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'Law & Order: SVU' May Be Over

Friday , December 15, 2006

By Roger Friedman

You wouldn’t think that NBC could afford to lose a hit show right now, but that’s what may happen.

Sources tell me that NBC is playing hardball with stars Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni, not wanting to pay them big increases if they stay for a ninth season next fall.

“It’s not Dick Wolf,” my source says of the notoriously capricious producer. Wolf is infamous for constantly replacing and substituting actors on the original “Law & Order.” But so far the cast has remained stable for “SVU” since it launched eight years ago.

NBC, however, according to insiders, doesn’t seem to care whether the show returns or not. “They’re acting like they want Chris and Mariska out of there,” says my source.

Negotiations, which have gone on this week, are said to have been brutal.

One thing NBC probably didn’t count on was Emmy nominations for both stars and a win last year for Hargitay. The awards and kudos have come toward the end of the series’ run and are considered surprising for a “cop” show.

The awards attention, coupled with consistently high ratings, would ordinarily give actors leverage with the network. But with cost-cutting and layoffs going on, NBC is said to feel that they don’t mind losing the show or starting over with new, less expensive actors.

The ratings for 'Law & Order SVU' are what make this news all the more perplexing. The show wins its Tuesday night time slot easily every week, with an average 9.4 rating and a 16 share.

Ironically, the ratings have only gone up as the fall season has plodded along, making “SVU” one of the lone shining lights in the otherwise dimmed NBC firmament.

Either way, Meloni and Hargitay would leave “SVU” well-off financially but even better off career-wise. They are each a hot property and would likely be snapped up rival networks to star in their own series immediately. Stay tuned.

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SEATTLE (Dec. 15) - The worst windstorm in more than a decade tore through the Pacific Northwest, leaving more than a million people without power Friday and killing at least four. Winds gusted to a record 69 mph about 1 a.m. at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, breaking the old mark of 65 mph set in 1993. Winds were clocked at 90 mph near Westport on the coast.


Power was knocked out at one of the airport's concourses until late Friday morning. Dozens of flights were canceled, including all American Airlines service through the morning hours. Flights were also canceled at Portland International Airport in Oregon, and Amtrak canceled service between Seattle and Portland after downed trees and mudslides blocked the tracks.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer went unpublished for the first time since a 1936 labor strike, because electricity was knocked out at its printing press, managing editor David McCumber said. The Seattle Times, which shares the press, had only about 13,000 copies available Friday morning.
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Puget Sound Energy, Washington's largest private utility, had 700,000 customers without power on Friday. Some won't have their lights back on for days, spokesman Roger Thompson said.

In Oregon, about 350,000 customers lost power, and repairs to restore all of them could stretch into next week, utility officials said.
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