Christopher Meloni to reprise his Elliot Stabler character in an NBC Law & Order: SVU spinoff

Deadline

NBC has given a 13-episode order to an untitled Dick Wolf-produced series that will see Meloni return to his SVU role as Elliot Stabler. The untitled crime drama would revolve around the NYPD organized crime unit led by Stabler. The series is the first to come out of Wolf's mega five-year deal that he signed last month. "The new series, which could be branded as part of the Law & Order franchise, is executive produced by Wolf, Arthur W. Forney and Peter Jankowski for Wolf Entertainment and Universal TV, a division of NBCUniversal Content Studios," reports Deadline's Nellie Andreeva. "I hear former Chicago P.D. showrunner Matt Olmstead is being eyed as writer-showrunner. Like Law & Order: SVU, headlined by Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson, the new drama is set in New York, allowing for potential seamless crossovers with SVU, set at another NYPD unit, and for Benson-Stabler reunions." Meloni starred on Law & Order: SVU for 12 seasons, exiting in 2011. He earned an Emmy nomination for Stabler in 2006. Since departing SVU in 2011, Meloni starred in Syfy's Happy!, Fox comedy Surviving Jack, WGN America's Underground. He also had memorable roles on True Blood and The Handmaid's Tale. Andreeva adds that Meloni has been close to the SVU family, and that the first discussions for this series took place around the time of the NBC The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU special.