DJariya

It was episode 500 of the series.

DJariya

Kelli Giddish, who plays detective Rollins, is leaving the series after 12 seasons.

jjcool

When she came on, I was still an avid watcher of SVU. She was just coming off the show Chase that aired for a season, that I really liked. Very similar character, which worked for her, I thought. It sure is a testament to the longevity of the show that she was on for 11 seasons worth of episodes and still was in less than half the total episodes that have aired.

Eric F

She was on as long as Meloni was.

Count Dooku

I wonder if about 8 years in, she started thinking, "I'm feeling ready to be done with this job."
But she thought, "I might as well stick with it until Mariska ends it."
Now it's year 11 and she goes, "Fuck, I'm gonna have to just quit!"

jjcool

It's surprisingly close, but not quite. She was on for 11 seasons, he was on for 12. That's not counting the crossovers for Meloni the past two seasons. I was very surprised that it was that close. I thought for sure he would have been on for way longer. In fact, she became a regular the premiere of season 13 and Meloni's exit was the finale of season 12. So they weren't both on the show at the same time, barring her early guest appearance in season season 8, until the crossovers is season 22.

That's bonkers to me that you can have two cast members that put in over 10 years each on a show and were never regulars at the same time. That just does not happen very much, and even less now a days.

bluesix

I feel like her character has gone as far it could...we have seen her family, her gambling addition, her bad choice in men, her single mother hood, and now her finally figuring how to snap up the best guy interested in her who was right in front of her face the entire time...its time for her to leave...

hope she doesn't take Carisi with her but I think he probably goes too.

it's time for some fresh blood on this show anyway, not sure why Ice-T is still on, we really only need Mariska and a bunch of hot new 20 year olds we can watch go through the same crazy freaky sex crimes the other squad members have seen over the past 20 seasons....

DJariya

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/why...vu-1235350955/


Variety learned that it was not Giddish or the showrunner who made the decision. The decision came above them.

Eric F

Dun-Dun!

Gizmo

Probably budget cuts. Harigtay probably makes 500k, ICE T $300k, all for a show which still gets meh ratings and is super old.

Let's just see who they replace her with. I'm sure I'll be shocked

MrX

$540K and that info is from 2018.

DJariya

Rollins and ADA Carisi are dating on the show. That's going to be a weird breakup when she does leave.

Eric F

They could always kill her off.

Gizmo

Crazy considering her and Ice T usually have 3-4 scenes and that's it. They really down-played her role but clearly still the star.

jjcool

I'm pretty sure that she has some sort of producer credit on the show now as well. Anyone know if that is just a title or if she actually acts in that capacity for the production?

DJariya

Mariska is one of the Executive Producers of the show. She has say in scripts and probably gets backend profits.

Count Dooku

Considering what TV drama leads were making 20 years ago, and the fact that the show now only exists with her on it, that per episode salary seems low, but I guess they can't throw the cash around like they used to do.

The executive producer credit does give her some backend profit participation. The title also gives her authority if she wants to exercise it. Some actors just want the vanity and the money, but others want to be involved in the decision-making around the show. The one power it does give her is that she can veto any Benson stories she does not want to do.

Gizmo

One day he will open that pickle jar.

MrX

Can't believe they wrote Molly Burnett (Muncy) off while keeping the guy who plays Velasco, who may be the worst actor on tv.

bluesix

I was surprised by the way things played out there too but is she really leaving? I thought it was still a bit vague. Never mind!
I thought she developed a nice chemistry with Churlish, especially in last week's episode as two Gen-Z female detectives who had never seen Cagney and Lacey.
I disagree about Velasco being the worst actor but his character has run its course. Im not really interested in seeing more of his backstory either.
More surprising to me was that L&O OC got rid of Whelan, didn't expect that.

Kudos to the director of the crossover eps. I especially loved that 5 minutes in the diner when the assassin comes for Liv! Great scene!