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Proving they still have faith in powerhouse producer Dick Wolf, NBC has ordered a fourteenth season of ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,’ as well as green-lighting Wolf’s new firefighter drama, ‘Chicago Fire.’
Although ratings for SVU have declined recently, the news that Mariska Hargitay had signed a new deal with NBC pretty much guaranteed another year for the venerable procedural. During the Television Critics Association (TCA) in January, Hargitay revealed she would return for the 14th season as she was having “too much fun” to leave. Faced with departures of original cast member Chris Meloni last season, new show runner Warren Leight was faced with the task of rebooting the series to continue without him.
Part of his plan included introducing new characters played by Danny Pino (Cold Case) and Kelli Giddish (Chase); brought back popular ADA’s Alex Cabot (Stephanie March) and Casey Novak (Diane Neal) as recurring characters. He also took the series down a more serialized, character driven format – weaving in the character’s personal lives regularly into the popular episodic format. Hargitay’s character Olivia was featured in a multi-episode romance with guest star Harry Connick Jr., a first for the character.
The rookie offering Chicago Fire stars Taylor Kinney (The Vampire Diaries), Monica Raymund (Lie to Me) and House alum Jesse Spencer. Described as “ER in a fire station”, Chicago Fire is an hour-long drama detailing the complex and heroic men and women of the Chicago Fire Department.
Chicago Fire is written by Derek Haas and Michael Brandt and is produced by Wolf, Peter Jankowski and Danielle Gelber.
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