‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 16: New Year’s wishes from Mariska Hargitay, cast

Who knew that the 2014 Rose Parade would happen to be where we would get a message from the cast of “Law & Order: SVU”? It may be crazy, but it is still very much true.

Close to 9:00 a.m. Eastern time, the awards show (hosted by the “Today Show” crew of Al Roker and Hoda Hotb) gave us a brief video of Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, and much of the rest of the show’s cast singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” … except substituting that for “We Wish You a Happy New Year.” This made the “and a Happy New Year” part kind of awkward, but it was fun all of the same.

After all, the entire “SVU” family has quite a bit to be thankful about this year. This is the 16th season that the show has been on the air, and so long as the ratings are good enough, there is little reason to think that the series could be going anywhere. Hargitay has meant more to many than just an actor behind a famed character; she has really used the show as a platform to stop domestic violence.

So when can you catch the show back on the air in 2015? The first new episode back for the series will air come Wednesday, January 7 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, and it will feature in “Forgiving Rollins” a pretty emotional story about how this character handles a secret from her past, which she hid from her co-workers at the Special Victims Unit. Harry Hamlin is also slated to return as Deputy Chief Patton.

Photo: NBC