Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Unofficial Companion (4 page)
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Authors: Susan Green,Randee Dawn
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Tinkering with the Concept
“Out of ego, I wanted my show to be different,” recalls executive producer Ted Kotcheff. “I didn’t want to be a step-child. I felt that for
SVU
you can’t be detached. These are difficult emotions, dealing with children and people who are such a puzzle.”
SVU
you can’t be detached. These are difficult emotions, dealing with children and people who are such a puzzle.”
Creator Dick Wolf wondered whether or not the subject matter would frighten audiences away, according to Kotcheff. “Dick asked, ‘Is there any way you can lighten this dark material?’ But, as a cinephile, I wanted to head towards film noir. So it was push-me/pull-you, and out of that comes something new.”
For co-executive producer Dawn DeNoon, hired in season one to write scripts, the push-pull was daunting. “It took pretty much the first year to figure out what the show was going to be,” she says, adding that the Mother Ship had been conceived as “100 percent procedural, and anything personal was in the victims’ or perps’ lives. They really fought getting into the personal lives of the (lead) characters; you never went home with them.”
Robert Palm
But
SVU
had a mandate to carve out its own identity with a formula that continued to require alterations. “This was going to be three-quarters procedural, one-quarter personal,” DeNoon explains. “Even that was too much. It just didn’t flow. We had a lot of trouble making that work.”
SVU
had a mandate to carve out its own identity with a formula that continued to require alterations. “This was going to be three-quarters procedural, one-quarter personal,” DeNoon explains. “Even that was too much. It just didn’t flow. We had a lot of trouble making that work.”
Wolf recalls how the equation changed at the beginning of season two, when legal issues began to infiltrate the scripts: “I realized that adding a new dimension, the ADA assigned to the Special Victims Unit, (would provide) a new and interesting dynamic to the stories.”
Well aware of the angst all around him, then-producer Jeff Eckerle was having fun as one of the people asked to help dream up a distinct template. “We felt deference for the Mother Ship,” he says. “We respected the idea of what a
Law & Order
was: Clean, taut storytelling. But this is a deeper, more psychological show because we’re dealing with more emotionally wrenching crimes. We had to figure out how to differentiate ourselves while still being in the genre. We kept trying to fine-tune this little gem, keep it out of the wake of the Mother Ship while staying in the same fleet.”
Law & Order
was: Clean, taut storytelling. But this is a deeper, more psychological show because we’re dealing with more emotionally wrenching crimes. We had to figure out how to differentiate ourselves while still being in the genre. We kept trying to fine-tune this little gem, keep it out of the wake of the Mother Ship while staying in the same fleet.”
Squad room wall
Like Kotcheff, Eckerle refers to the
SVU
birthing as “a push-pull situation. One philosophy was: ‘Just keep it on the case, stupid. ’ The other was: ‘Come on, this is a golden opportunity to explore the personalities.’ Over the seasons, it seemed as if we were shoehorning in personal stuff. We also struggled with how much courtroom time felt right. We thought of it as more of a cop show.”
SVU
birthing as “a push-pull situation. One philosophy was: ‘Just keep it on the case, stupid. ’ The other was: ‘Come on, this is a golden opportunity to explore the personalities.’ Over the seasons, it seemed as if we were shoehorning in personal stuff. We also struggled with how much courtroom time felt right. We thought of it as more of a cop show.”
Wolf agrees that his
SVU
characters’ off-the-job problems were being given more screen time, but with a caveat. “There is a more perceptible emphasis on personal lives,” he says, “although with all the Law & Order series, the story is king.”
SVU
characters’ off-the-job problems were being given more screen time, but with a caveat. “There is a more perceptible emphasis on personal lives,” he says, “although with all the Law & Order series, the story is king.”
Squad room with equipment
Royalty did not halt a period of readjustment. “There was a good deal of experimentation, while not tossing out the baby with the bath water once the show got its traction,” Eckerle says. “We thought, ‘God, this is all sex crimes.’ Initially, that felt limiting. How many ways can you, pardon the expression, screw in a light bulb? So we slowly expanded the definition.”
Executive producer Peter Jankowski remembers that even the decision to embrace the new program—then still
Sex Crimes
—as an identifiable part of the brand was not a given: “Some didn’t want
Law & Order
in the title. Now we can’t imagine these shows any other way.”
