The return of all three current Law & Order shows is worth celebrating for fans who have been waiting since May 2023 for new episodes, but the 2024 TV schedule will deliver a particularly special season for Law & Order: SVU. NBC's hit drama returns for its milestone 25th season, which will also take it to 550 episodes. NBC stars past and present came out to celebrate the accomplishment, and Christopher Meloni shared some photos of reunions with Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Dann Florek, and more.
While Meloni is currently the star of Law & Order: Organized Crime – which returns for Season 4 with a brand new showrunner – he of course got his start in the franchise with twelve seasons as an SVU series regular. The longtime Elliot Stabler actor shared some reunions with former coworkers who go way back as well as newer additions to the SVU cast after he left as a regular, and I think fans can agree with his description of the reunion as "beautiful." Take a look:
Be still, my SVU heart! The slideshow from the 25th season celebration includes several pictures, including one of Christopher Meloni posing with Mariska Hargitay and Dann Florek, who of course play Olivia Benson and Donald Cragen. Not only are these three Law & Order actors on the list of the 25 franchise stars who have been in the most episodes, but they were at the heart of the earliest days of SVU. Hargitay and Meloni have appeared on each other's shows many times since he returned for Organized Crime, and Florek has guest-starred on SVU and OC in recent years as well.
Other photos show those three with creator Dick Wolf as well, but it wouldn't have been right if we didn't get to see a picture with Ice-T as well. Ice-T has been on SVU for nearly as long as Mariska Hargitay, joining the cast in Season 2 and working alongside Meloni for eleven of his twelve seasons as Stabler before the OC spinoff. The actor/rapper, who had a hilarious reaction to getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, hasn't shared too many scenes with Meloni in recent years, but did debunk rumors that he was feuding with his former co-star.
Meloni also included images with Stephanie March, who played Alex Cabot as SVU's first full-time ADA; Kelli Giddish, who joined SVU after Meloni's departure as Amanda Rollins; and Ainsley Seiger, who is a fellow series regular on Organized Crime as Jet and will soon be back in primetime alongside Meloni. Usually I have to use a Peacock Premium subscription and revisit old episodes to see these actors together, so I'm glad that the OC star shared these photos.
I'm also very glad to see Law & Order: SVU already being celebrated, as 25 seasons is a pretty remarkable run on network television. Mariska Hargitay recently reflected on auditioning with Christopher Meloni all those years ago, and dropped some comments about how long she'll continue playing Olivia Benson that should reassure any anxious fans.
You can look forward to all three shows in the L&O franchise returning sooner rather than later with the premieres on January 18. Law & Order returns at 8 p.m. ET for Season 23, SVU at 9 p.m. ET for Season 25, and Organized Crime at 10 p.m. ET, all on NBC.
