Hargitay And Meloni Staying With Law & Order SVU

Variety reports that NBC and Dick Wolf have signed Law & Order SVU stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni to rich two-year deals. The two stars are expected to pull in annual salaries of more than $6.5 million each. It’s believed that with the bump, Hargitay will become, at minimum, one of the highest-paid actresses in network TV. That would put her paycheck in the $300,000-$340,000 per episode range. Given their co-lead status, it seems likely Meloni’s paycheck is in the same range as Hargitay’s. Wolf said he’s happy “that Chris and Mariska have decided to stay with a show that they’ve made an indelible stamp upon as we move into our ninth season.” Anticipating a deal was close, NBC last week announced that “SVU” would be returning next fall.