TVLine.com is reporting that Mariska Hargitay will return to Law & Order SVU for a 13th season, with a catch. Detective Olivia Benson will be paired with Detective Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni - assuming he signs with the show for another season) for the first 13 episodes, but Benson will then be promoted to a supervisory position. TVLine reports that Jennifer Love Hewitt is being considered as Benson’s replacement.
Read the full story here:
Law & Order: SVU Scoop: Mariska Hargitay Inks New Deal, Jennifer Love Hewitt May Succeed Her
Update June 11, 2011: TVLine.com now reports Jennifer Love Hewitt is out of the picture: SVU No Longer Looking to Collar Love Hewitt
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33 comments:
as possible, as this happens??!!, can not be replaced Mariska... why?
Jennifer Love Hewitt?
My opinion is that this willbe SVU's last season. If Meloni doesn't sigm, even season 13 may not go the whole way. I think they are going to transition Chris and Mariska out of the show and hope people get acclimated to their replacements, but not if one of those replacements is Jennifer Love Hewitt. Terrible choice.
Of the two, I'd rather keep Stabler (despite his constant family drama), so I guess good news?
I'm confident that Warren Leight can make this work one way or the other, from a quality standpoint.
I would rather they did 13 eps and ended the series on a high note. Replacing Mariska didn't work well the last time!
Hooray! Maybe the show will actually be enjoyable again now!
I'm just... flabbergasted. o.O
weird....
I don't see it.Love has a reputation as being soft.I just don't see her as being tough enough to be an SVU detective.
I do agree eventually both Benson and Stabler characters will have to depart as it would be too expensive for Wolf to keep them.
Transitioning to other detectives seems wise but as the Benson and Stabler characters have carried the show I am not sure it will work unless Wolf's people do an excellent casting job in the replacements.As they did it seems they did a poor casting job with Law and Order LA I am not sure they can pull it off.
I agree that I just can't see Hewitt in that role. Don't get me wrong, I thought she was fantastic in Behave but certain actors can & can't play certain roles, and right now I'm just not seeing her as cop material.
I hope Benson's "promotion" is not a sign of Cragen biting the bullet in Smoked.
(Yes my username is designed to do just that).
I know SVU fans get riled about any small cast change but in my honest opinion:
If Warren Leight and the writing team can produce the writing, JLH can indeed "pull off" the role.
But I can't see how Benson would be supervising anything in the SVU when Munch is Cragen's successor (which maybe we will see him on the same weekly basis we saw Cragen). It must be a position outside SVU but alas, SVU needs to be officially renewed first.
nygma - about Cragen, yeah I thought of that too. More I think about it, more I think it's him. Hate when stuff like this gets leaked because then it just blows the finale.
Anonymous, whoever you are...
Believe it or not, you don't have to be a fan of Mariska to enjoy SVU! Not every single viewer of SVU puts Mariska on a pedestial. Some of us actually (GASP!) watch for the crime stories!
I say it's about time we finally get some cast changes, cause having the same characters does get boring! To think I used to complain about Fin & Munch not having enough screentime, but after reading what Ice-T said in his book about that, I'm glad his character isn't on too much! here's what Ice-T said in his book about his character "As cool as Fin is, I think if he was on-screen too much, people would get tired of the character" therefore it is the same for Olivia and Elliot.
@ Metalchick. I sort of agree with Ice-T on that, but for different reasons.
I don't think his acting skills make for lead material. Belzer on the other hand, we know he can hold his own, because he's done it before.
Heh, come to think of it. While were near the subject of JLH; there were probably people who complained about a rapper joining the main cast when Ice-T got started. Now he's done well enough for himself that most of us buy him as the character "Fin", and not just a rapper playing a character.
Right now, I'm neutral on it. I can't see JLH being Mariska's successor, but I'll give her a chance.
I would be against JLH as a full time cop if Neal Baer was still running SVU. But since its Warren Leight, it's worth doing and giving a chance to see.
