Staying Put

After months of tense negotiations, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’s Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay have signed on the dotted line of new, generous deals that will keep both of them on the job for two more years.

You should know this is especially interesting since SVU has been picked up for only one more season.

Meloni and Hargitay were said to be playing hardball a couple of months ago when they attempted to go after the show’s back-end profits. Just last month, and NBC higher-up said the show would go with or without its two leads, adding that “there’s an offer on the table.”

No one’s saying who gave in, but word is Meloni and Hargitay worked out a very happy compromise that sweetens their $385K-per-episode salary.

That’s a lot of cake! And these two deserve to take it.

Photo: EW.com.

Update: In more SVU news, Christine Lahti will be playing the show’s latest ADA next season. Lahti will appear in the first four episodes, after which Stephanie March will step up once again.