There are changes coming behind the scenes of NBC's hit drama Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit.
Variety reports that NBC and Dick Wolf have selected FX's Light's Out creator Warren Leight as SVU's current showrunner Neal Baer's successor to lead the long-running drama beginning next year. Baer's contract with the show expires at the end of this year.
Baer, after being on SVU for eleven years, signed a three-year development deal with CBS Television Studios, which he announced last November.
Leight, who just recently had Light's Out canceled by FX, is no stranger to the Law & Order franchise. He served six years as a writer on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, beginning with the show's second season. He managed to become an executive producer as well as a showrunner of that iterneration of the long-running franchise, which is about to enter it's 10th and final season on USA.
While Leight will take over SVU's 13th season, there is still more contractual business that Wolf and NBC have to worry about, which is more intergral for a successful season under Leight's reign.
The end of this season also marks the expiration of Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay's contracts with the show, which are now about to undergo negotiations. The last time the duo went to negotiate their contracts, it became pretty heated with threats of NBC going on without the characters of Stabler and Benson if need be. Thankfully, NBC came to their senses and recounted that stance. Now with NBC under new management, we hope the renegotiations go more smoothly this time around.
Source: Variety
Great News! Leight's a GREAT Guy and deserves to be with a network where he'll be appreciated..Law & Order:SVU is my favorite of all the L&O series, although I admit I'm a sucker for all the Law and Order marathons..So happy for you Warren! (BTW when they talk about Law and Order series and use the L&O tag ..same initials as LO as in Lights Out!.)…
This is great news because I love SVU lots, but it's time to freshen things up a bit. Hopefully SVU makes it past 19 seasons so Dick Wolf can have his much-deserved record for longest-running series.