Neal Baer to Exit Law & Order SVU for CBS

Several sources are reporting that Law & Order SVU showrunner Neal Baer will be leaving the show at the end of this current season. Baer is heading over to CBS, who has offered Baer a three-year development and production deal. Baer himself said via Twitter “Hello, SVU-ers! Yes, I'm going to CBS AT THE END OF THE SEASON. But I'm still on SVU and we've got great shows coming...”

It’s a big loss for SVU, but a big gain for CBS. Best wishes to Neal and a big thanks for being SVU’s biggest cheerleader!


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Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Paula Patton Joins Law & Order SVU: Official NBC Press Release

Here is the official press release from NBC announcing that Paula Patton has joined Law & Order SVU. by the way, Neal Baer stated that her character's name, Mikka Von, spells "Novak Kim" backwards. (Thankfully it wasn't an anagram of "Neal Baer" or her name may have been "Anal Beer" or "Bear Lane.")


July 21, 2010
PAULA PATTON ('PRECIOUS') JOINS 'LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT' FOR MULTI-EPISODE STINT AS NEW ADA

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- July 21, 2010 -- Actress Paula Patton ("Precious") will be joining the cast of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" for a multi-episode stint as ADA Mikka Von, it was announced today by Creator and Executive Producer Dick Wolf.

Patton, who was nominated for multiple honors including the SAG Award (ensemble), NAACP Image Award (Supporting Actress) and the Critics Choice Award (ensemble) for her role as Ms. Blu Rain in the Oscar winning film "Precious," will play a charming and savvy ADA who works with the Special Victims Unit on the Wolf Films/Universal Media Studios series, entering its 12th season on NBC.

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" premieres September 22 in a new time period, Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on NBC.

"When I saw Paula Patton give that terrific performance in the multi-Oscar nominated Precious, I knew she'd be perfect for SVU's new Assistant District Attorney -- she's funny, warm and witty with a penchant for justice. And it happened. She's starting in episode five. How cool is that?" executive producer Neal Baer said.

Patton is currently filming Sony’s “Jumping the Broom” and other credits include the feature films "Just Wright”, “Déjà Vu” and “Swing Vote.”

Dick Wolf, Ted Kotcheff, Neal Baer and Peter Jankowski are Executive Producers of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," which stars Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Richard Belzer, B.D Wong, Tamara Tunie and Dann Florek.


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Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

LOLA Season Premiere Schedule Change; SVU Update

Neal Bear, Executive Producer of Law & Order SVU, advises via Twitter that the Law & Order LA premiere will be moved to September 29. No official word from NBC on that, but since it has already been reported that the start of filming of the LOLA premiere episode “Fame” was moved from July 22 to August 2, the change in premiere date sounds completely credible. Neal also states that TWO new episodes of Law & Order SVU will air on September 22 and he listed the episode names of the first several episodes of Law & Order SVU’s season 12:

Locum
Bullseye
Behave
Merchandise
Wet
Branded
Trophy
? (to be determined)
Gray


Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU “Gag Reel”

Here’s a very funny outtakes/gag reel video from Neal Baer, Executive Producer of Law & Order SVU. It features all the stars of the show - Chris Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Ice-t, Dann Florek, Richard Belzer, plus some of the guest stars. Enjoy!


UPDATE: So sorry, the video doesn't appear to be available any longer!







Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU “Sugar” Video Clip

A short video clip came through over the weekend from Neal Baer covering an episode of Law & Order SVU, “Sugar” and featuring Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay. Maybe now my feelings that the show is catering to a much younger crowd and maybe dumbing it down in the process have been confirmed. I think this shtick went out with the movie “Porky’s” (the “Mike Hunt” scene), and with grade school.

The link to the Neal’s video clip from "Sugar” is here , and for those of you who can’t get it to play, here’s what is said:



Immature Dork #1: “That geocacher…is a legend”

Immature Dork #2: “But he only goes by a nickname on his…on his website. (Benson and Stabler look on, quizzically) The Master Baiter.”

Immature Dork #1, giggling and can’t contain it: “Every time! It’s genius! “

Elsewhere, Stabler is on a store PA system, with Benson looking with a half smirk: “Attention employees! Will The Master Baiter please report to register one! (store clerks look around) Master Baiter, register one!”

Store employees look around, and when one nerdy guy moves to approach register one, Benson takes the microphone and says: “ Not ”A” masturbator, THE Master Baiter. “


OK, I don’t write the stuff, I’m just typing it out for you.

