😂😂😂

If he makes it that long, I sort of want Fin to be the one running the department. 

[WendyCR72]

2 hours ago, ForeverAlone said:

At the rate this show lasts, Olivia will be forced into mandatory retirement. 😂😂😂

Or she won't retire; she will just drop dead, while working, from old age.

[txhorns79]

9 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

And yet the mothership got the boot at 20.  Sometimes, life isn't fair. 

True dat.  Though I do enjoy that we still get occasional acknowledgments that the mothership characters still exist in the SVU universe. 

 

[CrystalBlue]

The article refers to L&O:SVU as "the Mariska Hargitay-led drama" so it's officially The Mariska Hargitay Show starring Mariska Hargitay.  They're gonna have to widen the doorways so her big head can get through now that she has free rein to be the Free Reign.  Our Most Holy Saint and Queen Olivia.

[WendyCR72]

The delayed viewing numbers must be GREAT if this got renewed for three more seasons. Because I can't see doing this based on the same-day 0.6/0.7 demo and a bit over 3 million viewers that seems to be where the immediate ratings are now stuck.

[wknt3]

28 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

The show has been renewed - for THREE more seasons.

Just coming here to post this. I guess this is considered simply the cost of doing business as far as launching Peacock (speaking of which I wonder if there is a proviso to move the series over there if the ratings start eroding again?) I think this may be a good thing for quality in some ways as they would not announce this without locking in Mariska (and most likely Ice-T) contract wise so Mariska does not have quite the same leverage as she has had and the writers/producers may be able to make more progress in pushing back against her.

If they needed to do this sort of thing to make the deal I wish they would have given Dick Wold carte blanche on casting and given Hate Crimes a 3 year order. It might not be good. Heck it might be the CSI: Cyber style death rattle of the L&Overse, but at least it is something new.
 

16 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

And yet the mothership got the boot at 20.  Sometimes, life isn't fair.

Yep. NBC screwed up by being way too harsh and made up by letting the spinoffs get away with all sorts of stuff and giving them gifts. As an oldest child myself I am all too familiar with the pattern...

[mtlchick]

6 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

The delayed viewing numbers must be GREAT if this got renewed for three more seasons. Because I can't see doing this based on the same-day 0.6/0.7 demo and a bit over 3 million viewers that seems to be where the immediate ratings are now stuck.

It almost doubles its numbers on live + 7 DVR viewings, and I'm guessing good enough on the Live +35 when streamed (I believe the latter is what got Superstore its renewal.)  

[Gigi43]

I saw the news on Twitter and had to come where I know people will see the downside (aka not be up Mariska's ass.) I can't imagine what this show will look like in 3 years. Liv will still be chasing down 20yr olds meanwhile Rollins will have enough kids to qualify for a reality show and we'll be lucky if we see Fin's  grandson twice. 

 

I thought with them killing off 2 recurrings in a short amount of time it meant they were expecting to wrap up this year. Now I'm really mad Tucker's dead! I'm shocked it's a 3yr deal. I know ratings are down all over TV and it does compete (if not win) it's time spot Thursdays but the numbers are not huge. This may surprise me more than Young and the Restless recently getting a 4yr deal when I didn't think soaps did multi year at all anymore. There must be $$ in the streaming numbers and Global recognition we don't know about. The budget will certainly have to be slashed even more than it is at some point. Or worse they'll just let Mariska direct, produce and maybe even write to pay her more without giving her a raise. Ice T posted about it which gives me hope he'll be sticking around.  

 

Here's to more snark if we all can make it through! Hell some of us may not make it passed Kim Rollins tonight, especially me.

[Kroliosis]

36 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

True dat.  Though I do enjoy that we still get occasional acknowledgments that the mothership characters still exist in the SVU universe. 

 

Have we ever heard what happened to Stabler?  I would love to see him or any member of his family come back. 

[Gigi43]

First Ice T posted a link with *Pow* celebrating. He's still celebrating but tweeted a follow up that he found out from a fan on Twitter. I mean better than finding out it was cancelled on twitter. He seems to still be all in. They better feel the same.

[Xeliou66]

Unbelievable. I cannot believe they are continuing this show for 3 more seasons -I can only hope this means the writers put more effort into coming up with good stories and that everyone is committed to making the show a quality product. And I hope they stop disrespecting the legacy of the L&O franchise and realize they are a part of a great franchise and get better continuity, instead of trashing the DA’s office and any character they feel like for shock value and because they are too lazy to write better - have some respect for continuity and for the franchise as a whole. 