The article didn't say Mariska was leaving the show, it says, she was cutting her hours back. I think Cragen is going to die and Olivia will be promoted to his position. As you all know, The Captain, have air time but not a whole lot of air time. I saw this coming a mile away when Mariska became a new mother again. I'm going to miss Detective Benson, but I can get use to Captain Olivia Benson. Maybe we'll be able to see Captain Benson love life blossom...
If I could replace Benson with someone it would be Taraji Henson or Jennifer Beals.
JLH is a terrible choice and the ratings will be at its lowest ever.
Lets not pretend that JLH is going to plummet ratings, JUST BECAUSE we think she's not right for the role of police cop.
I would have thought Munch was a more senior ranking than Benson and would surely be up for promotion first?
I know that the mothership got on fine with constant cast changes, but that was something that was established with the show earlier on. SVU has had the same core cast for over 10 years and I think a big part of the success of the show has been the balance between stand-alone cases and a glimpse of the detective's lives. I hate when they overdo it - I'd watch a soap if I wanted that - but I like that they have it. The cast has been so consistent for so long that it'll be a massive shake-up.
Those who enjoy the whole franchise will keep at it, but like her or not, there are undoubtedly a legion of fans who watch it for Mariska and will most likely turn off. Fans of the L&O franchise weren't able to keep the mothership or LOLA on, so I'm not sure that they'll be able to support SVU.
Here's a theory:
Cragen dies in the season finale. For the first 13 episodes of next season Benson is still paired with Stabler, meaning Munch is put in charge of SVU. After that, maybe Munch retires or something else happens that allows him to leave the position, which officially opens it up for Benson.
Just a thought.
I still say Huang is dying, since he's in NBC's Awake.
http://www.tvline.com/2011/05/nbc-fall-schedule-chuck-wonder-woman-svu/
Also here's there's that.
Here in Brazil, his fans are desperate with the news. Mariska has spent the past 12 years of his life to that role. Olivia Benson She made an unforgettable character. Olivia is deeply human but also professional and competent. I think nobody can replace Olivia Benson. Mariska yes, provided that JLH does not want to imitate it. She must have a different character. Let's take a chance the girl. Mariska need to leave because his busy life as a mother. We will respect your decision. But it will hurt. It'll be longing and consolation of seeing reruns. Mariska is so beautiful and talented.
I welcome a show with less Liv her character has gone threw a change and NOT for the better. Liv is a shell of what she use to be and its almost unbearable to watch her. I think its good to see less of her and allow Mariska to bond with her baby which i think is great.
People who claim to be Mariska fans are saying awful nasty selfish things about Mariska scaling back
her time how sick is that her baby and her family need her I am pretty sure her fans will survive less Liv.
SVU is a great show but its faltering lately maybe this will help.
and yes I am a fan not all fans bow down and worship Mariska as if she is a god.
To all those suggesting Olivia takes over for Cragen:
This can not happen. She is only a detective which is equal in rank to a patrol officer. She would have to pass the Sergent's exam and be deemed acceptable for that promotion. Then she would have to take the Lieutenant's exam and be deemed acceptable for that promotion. With Olivia's record, especially that four month suspension after Screwed, she would never be considered for command. TPTB will have to come up with some other idea to have her get a supervisory role if they went things to be at all believable.
Munch can't take over the squad leadership on anything other than a short term basis. Even if he was willing, he is only a Sergent. That's not high enough on the chain of command to take Cragen's place.
Thank you, Catherine! I have been trying to point this out, but every time I get a chorus of, "But this is TV, not reality!" And it's just so... ugh. If Olivia is promoted to Captain, it will absolutely seal the show's abandonment of ANY realism in favor of dramatic plot lines.
"To all those suggesting Olivia takes over for Cragen:
This can not happen. She is only a detective which is equal in rank to a patrol officer. She would have to pass the Sergent's exam and be deemed acceptable for that promotion. Then she would have to take the Lieutenant's exam and be deemed acceptable for that promotion. With Olivia's record, especially that four month suspension after Screwed, she would never be considered for command."