By the way, Neal Baer also changed the order of the episodes that her previously named and added two more:

Episode 1: Unstable
Episode 2: Sugar
Episode 3: Solitary
Episode 4: Hammered
Episode 5: Hardwired
Episode 6: Anchor
Episode 7: Tradecraft
Episode 8: Users


That’s that latest. Now I am off to work on my summary of AMC’s “Mad Men”, you know, it’s a TV show with “big people” scenarios and dialog.

(My sarcasm aside, I think it’s great that Neal is providing these kinds of things for the fans in advance of the shows! )



Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Sneak Peek Christine Lahti on L&O SVU

Courtesy of SVU producer Neal Baer, you can find a sneak peek of
Christine Lahti’s first appearance on Law & Order SVU at this link. Catch it while you can!




Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Wentworth Miller on L&O SVU Set

Both Ice-T and Law & Order SVU producer Neal Baer have provided some pictures of Wentworth Miller on the set of Law & Order SVU. If you recall, Wentworth was cast in a guest starring role for the upcoming season premier of Law & Order SVU. (Ice-T also provided a picture of him with Mariska. What a guy!)

Here are the pictures from Ice-T and Neal.

Wentworth Miller on the set

Chris Meloni, Ice-T, Wentworth Miller

Ice-T and Mariska

Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Stephanie March Talks Of Alex Cabot’s Return to Law & Order SVU

Stephanie March is scheduled to return to Law & Order SVU as Alex Cabot on March 10, 2009. Stephanie and producer Neal Baer have been making the rounds for interviews. Here are excerpts from two, with links to the full interviews.

Here’s the first except from the NY Daily News:

Now that Stephanie March is back in the role of Alexandra (Alex) Cabot on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," fans will get some long-awaited answers to what exactly happened to her character.

March left the show in 2003, when Alex was shot and placed in the witness protection program. The character briefly reemerged shortly after to testify against her shooter and again in 2006 as part of NBC's short-lived series "Conviction."

But because March was added to the "Conviction" cast during production and the show was canceled after one season, the writers never had the chance to explain how she came to be back in New York and out of protection.

"Stephanie has a great scene with Mariska [Hargitay], Chris [Elliott], Ice-T and [Richard] Belzer where all of [the questions] definitely come up," "SVU" executive producer Neal Baer told reporters yesterday. "We definitely talk about witness protection, we definitely talk about the past, and it's quite a moving scene."

"Hopefully, it will complete a circle and make sense to the audience," added March. "This will be nice and neat."

(NY Daily News full interview here.)


Here is the second, from Movieweb:

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans, Alex Cabot is back. The character, portrayed by Stephanie March, will return to the series in a six-episode arc starting on Tuesday, March 10 at 10 PM ET on NBC. March and executive producer Neal Baer recently held a conference call to discuss her return, and here's what they had to say.

I'm just curious to know which Alex Cabot are we going to get, the old Alex Cabot or the Alex Cabot from Conviction? They're not exactly the same Alex Cabot.

Stephanie March:
They're not entire - they're about the same height.

Yeah, I understand that, you're about 5'9 1/2" on this one so I applaud you for wearing heels.

Stephanie March:
Oh thanks, thank you so much. You know I think this is probably - I mean I know exactly how I feel about the character and I'm pretty excited about bringing her back. But Neal could probably speak to this specifically in terms of plot a little bit better.

Neal Baer: Well I think it's Alex Cabot who was both on Conviction and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit because as you'll see in the episode on May - on March 10th, you'll understand why Alex Cabot did not go back to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Why she was fearful and she has changed a bit. She's stronger.

Well it would be harder to get stronger than Alex Cabot was because she was a pretty fierce woman.

Stephanie March:
Well if I may interject, I think she was pretty strong and determined but not as knowledgeable or seasoned. And so I'd like to think that maybe this time around she'll be a little wiser and a little - life has roughed her up a little more. Made her slightly more sympathetic.

Neal Baer: She's definitely more vulnerable, that you see from the very beginning and she's more questioning. So as Stephanie just said you know she was maybe more surface tough then. You'll understand when she comes back that that maybe was more of a cover and that she is much more questioning and much more open to the situ - to the complexities of the situation.

Stephanie March:
Exactly.

Neal Baer: I'm trying to steer around with a - by not giving away the plot... You know you'll certainly recognize her as the Alex Cabot you loved five years ago on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit because it's still Stephanie and we're writing her as Alex Cabot. So it's just hugely fun for us.

