More shake-ups are coming ahead of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit‘s historic 27th Season. Deadline reports that executive producers and writers for the long-running Dick Wolf police procedural are departing. Julie Martin and Norberto Barba are leaving. Deadline reports that NBC and Wolf Entertainment have declined to comment. Martin has worked on the show for the past 14 seasons, Barba has been with the show for the last five. Deadline reports that Barba will remain on staff as a director. Just last week, the Mariska Hargitay-led police drama was renewed for Season 27, ahead of the NBC Upfronts. Today, it was confirmed that the series would be keeping its Thursday timeslot as well.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Juliana Martinez and Octavio Pisano would be departing the series. Martinez played Detective Kate Silva and Pisano played Detective Joe Velasco. The shake-ups also include a new showrunner coming in for Season 27, with Michele Fazekas helming the new season in the fall. The move also means, for the first time in the show’s history, there is a female showrunner. Fazekas replaces David Graziano. Fazekas is not a stranger to the franchise, having served as a writer and executive producer in Seasons 3 through 7.
‘Law & Order: SVU’s Shake-Ups: Good or Bad?
Over the course of Season 26, ratings of the legacy Dick Wolf show have not been bad, but time and again they have been beaten out by the flagship Law & Order show (that was also renewed for another season). Fans attribute the better ratings to personal scenes that showrunner, Rick Eid, strives to include in the series. While cost-cutting measures have been brought up ahead of the brutal renewals and cancellations for NBC as a whole, hopefully the trimming down of the cast will instead mean a quality over quantity situation can be made here. Fazekas stepping in, after giving fans episodes like “Fault” with likely new eyes coming into the series and Hargitay staying on as executive producer (who knows Olivia Benson better than herself?) We’ll hopefully see a return to the feel of the earlier seasons of the show.
You can watch past episodes of Law & Order: SVU now on Peacock. The Season 26 finale airs this Thursday. Stay with Collider for the latest updates.
