The ratings for Law & Order: SVU may have come down this season but it’s still one of NBC’s top-rated dramas. To no surprise, NBC has renewed the venerable cop show for a 14th season. In addition, they’ve ordered a new drama from Dick Wolf, Chicago Fire.
Season 13 of SVU has been averaging a 1.92 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic with 6.96 million total viewers. Year-to-year, the show is down by 24% in the demo (vs a 2.5 rating) and 18% in viewerrs (vs 8.48 million). It’s currently the fourth highest-rated scripted series on the network.
This season of SVU has been the first without longtime showrunner Neal Baer and star Christopher Meloni. Last month, Mariska Hargitay signed a new deal to continue with the show if it ended up getting renewed. Considering the state of the rest of NBC’s schedule, that seemed highly likely.
New showrunner Warren Leight has introduced more personalized storylines that include newcomers Danny Pino and Kelli Giddish. Earlier, Leight told TV Guide, “I don’t want it to be a victory lap… I want it to be 14 years down, seven to go, as opposed to 14 years down and it’s been a good run.”
He also said, “I get so tired of people saying that the show is down from Meloni… From the point of view of scripted hour-longs, we’re performing very strongly for NBC. Would we perform differently for a different network? Probably. Or with a different lead-in? Probably.”
Chicago Fire is described as an “action-driven drama exploring the complex and heroic men and women of the Windy City’s Fire Department.” The cast includes Teri Reeves, David Eigenberg, Charlie Barnett, Lauren German, Monica Raymund, Taylor Kinney, Jesse Spencer, Eamonn Walker and Merle Dandridge.
What do you think? Are you still an SVU fan? Are you surprised that it wasn’t cancelled after Meloni left? How do you think this season compares?
Image courtesy NBC.
Absolutely my favorite!!!!!
I watched the first episode but without Elliot? Nah, if I wanted to watch Criminal Intent I would have. Nice way to destroy one of the best series on television. The voice for SVU who thinks the show isn’t suffering without Meloni, the core group dynamic and Benson and Stabler is dilusional.
Love it keep it on
I love Law & Order SVU!
I started watching the show at the start of this year and from then til now I have actually bought all the box sets and watched over and over again! I missed season 13 at the start but can’t wait for the DVD to be released! Meloni and hargity made the show but Mariska and the team still make the show a dream! I love it hope it keeps up for the future!!
No sir. Don’t like it.
Law and Order SVU is the only one I still watch, the others are just okay to me. Since I have school or I am working late at Dish during the week I don’t have time to watch the drama. Since I just got my Hopper, I know can record all my primetime shows so I won’t have to miss out on them. The Hopper even has Auto Hop now where you can skip through commercials in primetime TV. I think that’s so amazing, I hated watching commercials!
There has yet to be a Law & Order series that I haven’t enjoyed, but SVU is a favorite, one that my daughter and I watch together. I hope for several more years to come.
Honestly, he was good but I have all but forgot he was on the show with the introduction of the new cast. The show is still just as good although Benson deserves a promotion to captain for the next season!
Gave up on this series long ago. Thought it was the weakest of the three L&O series. This excludes the fourth series that didn’t last a year and wasn’t that bad either.
Still enjoying the show even with the loss of Chris Meloni. The new cast is very good and the storylines very interesting. I would like to see Olivia warm up to her new partners a little more on the show. A tiny bit of humor once in a while would be nice. Hope it stays around for a long time.
[…] Update: NBC has renewed SVU for a 14th season. […]
I’m still watching it, it’s still pretty good. I admit, it’s not as good without Christopher, but it is still pretty good. It’s still one of the best shows on the network, they should not have canceled the original or LA, but they did. So good to hear that, even though it was more than likely it was gonna get renewed.