Sex Crimes
—as an identifiable part of the brand was not a given: “Some didn’t want
Law & Order
in the title. Now we can’t imagine these shows any other way.”
Charlie Engel, executive vice-president for programming at NBC Universal, agrees that the
L&O
name wasn’t a sure bet at first. “My recollection is that the network felt the advertisers would not want to be associated with
Sex Crimes
,” he says. “And we thought, ‘If
SVU
doesn’t work, will it hurt the Mother Ship?’”
L&O
name wasn’t a sure bet at first. “My recollection is that the network felt the advertisers would not want to be associated with
Sex Crimes
,” he says. “And we thought, ‘If
SVU
doesn’t work, will it hurt the Mother Ship?’”
Wolf initially wanted to call the show
Law & Order: Sex Crimes
. “It was important for the brand to have
Law & Order
included and the consensus was that it made sense,” he says. “Barry Diller, who was then head of Studios USA (the production entity), was concerned about
Sex Crimes
, so we changed the title of the show to
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
, which is what the actual unit in the NYPD is called.”
Law & Order: Sex Crimes
. “It was important for the brand to have
Law & Order
included and the consensus was that it made sense,” he says. “Barry Diller, who was then head of Studios USA (the production entity), was concerned about
Sex Crimes
, so we changed the title of the show to
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
, which is what the actual unit in the NYPD is called.”
Ted Kotcheff was among the dissenters back then. “I must tell you that I resisted it, because I wanted to make a brand new series,” he recalls. “I had no idea of coming in on the skirts of
Law & Order
. But (NBC and Wolf) felt it was commercially desirable to do such a thing. Now I don’t think that was a mistake.”
Assembling the PlayersLaw & Order
. But (NBC and Wolf) felt it was commercially desirable to do such a thing. Now I don’t think that was a mistake.”
In the spring of 1999, casting for the lead characters of
SVU
was in full swing—a setting in which recently hired executive producer Ted Kotcheff says he felt like the odd man out.
SVU
was in full swing—a setting in which recently hired executive producer Ted Kotcheff says he felt like the odd man out.
“The grandees (
SVU
creator Dick Wolf with officials from NBC and USA) were at the final auditions for the two leads on the 60
th
floor of Rockefeller Center,” he recalls. “I kind of sat in the back with the butlers and the maids.”
SVU
creator Dick Wolf with officials from NBC and USA) were at the final auditions for the two leads on the 60
th
floor of Rockefeller Center,” he recalls. “I kind of sat in the back with the butlers and the maids.”
The last round came down to six finalists: Samantha Mathis, Reiko Aylesworth, and Mariska Hargitay; Tim Matheson, Nick Chinlund, and Christopher Meloni. “Dick turns to me and says, ‘Why don’t you pair them up?’ It was arbitrary: Tim and Samantha; Nick and Reiko; by happenstance, Chris and Mariska,” Kotcheff explains.
Then came the moment of truth. “After the actors left, there was dead silence,” he points out. “I didn’t obey television rules when I blurted out, ‘Oh, well. There’s no doubt who we should choose—Hargitay and Meloni.’ They all turned to look at me. Finally, Garth Ancier (then entertainment president at NBC) said he agreed and everybody jumped in.”
Wolf’s recollection is that the perfect duo seemed obvious. “It was apparent there was incredible chemistry the first time I saw them together,” he says of Meloni and Hargitay. “They were the pair to beat, and they ended up being our first choice, and we made the right decision.”
Maybe there was just something in the air that day. “The audition was so visceral,” Kotcheff acknowledges. “You just know when it’s the right chemistry. They were all good, but the melding of those two was special. You’ve got to have strong opposites: His intensity; her empathy. Sparks flew.”
Those sparks apparently had already started ricocheting around the room where Hargitay and Meloni waited with other hopefuls for the auditions to begin.
“I was told by my agent that John Slattery was going to be there, and he’s their client,” Hargitay says. “And Chris walks in, and I see this guy who’s all street New York, cocky—everything that he is now he was then. I jumped up and I go, ‘Slattery!’ And he goes, without missing a beat, ‘Meloni!’ Well, he and I, from minute one were (doing) all this shtick, and laughing. . . . It was nonstop chitchat; couldn’t stop talking. All of a sudden someone comes out and pairs us up: ‘Mariska and Chris.’ And I thought, ‘I want to be with that guy!’ Because we already had a thing.”
