Finally some good news! Christopher Meloni, 58, is bringing back Elliot Stabler nearly a decade after leaving Law & Order: SVU. Christopher sounded off about the exciting announcement on social media hours later, after a fan needed to hear Christopher himself confirm the good news. “@Chris_Meloni sir can you pls confirm you’re coming back as stabler so we can all sleep easy for the first night since quarantine began??!!!?” the fan asked on Twitter. Christopher (seemingly) put the fan’s worries to rest by simply responding, “Sleep tight.” Cue the celebratory GIFs, which poured into Christopher’s mentions afterwards.
The actor will star in a new NBC series from Dick Wolf that has already received a 13-episode order, our sister site Variety reports. This will be the first time Christopher has reprised his iconic police detective character since he left the show in 2011. His character departed the series at the end of season 12. The series continued on with Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, and more cast members. Law & Order: SVU is currently in its 21st season and has been renewed for 3 more seasons.
With season 21, Law & Order: SVU became the longest-running primetime live-action series. HollywoodLife asked Christopher back in Aug. 2019 ahead of the show’s milestone season about this achievement. “It’s amazing and I am happy with everyone connected with the show past and present,” Christopher told HollywoodLife. “You know, it really is something very special and you can’t ask for a nicer set of people who are more dedicated. I did it for 12 years so I know what it is like and it is a grind. It’s a difficult show that requires a lot of the cast and crew so it is really a landmark.”
Sleep tight
— Chris Meloni (@Chris_Meloni) April 1, 2020
There’s no word yet on when and where this Elliot Stabler series will take place. During the season 13 premiere, Elliot retired from the police force off-screen. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since. But let’s be honest, if we don’t get a Stabler and Benson reunion — we riot!
