‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 16: Odds, ends, and surprises

We are now officially in that portion of the summer season where there is often not too much to break when it comes to TV news. Production is over for a while, and casting news will not come out for many more weeks.

This article is meant more to catch you up on some of the odds and ends from “Law & Order: SVU” that you may have missed over the past week. given how much is going on in the world right now, it’s certainly easy to have missed out on something.

Change of plans – According to Deadline, the show decided to shelve an episode for season 16 that was originally going to be filmed this spring, mostly due to exhaustion on the part of Mariska Hargitay and the rest of the cast. These people work extremely long days in order to get the show done, and while there are obvious benefits, it also definitely takes a toll. Speaking in a statement, executive producer Dick Wolf sums it up perfectly:

 “In the last 12 months Mariska appeared in 26 episodes, directed one, produced two benefits that raised millions of dollars for her Joyful Heart Foundation, and is also the full-time mother of three young children … Even a Super Woman needs a break sometime. Instead of shooting 27 straight episodes, we will begin our hiatus and go back to our normal production schedule.”

Typically, the cast is not going to have to do that many episodes in a row any season, but cast negotiations last summer kept the show from banking some in advance as they tried to do for this season.

When will the show resume filming? – There is no precise date, but July or early August is a safe bet, given that this is when most shows return. Having two shows already made will help the cast out a little, but you also have to remember that these are 24-episode seasons.

A funny connection – This is a completely random story, but this Huffington Post report that 18 actors on “Orange Is the New Black” have appeared on “SVU” completely blows our mind.

Photo: NBC