A decade on from his departure, Christopher Meloni is set to reprise his role as Detective Elliot Stabler in the upcoming Law & Order: Special Victims Unit spin-off. This development is a welcome one for fans everywhere, given the character’s abrupt off-screen exit in 2011 due to failed contract negotiations.
Meloni famously starred alongside Mariska Hargitay’s character of Captain Olivia Benson, effectively embedding themselves and the show as a whole as an ongoing fixture within pop culture. The pair were also known for their binge-worthy onscreen (as well as off-screen) chemistry, which helped earn the show a whopping 91 award nominations and 33 actual award wins. Currently, it is unclear whether Meloni and Hargitay will be reunited on screens – but one can hope.
There’s immense serialised potential to be found in this spin-off. Law & Order: SVU itself is a spin-off spanning for over 20 years, 21 seasons, and a staggering 475 episodes. The success of SVU has reached a point where it has exceeded the original Law & Order, which only ran for 19 years, 20 seasons, and 456 episodes. In other words, there’s no telling how far this Christopher Meloni lead spin-off will go.
In terms of behind-the-scenes, this upcoming SVU spin-off will represent just one of several shows scheduled to air concurrently from the mind of television producing GOAT and Law & Order creator – Dick Wolf. Wolf recently signed a massive new five-year multi-platform with NBCUniversal… rumoured to be worth close to US$1 billion. Certainly well deserved after all he has brought to the table during his 36-year tenure.