1 hour ago, txhorns79 said:

True dat.  Though I do enjoy that we still get occasional acknowledgments that the mothership characters still exist in the SVU universe. 

 

Yes I hope so as well - but I doubt we will, given that the current writers seem to have zero respect for the continuity of the franchise, I mean just look at how they’ve trashed the DA’s office this season without even having the decency to say there’s a new DA, since at last we heard Jack McCoy was still DA and we all know he would never do what they are saying this DA is doing. The previous showrunner had respect for the franchise as a whole, but they are just throwing all of that out the window now. It’s not right that the Mothership got canceled at 20 and yet this show, which isn’t nearly as high quality, gets to go on and on. I can only hope they will show some respect for the franchise as a whole in the future. 

[WendyCR72]

2 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

It’s not right that the Mothership got canceled at 20 and yet this show, which isn’t nearly as high quality, gets to go on and on. I can only hope they will show some respect for the franchise as a whole in the future. 

Considering, as you say, this show has disrespected the Mothership and also undid things from the Criminal Intent spinoff, too, I think respect for the franchise as a whole is intermittent at best, if not completely gone.

It sucks, but it is what it is at this point.

At the end of the three seasons, I can see this still on but going to Peacock. Then I truly shudder at how bad this could get.

[Xeliou66]

27 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

Considering, as you say, this show has disrespected the Mothership and also undid things from the Criminal Intent spinoff, too, I think respect for the franchise as a whole is intermittent at best, if not completely gone.

It sucks, but it is what it is at this point.

At the end of the three seasons, I can see this still on but going to Peacock. Then I truly shudder at how bad this could get.

I’m already shuddering at how bad it can get over the course of the next 3 seasons - I mean just look at how many characters they’ve thrown under the bus and the terrible, laughable exits for Barba and Stone to see how awful things can go.

It’s too bad they’ve gone back to not respecting the franchise because at times they have - look at how in season 19 they brought McCoy back and had him eulogize Ben Stone, that was awesome continuity. Now this season they are throwing the whole DA’s office under the bus and portraying them as incompetent bureaucrats, and any respect for the franchise seems to have gone out the window. And yeah they screwed things up with regards to CI as well because they said Goren had moved on - even though the finale of CI had Goren very satisfied with his position as a detective at Major Case, there was no reason to screw that up. It’s very sad that they have no respect for such a great franchise, and that a lot of people will only associate the L&O name with SVU when it is so much more. I can only hope going forward they will have a modicum of respect for the franchise, but I doubt it.

[Gigi43]

This unsurprisingly is the promo for it. Also unsurprisingly, we're doomed. 

 

[wknt3]

The other shoe has dropped -

Dick Wolf Signs Massive Universal TV Deal as ‘Chicago’ Dramas and ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Score 3-Season Renewals

It looks like SVU is an afterthought here, with NBC being more interested in the "Chicago" franchise and NBCUniversal being more interested in keeping Wolf on board. It makes sense if you ignore quality and just focus on dollars, which it's clear has been the SVU mantra for years now.

[853fisher]

17 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

The article refers to L&O:SVU as "the Mariska Hargitay-led drama" so it's officially The Mariska Hargitay Show starring Mariska Hargitay.  They're gonna have to widen the doorways so her big head can get through now that she has free rein to be the Free Reign.  Our Most Holy Saint and Queen Olivia.

You're not wrong 😉 but I think this construction is pretty standard in the "Variety"-esque school of writing about the media.  Every TV series is the "[star]-led [genre of show]."  She's been top-billed on her own for a good five years now, at least, so I don't think this indicates some fresh era of fealty to her.  It's just what they say.

Edited February 28, 2020 by 853fisher

[CrystalBlue]

21 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Considering, as you say, this show has disrespected the Mothership and also undid things from the Criminal Intent spinoff, too, I think respect for the franchise as a whole is intermittent at best, if not completely gone.

It sucks, but it is what it is at this point.

At the end of the three seasons, I can see this still on but going to Peacock. Then I truly shudder at how bad this could get.

It does suck, but three more seasons of the lukewarm baloney sandwiches they've been serving?  I would think that the three seasons is part of the Peacock Plan, but I don't know anything as just a dedicated viewer.  I hope the Show steps it up and isn't planning on resting on any recent laurels.

20 hours ago, Gigi43 said:

This unsurprisingly is the promo for it. Also unsurprisingly, we're doomed. 

 

Where is everyone?  It's just the Mariska Hargitay Hour now.

[agentp]

On 2/28/2020 at 6:04 AM, WendyCR72 said:

The show has been renewed - for THREE more seasons.