Stephanie March:
Hopefully it will complete a circle and make sense. I mean it makes sense to me because I'm in the middle of it, but as people see it I think it will make a lot of sense.

So we're going to find out how you managed to come back from witness protection?

Stephanie March:
Yeah.

Oh well hallelujah. That was really one of the biggest drawbacks that I think people had with Conviction that they were left without an explanation.

Stephanie March:
Well I think this will be nice and neat and make sense.

Neal Baer: Yeah, there is definitely a - she, Stephanie has a great scene with Mariska, Chris, Ice-T and Belzer where this definitely comes up, we definitely talk about witness protection. We definitely talk about the past and it's quite a moving scene. And it's also really nice to see Stephanie with BD because they're - we have some interesting shows going back to season two with Richard Thomas and Karen Allen where I remember Stephanie and BD's character fought with each other and really grappled with some issues.

Stephanie March:
Yeah, and we get to revisit it. Plus I like working with BD because he's my friend anyway so this time I get paid to have dinner together.

Are you coming back in a Liz Donnelly type role or - because you were bureau (team) on Conviction.

Stephanie March:
Well I will say this much, I am coming back to that which has most affected me. I'm coming back to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Neal Baer: I'm glad you brought up Liz Donnelly because Stephanie will be doing a very big show at the end of sweeps on March 31st with Judith (Light).

(Movieweb full interview here.)


Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, at All Things Law And Order, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Guest Stars of SVU “Trials” Talk About the Episode

It must have been media conference call day with some of the guest stars of Law & Order SVU’s season premier, “Trials” . Two interviews (too lengthy to post here), with guest stars Sara Gilbert, Luke Perry, and also Executive Producer Neal Baer are available via the following links:

(May contain some episode spoilers)

Luke Perry, Sara Gilbert and Neal Baer interview: Law & Order SVU premiere By April MacIntyre

Interrogating Luke Perry, Sara Gilbert and Neal Baer for Law & Order: SVU By Troy Rogers




Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU Season 10 News

With all the news lately for Law & Order Criminal Intent, I thought I’d update everyone on Law & Order SVU. Here is some information from two sources on the upcoming Season 10 for Law & Order SVU. Sounds exciting, although I hope this doesn't turn in to Law & Order The Soap Opera.

The first is from Zap2it.com:
'Law & Order: SVU's' E.P. Spills on Storylines, Guest Stars and Getting Naked
By Korbi Ghosh
August 15, 01:58 PM

Law & Order: SVU's Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) are mixing it up with some of the best in the business this season -- Ellen Burstyn, James Brolin, Julie Bowen -- and the two leads have a lot going on, too. I spoke with executive producer Neal Baer this week who, as he stated towards the end of our chat, gave me a lot of scoop! God bless him...

There's so much going on in your season premiere. Luke Perry, Julie Bowen and Sara Gilbert are guesting. We’re meeting Michaela McManus' character, the new ADA. What else can you say about this first hour?
It’s also the episode where we get into the stories of our [regular] characters. Where we left off, Fin (Ice-T) was trying to transfer, so we will find out [how that's played out]. Benson is having Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder issues over her attempted rape from last season and Stabler has something bizarre happening with stolen credit cards. This will all play into stuff later on in the season.

How about Munch? Do you think we’ll see a little bit more of Richard Belzer this year?
A ton. Not just a little more. A lot.

What can you tell us about Michaela McManus' new character?
As you said, she's the new ADA. She's coming from Washington, D.C., where she worked for the federal government in the Justice department on victims’ rights, because she wants to be in the trenches. She comes to New York so she can actually work face to face with people instead of just in D.C., governmentally. Also, She’s going through a divorce.

Some of us are familiar with Michaela from One Tree Hill, where she was playing a character in her early to mid 20s. Seems a bit young to be an ADA. I assume she'll be playing older on SVU?
Right, she’s much more sophisticated in this show, you’ll see. Clothes, hair, she doesn’t look like the same person. She plays in her late 20s here.

As a die-hard Luke Perry fan, I'm obligated to badger you for information on his guest role.
Yes, he and Julie Bowen are playing these beleaguered foster parents who are really taking care of a child from hell, who claims that they are abusing him. It takes our detectives on a journey, complete with the usual twists and turns, and it ends in a very unexpected way.