Just think: Had the guy actually been John Slattery, Hargitay might have wound up as a long-suffering mid-twentieth-century wife or secretary on his current show, AMC’s
Mad Men
, instead of as an early twenty-first-century cop alongside Meloni on
SVU
.
Mad Men
, instead of as an early twenty-first-century cop alongside Meloni on
SVU
.
Meloni’s knack for being himself in any setting surely helped nudge fate. “I’m like, ‘Who’s the chick with all the energy?’ And nothing against the other two women, but I just knew that Mariska was going to be The One,” he recalls. “They say (the audition pairing) was random, whatever. But I was in the middle of telling her this story, this joke. So we got up on the stage and I’m like, ‘Hold on just a second, I’m going to finish telling this story.’ Not being disrespectful, but this is important too. This may change my life, but the story is that funny. And I think that put us at ease, and unconsciously there was a connection you could see: That she was now my partner.”
Selection of the other primary cast members flowed easily. “Dick had worked with Richard Belzer,” Kotcheff says, referring to the Mother Ship’s periodic crossover episodes with NBC’s
Homicide: Life on the Street
.
Homicide: Life on the Street
.
This link had great significance, as it turns out. “When
Homicide
was canceled, I was in France with my wife and she said, ‘Let’s open a bottle of Champagne and toast; you did this character for seven years,’” Belzer says. “And then I remembered that Benjamin Bratt was leaving
L&O
, and so I called my manager and said, ‘Call Dick Wolf—maybe Munch can become (Det. Lennie) Briscoe’s partner,” because we had teamed for the crossover. So he called and Dick said, ‘What a great idea, but I’ve already cast Jesse Martin to be the new guy.’”
Homicide
was canceled, I was in France with my wife and she said, ‘Let’s open a bottle of Champagne and toast; you did this character for seven years,’” Belzer says. “And then I remembered that Benjamin Bratt was leaving
L&O
, and so I called my manager and said, ‘Call Dick Wolf—maybe Munch can become (Det. Lennie) Briscoe’s partner,” because we had teamed for the crossover. So he called and Dick said, ‘What a great idea, but I’ve already cast Jesse Martin to be the new guy.’”
Hope reared its lovely head again thanks to some quick reconfiguration, recalls Belzer. “My manager called me back and I said, ‘Isn’t
L&O
doing a sex crimes show?’ and I said, ‘What about that?’”
L&O
doing a sex crimes show?’ and I said, ‘What about that?’”
A few contractual glitches related to Munch’s previous incarnation were soon overcome. But he needed a partner.
“Richard Belzer and I were good friends,” says Dean Winters (former Det. Brian Cassidy). “(He) had always looked at me like a little brother, and he basically told Dick, ‘Well, I’ll do this new show of yours,
SVU
, only if you make Dean Winters my partner.’ And that’s exactly what happened.”
SVU
, only if you make Dean Winters my partner.’ And that’s exactly what happened.”
Dann Florek—whose Captain Cragen appeared in the Mother Ship’s 1988 pilot and later spent three seasons in that squad room—got an enticement from Wolf one day: “‘How would you like to bring the character back?’ And I said, ‘What’s going on?’”
The seasoned actor’s next question was logical. “I asked, ‘What am I doing, the same character? Similar?’ Dick said, ‘It’ll be Cragen, but we’ll fill in the backstory and all that.’”
Even so, Florek felt it was crucial to get Wolf’s assurance that he did not have to audition for the role: “No way I’m walking into a room to read and be told that I can’t play—
me
.”
me
.”
No such precedent existed for Stabler’s long-suffering wife on
SVU
. Isabel Gillies was shopping for a wedding dress when a call came asking her to head over to the casting session. It wasn’t exactly a convenient time, but she told them: “‘This is the right role for me and I should have it.’ And then I got the part and that was that. I was in the first episode.”
SVU
. Isabel Gillies was shopping for a wedding dress when a call came asking her to head over to the casting session. It wasn’t exactly a convenient time, but she told them: “‘This is the right role for me and I should have it.’ And then I got the part and that was that. I was in the first episode.”
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