Meloni, Hargitay Sign Deals To Return To SVU

After tense contract negotiations, Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni will return to Law and Order: SVU. They will be back for the 11th season, which begins September 23, but the network is not commenting on their deals.

Additionally, Christine Lahti has signed on to play the new assistant district attorney. Lahti will fill the ADA role for only the first four episodes of the season. Stephanie March then returns to reprise her role as ADA Alexandra Cabot for another 10 episodes. The show is looking to cast another ADA to fill the remaining 8 episodes.

Hargitay and Meloni’s deals come more than a month after NBC closed a deal with Wolf Films for Law and Order: SVU’s renewal. At the time, NBC brass said the show would return with or without its stars as the networks and reps for the actors had reached an impasse. The two sides resumed talks at the beginning of June and, after a series of sessions, the deals were finalized last week.

Sources said Hargitay and Meloni, who regularly negotiate their contracts together, have inked one-year deals with an option for a second year. Despite NBC being in cost-cutting mode, Hargitay and Meloni are said to have boosted their most recent salaries of about $385,000 an episode. In a rare feat for show talent, they have been able to negotiate a piece of the shows lucrative back end.