And Sara Gilbert plays the kid's biological mom?
Yes, it's a very emotional role. She was a victim of a rape, which is why she gave up her child. She just couldn’t cope.

Of course I have to ask you about the casting of Ellen Burstyn. Is she going to be in just one episode or several?
Episode four, for sure. After that, I don’t know, we’ll see. She’s definitely in the fourth hour, which is going to air in October. And she plays Elliot’s mother, Bernadette Stabler.

And she has some mental issues?
She suffers from a psychiatric disorder, yes.

Long-time fans are wondering why we've heard about Stabler's father in the past -- that he was abusive -- but we've never heard a peep about his mother before.
There’s a reason for that. He doesn’t talk about her.

And we’re going to find out why in episode four?
We’re definitely going to find out why.

How did this storyline come about? Was Ellen's casting first or...?
The story came first, but she was our first choice to play the part. We wrote it with her in mind and we’re absolutely thrilled to have the person we thought of in this really important role. We’re always very lucky that we get phenomenal actors. You know, we have two Emmy nominations this year for guest stars Robin Williams and Cynthia Nixon. Leslie Caron and Marcia Gay Harden were nominated last year and Leslie won. But yes, when we decided to bring Stabler’s mother into the show, it was for a good reason. It has to do with his family, there’s a crisis of faith. CCH Pounder plays his lawyer, which is great. She’s been a lawyer on the show before, but because she’s such a tough shark, she’s now going to come and be Stabler’s lawyer.

His lawyer for…?
That’s the big thing.


That’s what you can't tell me.
It’s a big part of the show.

Okay, other guest cast: Josh Charles and Teri Polo are reuniting on the show?
That’s right. I loved both of them on Sports Night and I thought it would be cool to reunite them. They're in episode two with Tom Noonan from Manhunter and Marshall Allman--

LJ from Prison Break?
Yes. He plays Teri Polo’s son, a [suspected] pedophile.

Do you watch Prison Break, were you a fan of Marshall's?
Yes, yes. My son is 17, he’s a huge fan, so I had seen Prison Break and we had wanted Marshall on our show for a couple of years, but he’s been busy every time we had a part for him. But knock on wood, it always works out, because this is the best part and he’s really striking in it.

And how about James Brolin?
Jim Brolin and Chris Elliot star in episode where [Jim] plays an astronaut who was Stabler’s mentor and his boss when Stabler was in the Marines. So there’s a connection between the two of them and very much of a flirting connection between him and Benson as well.

Ooh, I like that.
They go out on a date.

Yeah, I was going to ask you about Benson's personal life, because we saw her with Bill Pullman last year, but it was very brief. Do you plan to incorporate more private stuff for her this season?
We’ll see her flirting with Jim Brolin, that’s for sure. And let’s see, in that episode, you’ll see her as a blonde. I haven’t told anybody that!

Is she experimenting?!
No.

It’s a disguise.
That’s right. You’ll see.

How about her half-brother? Will we see Simon at all?
This year, not so far. I think she’s made peace with him.

Alright, well, I have to ask about something you’ve mentioned previously, that we’re going to see Elliot and Olivia in a somewhat compromising position this year...?
That’s true, in an episode called "Wild Life," with lots of animals. You will see them in a compromising position.

Can you expand on that at all?
You’ll see one of them without many clothes on.

Oh, just one of them?
Yes.

Okay, and regarding Elliot, I've also heard that we'll be seeing more with his daughter this season, she's in some trouble, possibly sex, drugs. Does that tie in with the Ellen Burstyn episode?
It does indeed. Remember I told you something about credit cards?

Ahh, I see.
I’m giving you a lot!

And I appreciate it! One last thing: I know that Chris and Mariska’s contracts expire at the end of this season. Because the last round of contract negotiations were a bit rocky, have you begun talks already?
No, not yet. Too early in the season.

If, worst case scenario, they didn’t come back, have you thought about doing the show without them?
No, it's too early [to think about that]. We’ve got to get through some episodes first.





The second is from the SVU Production Blog

August 11. 2008
Guest Stars

So we just finished filming the premiere episode called "Trials". You won't be disappointed. Its 90210 meets Roseanne meets Ed meets Days of our Lives! You must be thinking: "What the heck is he talking about?" Well, I'm referring to the star-packed cast for the premiere: Luke Perry (Dylan from "90210"), Sara Gilbert (Darleen from "Roseanne"), Julie Bowen (from "Ed"), and NBC's own Days of our Lives' Mary Beth Evans makes a guest spot. The story is incredible also. So many twists and turns you'll be amazed by what you see! It's a great episode to kick off the season.

