Law & Order: SVU has finally set a new showrunner for season 24: David Graziano. Graziano is a seasoned television writer and producer, having worked on series such as Lie to Me and the Neil Gaiman-inspired series American Gods. Most recently, he was the showrunner for the Paramount + crime-drama Coyote.
Law & Order: SVU previously spent a period of time in showrunner limbo. Long-time Law & Order creative Warren Leight announced his departure from SVU at the end of shooting for season 23, leaving the series in search of a new showrunner. Not only had Leight managed SVU for eight years total, but he had also worked on previous Law & Order series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Between the two Law & Order series, Leight left the series twenty years after beginning work for the franchise.
According to Deadline, the search for a new showrunner has finally concluded as Graziano is named showrunner for Law & Order: SVU season 24. Graziano will join as a producer on the show, alongside fellow executive producers Dick Wolf, Julie Martin, Norberto Barba, Ken Brown, Arthur Forney, Peter Jankowski, and Mariska Hargitay, who also plays SVU lead Olivia Benson. SVU's latest season joins fellow Law & Order spinoff Law & Order: Organized Crime in having a new showrunner this season; Organized Crime recently brought on Bryan Goluboff, former SVU executive producer, as showrunner. Goluboff replaces Organized Crime interim showrunner Barry O'Brien in the role.
Filling Leight's shoes is no easy task. With two decades of experience in Law & Order behind him, Leight brought immense knowledge to SVU during his multi-season stint as showrunner. Unlike SVU's new showrunner Goluboff, Graziano does not have prior experience working on Law & Order series. As a newcomer to the Law & Order landscape, Graziano will have some catching up to do as he attempts to fill Leight's impressive track record on the show.
With so many of SVU's seasons being under Leight's supervision, viewers may not be acclimated to what an SVU without Leight looks like. Though SVU had plenty of seasons before Leight, Leight has been the dominant force behind the series over the past eleven years, taking only a brief break in between two long periods as showrunner. Both SVU and Organized Crime have the potential to undergo cosmic shifts as they bring on new showrunners to both their creative teams. These shifts, however, could come with exciting changes as they are led by new creative voices. Perhaps an outsider's perspective like Graziano's could be just what Law & Order: SVU needs to reinvigorate the series as it enters its 24th season.
Source: Deadline