I give up. Basically 3 more years of being the New York Knicks of television - a horrible joke that doesn't have any sign of getting better, yet still raking in the dough.

PLEASE, God, Buddha, Allah, any almighty being upstairs, let this be the FINAL 3 seasons of this misery, PLEASE!!!!!!!!! Its glory days are so far behind it now, it's embarrassing.

P.S: Man, they're really gonna delay the inevitable, aren't they? (I'm not talking about ending the show, by the way.)

[CrystalBlue]

3 hours ago, agentp said:

I give up. Basically 3 more years of being the New York Knicks of television - a horrible joke that doesn't have any sign of getting better, yet still raking in the dough.

PLEASE, God, Buddha, Allah, any almighty being upstairs, let this be the FINAL 3 seasons of this misery, PLEASE!!!!!!!!! Its glory days are so far behind it now, it's embarrassing.

P.S: Man, they're really gonna delay the inevitable, aren't they? (I'm not talking about ending the show, by the way.)

What is the inevitable?  Inquiring minds want to know.

[agentp]

On 3/1/2020 at 2:17 AM, CrystalBlue said:

What is the inevitable?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Oh, you know, all that ending the show entails. Having to grow a pair and shell out some money to invite former cast members back, actually using their brains to steer the show toward some kind of conclusion, those kinds of thing. Things I can't imagine the show doing right now, or in the next 3 years.

Edited March 10, 2020 by agentp

[agentp]

My question about SVU got answered on TVInsider's Ask Matt column!

https://www.tvinsider.com/921325/ask-matt-zoeys-extraordinary-playlist-svu-renewal-crossovers/ (This column's got TWO L&O franchise-related questions, btw.)

As a bonus, here's the time I asked about last year's renewal (Man, I should be pissed off more often):

https://www.tvinsider.com/765594/ask-matt-madam-secretary-twilight-zone-er-younger/

[dttruman]

On 2/28/2020 at 5:32 PM, CrystalBlue said:

It does suck, but three more seasons of the lukewarm baloney sandwiches they've been serving?  I would think that the three seasons is part of the Peacock Plan, but I don't know anything as just a dedicated viewer.  I hope the Show steps it up and isn't planning on resting on any recent laurels.

I guess what surprises me more about the three extra seasons that NBC has given to SVU is that NBC can't find any better dramas or sitcoms to replace this less than exceptional series. Either they are afraid to shell out some decent money for a new quality series or they are more than happy to just pay for something that is a shadow of what it once was. It seems that the only priority that NBC requires is that each episode must come in under budget.

[Gigi43]

I guess Liv can't give a speech to end the CoronaVirus. NBC is halting production on what seems like most of its line up, including SVU. Deadline says the shows are close to the end of filming for the season anyway but also the rumor is the Dick Wolf shows aren't planning to resume this season. Makes sense, if it takes a month or two to begin filming again why do it for a procedural to randomly air this summer when there's probably not a story line to wrap up. 

 

NBC Stops Production On 35 Shows Including All Dick Wolf Shows

Edited March 13, 2020 by Gigi43

[dttruman]

13 hours ago, Gigi43 said:

I guess Liv can't give a speech to end the CoronaVirus. NBC is halting production on what seems like most of its line up, including SVU. Deadline says the shows are close to the end of filming for the season anyway but also the rumor is the Dick Wolf shows aren't planning to resume this season. Makes sense, if it takes a month or two to begin filming again why do it for a procedural to randomly air this summer when there's probably not a story line to wrap up. 

 

NBC Stops Production On 35 Shows Including All Dick Wolf Shows

Remember back in the late 80's when there was a stoppage (do to a strike) and the networks had to scramble for some emergency programming? I remember one network pulled out some shows of different circuses from around the world and Mary Hart narrated it.

Even the movie theatres are spacing out the patrons because of the virus. Only a limited number are allowed in.

[Gigi43]

3 hours ago, dttruman said:

Remember back in the late 80's when there was a stoppage (do to a strike) and the networks had to scramble for some emergency programming? I remember one network pulled out some shows of different circuses from around the world and Mary Hart narrated it.

Even the movie theatres are spacing out the patrons because of the virus. Only a limited number are allowed in.

 

I don't remember that one. I do remember the writers strike in 2007 and honestly I think that was a big tipping point TV the ratings tumbling so far since. Granted that strike was in the winter, prime of network filming. Most shows on networks are almost at the end, not doing 2 at the end may not be a big deal. But for the talk shows shutting down, streaming and summer shows that could be delayed because they're either just start filming or midway, they may not recover. SVU will always have a life in reruns (probably the biggest factor in its 3yr renewal.) But even though two soap operas have renewals, I would not be surprised if is the thing that ends them since production is halting and they're every single day. In the next few weeks with people staying home, with no sports, ratings all over tv could go up but when life resumes and there's a lag in new episodes they may not return.