Lets see what kind of questions you all have for me:

Are there gonna be any famous guest stars on SVU?
Well I just finished telling you about the star-packed premiere. We also have James Brolin and Teri Polo, and we are only just starting to film Episode #3.

I noticed SVU has the same people, same faces, in their precinct scenes all the time, yet these nonspeaking people are never credited as to who they are? They can't be extras??
Well you are right and wrong. You are correct that it's the same people in the background. We do this to keep it as real as possible. Would a real police precinct have different cops working there everyday? Of course not. That's why we hire the same background actors. To answer your next question, they are in fact "extras." Just because you are a background actor (or "extra") doesn't mean you can't be a regular one.

Is Elliot gonna have his personal episode?
Keep your eyes/ears open for an episode called "Swing."

Any chance of some photos of filming we can see on the blog soon?
As you wish, check back in next week for some exclusive photos taken by me on the SVU set!


Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

SVU Executive Producer Neal Baer On Season 10

Law & Order SVU executive producer Neal Baer talked with Eonline about what’s coming up for Season 10. It has some interesting tidbits about what fans can expect in the new season, and also includes some interesting information about Neal himself. Is Stabler (Chris Meloni) going unstable? Here’s the article:

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Boss Neal Baer Talks Season 10

Earlier this afternoon I hit a Hollywood Radio & Television Society Newsmaker Luncheon Series on health care and medical insurance issues that was keynoted by the exceptional Sally Field and featured three very excellent TV bosses talking about health care issues on and around their shows: ER's John Wells, Scrubs' Bill Lawrence and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's Dr. Neal Baer.

More from Wells and Lawrence later, but for now I wanted to share the season-10 dish spilled by Baer on his show, which just so happens to the best-rated program on all of NBC, and Baer's take on how a crime show can make a positive impact on the public health.

Secret Humanitarian Agenda: SVU show runner Neal Baer has a real life medical degree and is a licensed pediatrician, so he makes a point to stealthily include medical topics and health education in the show. He told me, "Because I'm a physician, I think medically. So when I came on SVU in 2000, the first thing I did was hire Tamara Tunie and B.D. Wong as doctors: a pathologist and a psychiatrist. It became a much more medically oriented show." (Does anyone else remember the episode where Tunie's character explained on the stand how adolescent alcohol abuse actually Swiss-cheeses your brain? I'm still a little freaked out!)

Topics of Note: The subject of the luncheon was the health care crisis at large (see DividedWeFail.com for more on the topics discussed), but Baer tends to keep the show more specific. He said, "We're doing one this season about HIV deniers. There's a group of people in the country who deny that HIV exists." Wasn't Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss' pediatrician dad Dr. Paul Fleiss involved in something related to that? "I don't believe he's a denier, but he took care of a kid, he didn't know the kid had AIDS, because the mother didn't believe that HIV caused AIDS. So we're always looking for medical topics—[HIV deniers], transplantation awareness, or we did one on a genetic disease called Williams syndrome last year. We're always looking to tie the medicine in with the crime. It does work, because so much of our show is psychological."

Speaking of Psychology: You know how Elliot Stabler hates shrinks? Well, that's gonna be an issue this season, because Baer told me that he's planning something in that area that involves Stabler's character. According to Baer, "[We're working on] a major storyline for Chris Meloni—a mental-health issue—it'll be very big for our show." Does it involve his mental health? "Someone else's." His wife's? Or maybe one of the kids? "Can't say yet." Damn!

Character Shuffle: FWIW, other than the new ADA—whom they have not hired—there are no new characters expected for season 10.

Who Said TV Isn't Educational? Keep tuning in to SVU to have a little knowledge subtly stuffed into your brain. According to Baer, mixing in public-health info with a little whodunit works to get the message across. He said, "We know we have made a huge impact, because we've done studies. We did a study when I was on ER that looked at what people learned from the show. We did a pretest and posttest on human papilloma virus and cervical cancer. Nine percent knew before the showed aired that HPV caused cervical cancer, after the show, 30 percent. And we didn't tell them, 'watch the show to learn that.' "

As Johnny Drama would say...VICTOOORRRY!
Posted by Jennifer Godwin on Thu, May 29, 2008, 7:55 PM


Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.