Law & Order: Special Victims Unitjust made history. The long-running police procedural just named its first female showrunner in the show’s history. TheMariska Hargitay-led show has announced that a former writer and producer of the show,Michele Fazekaswill be taking over as showrunner,that’s according to Deadline. She replacesDavid Graziano, who served as showrunner for the last three seasons. Fazekas comes onto theDick Wolfdrama even without any official news one way or the other of a Season 27 renewal, though it looks likely given a new showrunner announced withjust weeks left in the filming of Season 26.
Fazekas wrote and produced during some of the show’s earliest seasons, serving as a writer across Seasons 3-7. The show’s first twelve seasons, before the exit ofChristopher Meloni, are considered by some fans the show’s hey-day. The original cast, featuring Hargitay, Meloni, Ice-T,Richard Belzer,Dann Florekfrom Season 2 and beyond is what people typically think of when they think ofSVUbut haven’t kept up with the show. Fazekas is credited as a writer on 25SVUepisodes,including fan-favorite “Fault.”
Could This Mean a Return to an Early Season Feel for ‘SVU’?
A chief complaint among fans over the last few seasons ofSVUisnot a big enough balance between the character-driven stories and the crime-of-the-week.The shortened Season 25 attempted that with Captain Olivia Benson (Hargitay) striving to bring home Maddie Flynn (Allison Elaine) but the shortened season definitely cut into some of the possibilities for its storytelling.The show is much different than when Fazekas last served on the show, and the characters are much different. The cast of detectives currently serving under Captain Benson seem to have settled withJuliana Aidén Martinez, who plays Detective Kate Silva,tellingThe Hollywood Reporterlast yearthat they cast her as someone “who could be with the cast on a long-term basis and really contribute to the squad.” With the person who either executive produced, wrote, or both some ofSVU’s earliest episode like “Fault” and “9-1-1” there seems to be a wave of faith restored that we’ll get some of the best parts ofSVUback that have seriously been lacking.
The flagshipLaw & Order,SVU, andOrganized Crime,will have a few precious weeks of overlap for their respective latest seasons.L&OandSVUalready announced a crossoverpremiering the same day as theSeason 5 premiereofOrganized Crime,April 19 and now with Fazekas set to serve as showrunner for a potential Season 27, it’s a feeling homecoming fans have been desperate for.
Also P.S. Wolf Entertainment, don’t think we didn’t notice this news dropping 4 years to the day of"Return of the Prodigal Son."
You can watch episodes ofLaw & Order: Special Victims Unitnow on Peacock. New episodes air Thursdays on NBC. Stay with Collider for the latest updates.