It's not like she can't take both of those and pass them. Munch already did. Also I think they would also look at the good that Olivia has done through out the years along with the bad. I'm pretty sure Cragen has had his share of bumps in the road, and I think they'd take Liv reporting that incident to IAB on her own will in to consideration.
Also your talking about this stuff in a fictional universe where Ricardo Morales (LOLA) can get back on the squad as a detective just because a superior pulls a few strings; in real life I'm pretty sure it would be more complicated than that.
Also in real life the Major Case Squad only deals with larceny & kidnappings mostly. They don't deal with murder like they do on Criminal Intent.
Bring Wentworth Miller back if Stabler leaves.
am glad Mariska will be back, Would miss Cragen but would love to see Liv as captain. JHL could probably do ok if everyone could foreget her great performance as a rape victim this past season. I know I would like to see Olivia Benson be more that just a detective and yes captain would definitely give her less camera time and more time at home. Can't blame her for wanting to spend time with both of her kids and her husband.
This show hasn't been realistic since around season 2. Do you know what would happen to a precinct in which a suspect is murdered by a witness or another suspect every two to three weeks? They could easily make Olivia a Captain if they wanted to -- they shouldn't in my view, for the perspective of realism -- but they could and it wouldn't be that much less realistic than all those precinct shootings/stabbings/defenestrations or all that time they spent chasing terrorists, murderers, and white-collar criminals who weren't rapists.
That being said, they could still pull it off and make it an enjoyable show. Not realistic, but acceptable enough. They could retcon Olivia as having taken the other exams, or even do an in-universe fast-forward to several years later. She might not even be made a Captain after all.
Please please don't leave us "Olivia"! The show will never be the same without you, you ARE the show :( --I understand trying to move up to supervisory roles but is there some way to do both? Really, the reason people watch the show is YOU.
Love,
a huge fan
Update June 11, 2011: TVline.com now reports Jennifer Love Hewitt is out of the picture: http://www.tvline.com/2011/06/svu-update-jennifer-love-hewitt
The show will never be the same without Olivia Benson. You'll lose a ton of viewers. Elliot and Olivia should happen if they want more viewers.
Maybe they can just promote Olivia Benson to Sargent.I do see Cragen leaving but I can't really see Jenifer Love Hewit as a cop especailly after playing a victim and she is kind of soft for a roll as a cop.Cameryn Manaheim maybe.Maybe if they out Cragen they could work Manhein into his position and maybe work Olivia in as her assistant somehow.Then maybe they should have someone fresh and new paired up with Stabler like maybe Patricia Arquette or Jennifer Aniston or thy should try a few different leading ladies till they find the right one.There are many choices out there.Maybe they can have Haung killed inside some kind of hate crime because he is gay and use it as a season cliffhanger then an opening in the next episode.Another option is have Olivia move into Haung's spot.There are just so many possibilities,alot can be done without ruining the show.A Supervisory job doesn't nessasrily mean takeing over for Cragen.I think Manheim would make an awesome cheif.I've seen her in power roles before and she was awesome.Also the cheif position doesn't mean it has to be with in the precint.They could bring in a new cheif from someplace else.It could be worked in somehow.Anyway just a thought
I HAVE BEEN WATCHING SVU SINCE THE VERY FIRST EPISODE. I LOVE THE SHOW & ALL THE CHARACTERS. THE FACT THE CHRIS MELONI IS LEAVING IS HEARTBREAKING. AND IF THEY DARE TRY TO KILL ELIIOT OFF THE SHOW, THEY WILL LOSE THERE AUDIENCE. PEOPLE WHO ARE FANS OF THESE KINDS OF SHOWS, GET ATTACHED, AND VERY UPSET WHEN THINGS CHANGE. IF CHIRS REALLY WANTS TO LEAVE THAT'S FINE, ALTHOUGH SAD, I REALLY REALLY HOPE THEY DO NOT KILL HIM OFF. THE SHOW WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. AND I KNOW THAT I WILL MOST LIKELY STOP WATCHING THE SHOW AFTER 13 YEARS.
Jlh has been on the show already that would be stupid and shes stinks
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