Edited March 14, 2020 by Gigi43

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, Gigi43 said:

 

I don't remember that one. I do remember the writers strike in 2007 and honestly I think that was a big tipping point TV the ratings tumbling so far since. Granted that strike was in the winter, prime of network filming. Most shows on networks are almost at the end, not doing 2 at the end may not be a big deal. But for the talk shows shutting down, streaming and summer shows that could be delayed because they're either just start filming or midway, they may not recover. SVU will always have a life in reruns (probably the biggest factor in its 3yr renewal.) But even though two soap operas have renewals, I would not be surprised if is the thing that ends them since production is halting and they're every single day. In the next few weeks with people staying home, with no sports, ratings all over tv could go up but when life resumes and there's a lag in new episodes they may not return.

I think it was an actors strike at that time. With the advancement of today, they got nothing to worry about.

With no NCAA basketball, it looks like most husbands will be discussing the ramifications of the "Bachelor" with their wives or girlfriends.

With so much money in sports and sports coverage, we can see how a stoppage can affect so many people.

[RafaelBarba35]

According to Warren the season finale will be episode 20 instead of 24 but thats OK since a lot of old characters and victims will come back in this episode. 

Thoughts?

[Gigi43]

Idk, sounds like... the opposite of a highlight reel. 

 

Or Carisi's boss (Hadid?) will be corrupt and past cases will be called into question and Benson will save Carisi from going down too. 

Edited March 15, 2020 by Gigi43

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, Gigi43 said:

Idk, sounds like... the opposite of a highlight reel. 

 

Or Carisi's boss (Hadid?) will be corrupt and past cases will be called into question and Benson will save Carisi from going down too. 

I wish one of their representatives will come out and put their hand on a Bible and swear it's not a highlight reel. Because that is the only way I will believe it.

If Hadid is corrupt, then wouldn't every case come into question, because every case has to get her seal of approval, right?

[Xeliou66]

I would love if Hadid was exposed as corrupt simply because I hate the character and the show would be massively better without her, just let Carisi work independently. However I think that would be a season finale type of episode and since episode 20 wasn’t supposed to be the season finale but it probably will be, I doubt that will be the case. If we are seeing perps and victims from this season - I have a feeling we might see Sir Toby Moore from episode 1 and his trial, since they mentioned him again in the episode where Kat joined the squad and that he was still awaiting trial. 

[dttruman]

On 3/15/2020 at 9:14 PM, Xeliou66 said:

I would love if Hadid was exposed as corrupt simply because I hate the character and the show would be massively better without her, just let Carisi work independently. However I think that would be a season finale type of episode and since episode 20 wasn’t supposed to be the season finale but it probably will be, I doubt that will be the case. If we are seeing perps and victims from this season - I have a feeling we might see Sir Toby Moore from episode 1 and his trial, since they mentioned him again in the episode where Kat joined the squad and that he was still awaiting trial. 

I am starting to wonder if they all fall under some type of scrutiny, but in the end it will probably be a bailiff or judge that turns out to be the real culprit.

Edited March 22, 2020 by dttruman

[dttruman]

Has anybody seen this on the Looper website? I wonder how accurate it is, because some of this makes a lot of sense. It not only talks about Meloni, but why other memorable characters left.

 

https://www.looper.com/195133/the-real-reason-chris-meloni-left-law-order-svu/

 

 

[agentp]

On 3/14/2020 at 10:41 PM, dttruman said:

I think it was an actors strike at that time.

No, it was a WRITERS's strike:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007–08_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike

That's the strike that @Gigi43 was talking about.

[dttruman]

8 hours ago, agentp said:

No, it was a WRITERS's strike:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007–08_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike

That's the strike that @Gigi43 was talking about.

I was referring to the strike back in the late 80's. I guess no one else's memory goes back that far.

[Gigi43]

18 hours ago, dttruman said:

Has anybody seen this on the Looper website? I wonder how accurate it is, because some of this makes a lot of sense. It not only talks about Meloni, but why other memorable characters left.

