‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ Production Shuts Down After Positive COVID-19 Test

Production on Law & Order: Organized Crime has halted again on Friday after another positive coronavirus test among the crew. The series is filmed in New York City and previously experienced a shut-down in February for the same reason. The latest Law & Order spin-off features Christopher Meloni returning as Elliot Stabler, a decade after he left Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

The new positive test was among those in Zone A which includes the show’s cast and those who come in close contact with them, reports Deadline. The production will follow state and county safety guidelines, as well as those in the NBCUniversal Production Playbook. Anyone who came in close contact with the person who tested positive was asked to self-isolate and contact tracing is underway. It is not clear how long this latest production shutdown will last. The shutdown in February was only a brief pause.

Organized Crime faced a long delay already due to the coronavirus pandemic last year. The show was originally slated to air in fall 2020, with the Law & Order: SVU Season 21 finale leading into the new show. However, that finale as written was never filmed, and Organized Crime was pushed to midseason. The SVU Season 21 finale was originally set to feature the return of Isabel Gillies as Stabler’s wife Kathy. She will instead return in the SVU episode “Return of the Prodigal Son,” in which the SVU team helps Stabler’s family after he receives a threat. Alison Siko and Jeffrey Scaperrotta are also set to return in the episode as Stabler’s daughter Kathleen and son Dickie.

“Return of the Prodigal Son” will finally air on Thursday, April 1 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, with the first episode of Organized Crime following immediately at 10 p.m. ET. This will mark Meloni’s first time playing Stabler in a decade. In Organized Crime, Stabler rejoins the NYPD after a “devastating personal loss.” While he rebuilds his family, he is tasked with leading a new elite squad to take down crime syndicates. Dylan McDermott, Tamara Taylor, Danielle Mone Truitt, and Ainsley Seiger also star in the new series.

Meloni is also expected to appear in more than just one appearance on SVU now that he is back in the fold. Back on March 19, showrunner Warren Leight tweeted that another scene between Stabler and Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson was being filmed. A fan asked if this was for the April 1 episode, but Leight said it was not. “Yesterday’s scenes were for an SVU down the road,” he confirmed.