‘Law & Order: SVU’ Undergoing Big Behind-the-Scenes Shakeup

As Law & Order: SVU eyes a 27^th season, there’s a big behind-the-scenes shakeup happening.

Deadline reports that Michele Fazekas has been tapped as the new showrunner, marking her return to the long-running NBC drama after nearly two decades.

Fazekas, who most recently served as co-showrunner on Prime Video’s The Boys spinoff Gen V, is replacing David Graziano after three seasons. He will finish off Season 26 as showrunner before being replaced by Fazekas. While the series has not been renewed for Season 27, it is expected. Additionally, Fazkeas is the first female showrunner in SVU’s history.

She previously was a writer-producer on SVU during Seasons 3-7 with her former longtime writing partner Tara Butters under showrunner Neal Baer. The two wrote or co-wrote 19 episodes and became co-executive producers in Season 7. They received two WGA Award nominations. Fazekas will serve as executive producer and showrunner for the upcoming second season of Gen V. A premiere date is expected to be announced soon. Fazekas also created and executive produced The CW’s Reaper, and Emergence and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World on ABC with Butters.

Meanwhile, as previously mentioned, SVU has not yet officially been given a Season 27 pickup, but it is widely expected. The series has been a staple on NBC since 1999, and Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson continues to be the longest-running primetime live-action character of all time. There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for SVU, and even when the eventual end does come, it’s very likely NBC wouldn’t cancel it right away and would give it at least one final season to close things out. But that probably won’t happen any time soon.

SVU is among the many NBC shows still awaiting news about next season. The network has handed out renewals to freshman shows Happy’s Place and St. Denis Medical. It’s likely more decisions will be made in the coming weeks, especially as more seasons come to an end. It’s anyone’s guess as to when those decisions will be made, but the wait should be worth it for a lot of the shows, SVU included. In the meantime, new episodes air on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET. There will be a crossover event with Law & Order on Thursday, Apr. 17 beginning at 8 p.m. ET.