 

https://www.looper.com/195133/the-real-reason-chris-meloni-left-law-order-svu/

 

 

 

 

That's pretty much what I heard it was about money but I thought the contract would have had him making less than Mariska after being paid the same and that was the issue he wanted equal, which, I agree they were the costars and filmed the most scenes so they should have been paid equal. 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Gigi43

[illdoc]

https://tvline.com/2020/03/23/law-and-order-svu-season-21-finale-two-returns-simon-death-secrets/

[ChristiKRN]

6 hours ago, illdoc said:

https://tvline.com/2020/03/23/law-and-order-svu-season-21-finale-two-returns-simon-death-secrets/

So, who do you all think the 2 prominent returns were going to be in the original season finale?  I’m guessing Cragen or Munch (because we haven’t seen either of them for awhile) and Murphy (because Leight stated he really wanted Donal Logue back in a preseason interview &  it creates even more Rollins drama because we haven’t had enough of that).  

No surprise that they wanted more Benson drama.  They wanted to even her up with Rollins.  

[dttruman]

11 hours ago, ChristiKRN said:

So, who do you all think the 2 prominent returns were going to be in the original season finale?  I’m guessing Cragen or Munch (because we haven’t seen either of them for awhile) and Murphy (because Leight stated he really wanted Donal Logue back in a preseason interview &  it creates even more Rollins drama because we haven’t had enough of that).  

The article said some victims and perps. Will the two prominent ones come from this lot?

Edited March 24, 2020 by dttruman

[ChristiKRN]

39 minutes ago, dttruman said:

The article said some victims and perps. Will the two prominent ones come from this lot?

I interpreted that the victims and perps from earlier this season are in Episode 20, which will probably end up being the season finale, based on the article.  I thought he meant that Episode 24, which was slated as the original season finale, would feature 2 prominent returning characters.   I didn’t even consider that it may be a perp or victim; I just assumed it was a regular or recurring character.  Interesting perspective, Dttruman.  

[Xeliou66]

I hope we see Cragen or Munch again before long, I’ll be disappointed if we don’t see them again. The show lost a lot when they left, they were both great characters.

[dttruman]

3 hours ago, ChristiKRN said:

I interpreted that the victims and perps from earlier this season are in Episode 20, which will probably end up being the season finale, based on the article.  I thought he meant that Episode 24, which was slated as the original season finale, would feature 2 prominent returning characters.   I didn’t even consider that it may be a perp or victim; I just assumed it was a regular or recurring character.  Interesting perspective, Dttruman.  

I never know what to expect from the executive producers. They may be hyping up episode 24 to the maximum, because it will never be made, so they can say anything.

1 hour ago, Xeliou66 said:

I hope we see Cragen or Munch again before long, I’ll be disappointed if we don’t see them again. The show lost a lot when they left, they were both great characters.

Without a doubt!!

[Gigi43]

On 3/23/2020 at 6:15 PM, illdoc said:

https://tvline.com/2020/03/23/law-and-order-svu-season-21-finale-two-returns-simon-death-secrets/

 

There was no way to revisit Simon's death in a way to make it matter no matter how hard they'd want to push it. He was in what 3 previous episodes?

 

As for the returns, one was probably the ghost of William Lewis. And the other Jack McCoy coming to screw over ADA's in a stunning act of character assassination. Because that's how 2020's rollin'.

Edited March 24, 2020 by Gigi43

[Dr.OO7]

It took me a long time to post this, because it's been going on for years, but I HATE these extended cold openings. It's too reminiscent of Criminal Intent. And the mothership did it too.

I know you guys will love this. . .

USA is doing a "Olivia/Mariska Greatest Hits" marathon on Sunday in honor of Women's History Month.

[Xeliou66]

12 minutes ago, Camille said:

It took me a long time to post this, because it's been going on for years, but I HATE these extended cold openings. It's too reminiscent of Criminal Intent. And the mothership did it too.

I know you guys will love this. . .

USA is doing a "Olivia/Mariska Greatest Hits" marathon on Sunday in honor of Women's History Month.

I dislike the extended cold opens as well. The Mothership never did it though. Criminal Intent did, but that was part of the show, since it was more about the criminals, it made sense and worked well on that show in showing the set up to the crime, but I don’t like it on SVU.

[WendyCR72]

Well, Warren Leight was the EP on Criminal Intent well before SVU, so it looks like he is just bringing some of his preferences from there to this show. As for "cold open", I do think the Mothership sometimes did have them, too, more so in the early seasons, various situations/conversations before the poor unsuspecting sap comes upon said victim. Although less of a setup to said murder unlike Criminal Intent.

Still, as @Xeliou66 said, the longer openings at CI made sense, considering that show involved the machinations of the perps, so...

[Dr.OO7]

38 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

The Mothership never did it though

Yes, they did. Towards the end. Not as extensive as these though.

[wanderingstar]

A Stabler series is in the works. I'm sure there will be crossovers.