‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 17 spoilers: Richard Belzer returning as Munch
For the upcoming May sweeps, apparently “Law & Order: SVU” is more than interested in bringing to us a blast from the past.
As first confirmed by Entertainment Weekly, original cast member Richard Belzer is going to be making his long-waiting return on an upcoming episode airing this May entitled “Fashionable Crimes,” which revolves around a young model who claims that a well-known photographer took advantage of her in a variety of terrible ways. This is a man who Munch and Fin (Ice-T) had looked at in the past as a possible predator, but they were never able to really nail him until now.
In a statement to Entertainment Weekly confirming the news, executive producer Warren Leight passed along the following message:
“We love having Richard back on set … This episode was perfect for Munch’s cynical eye, and just the right time for him to give Benson [Mariska Hargitay], and Noah, some much needed support.”
Of course, we’re more than thrilled about this news. While we do think that Belzer’s final episode was a regular was absolutely perfect, especially with him accidentally saying “homicide” when he first picked up the phone, it is nice to have him back here and there. He brings the show an element of history, which is probably why there are so many people out there who want to see Chris Meloni back at some point before the end of the series’ run.
New episodes of “SVU” are going to resume airing beginning Wednesday night. Be sure to be on the lookout now for some further updates!
(Photo: NBC.)
Michael Goldman
March 24, 2016 @ 2:52 am
There will only be 5 episodes left after the Wednesday night episode. Will SVU film 2 or 3 episodes for next fall before they go on Summer break? Will Warren Leight be directing them or will the new show runner be directing them? Will the Amanda Rollins/Kim Rollins saga be finished once and for all this season? Will everybody be returning for next season? Everybody in the cast was in episode 18. Imagine if that happened in every single episode? is it not feasible for some reason? These are some of the things I’d like to know.
Matt Carter
March 24, 2016 @ 4:24 am
I’m curious about the question you raise about Leight. I wonder if they’ll consider not banking season 18 episodes this spring to give the creative team time to change over.
Michael Goldman
March 24, 2016 @ 5:40 pm
They might not bank the episodes, but it would mean a lot of work next season. I guess the best answer is to find out what SVU did at the end of season 12, when Leight took over. Did they start shooting episodes for season 13 right after season 12 finished, or did they wait? The new guy has previously worked on Criminal Intent(among other things). If there is a cliffhanger involved at the end of the season, I would hope that Leight would shoot the second part. Thanks for writing.