'Chicago Justice' Showrunner Takes Over 'Law & Order: SVU'

The Chicago/SVU Universe is undergoing shake-up after shake-up this off-season, with a ton of major players leaving, or making lateral moves across the franchise. The latest of these came Friday morning, as Michael S. Chernuchin was named the new showrunner for Law & Order: SVU.

The producers for these programs have all been shifting around a bit, following the departure of the Chicago P.D. showrunners. Rick Eid, who was in charge of SVU, slid over to P.D., and now Chernuchin is taking his place.

Chernuchin is a veteran of the Law & Order world, as he worked on the original series for quite a while. He served as a writer/producers from 1992-1996, and later became the showrunner from 2002-2004.

When Chicago Justice was ordered to series this past year, Chernuchin was brought in to run the show, giving the freshman drama a veteran presence. The series was cancelled last week, after just one season, so Chernuchin was available once again.

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Law & Order: SVU is entering its 19th season on NBC, so the producer shouldn't have any problem sliding in and moving forward. That series is a well-oiled machine at this point.

This marks the second major change for the expanded franchise this week, following Sophia Bush's departure from Chicago P.D.. The actress starred in all four seasons of the series, but won't return for the fifth this fall.

Along with P.D. and SVU, Chicago Fire and Med will also return this fall, entering their sixth and third seasons respectively.

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[H/T] Deadline, Photo Credit: NBC