It’s an age-old negotiation tactic that can work (example: “Friends”) or backfire (example: “Three’s Company”). Sources confirmed that the two stars of NBC’s “Law and Order: SVU” have been in the throes of a bitter contract negotiation, asking for more money per episode of the show’s new season. But even though the show is one of the network’s few hit dramas, the studio execs aren’t ready to give in. There’s even been talk of replacing both Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni if they don’t toe the line.

They wouldn’t dare.

Multiple sources are confirming that NBC is threatening to replace Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni on Law & Order: SVU if the actors persist in their demands for more money.

Last week, NBC closed a deal with L&O boss Dick Wolf for an 11th season of SVU — which, at 10.5 million viewers, remains the Peacock’s No. 1 scripted show. That opened the door to a new round of negotiations with the stars, whose $350K-per-episode contracts will expire in May. Yet a source close to the matter said talks stalled when the duo — who, like in their previous negotiations, are banding together — attempted to go after back-end profits, a perk that’s almost never granted in the L&O universe (although exceptions were made for Vincent D’Onofrio and Chris Noth).

As a result, NBC cautioned that it may be forced to replace the MVPs — a risky move considering how integral Hargitay and Meloni are to the show. Many feel the Peacock won’t make good on its threat (reps for the network, studio and the actors would not comment for this story). “I don’t think in this environment, there’s any chance they could re-launch the show with both of them gone,” says a high-ranking exec at a rival network. “It’s a horrible time to retool a show. They already have to change the time-slot, because it’s not going to be airing at 10 pm next season.” At the same time, a Peacock insider says, “I can’t imagine either actor walking away from over $7 million a year.”

For now, Wolf is putting a positive face on the talks. Through his spokesman, he said, “It is my fondest hope that both Chris and Mariska will be back next season.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Seven million bucks a year seems like plenty of money to me. More than enough, actually. But if this show is NBC’s number one drama, it must be raking in boatloads of advertising money. If NBC could find the cash to pay the whole cast of “Friends” $250,000 per episode, I’m sure they can work something out here. And if they didn’t want to pay back-end residuals to Mariska and Chris, then they shouldn’t have allowed other stars to get that arrangement! What did they think– these people all travel in the same circles — of course they’re going to talk to each other! Getting rid of the show’s two biggest stars would be a huge mistake. I mean, I like Ice-T, B.D. Wong and Richard Belzer – but they’re not the reason I tune in every week. It’s all about the smoldering sexual chemistry between Olivia and Stabler!

Photos courtesy of NBC.

Mariska Hargitay isn’t taking her Law and Order: SVU co-star Ice-T’s advice to take some time and heal. Her rep confirmed that she’ll be back to filming episodes of SVU for the rest of the season. So far, Mariska has only missed one episode due to her mystery lung ailment. It’s unknown exactly what’s going on with her health, but she’s been hospitalized twice, the second time just last week. OK! has more:

Despite rumors speculating that Law and Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay would be missing the entire rest of the season due to health concerns, the actresses’ rep tells OK! not to believe the buzz.

“Not true,” says the rep of the report. “Mariska is recovering well and is returning to the show this season. She is only missing one episode.”

Mariska’s had a bumpy few months after being hospitalized for a collapsed lung in mid January. The star returned to work and seemed to be doing well, but had to visit the hospital again after experiencing some discomfort relating to the lung condition.

[From OK! Magazine]

I’m a huge fan of Mariska’s, and I feel very strongly that if my girl needs to rest and recuperate, that’s what she should be doing. SVU can’t have that many more episodes to film, so why all the drama about her coming back to work so soon? There’s obviously something wrong with her, or she wouldn’t have needed to be hospitalized a second time. There’s even a rumor going around that she needs surgery, but that hasn’t been verified by anyone close to Mariska.

Here’s Mariska and Christopher Meloni on the set of Law and Order SVU filming in SoHo on October 10th. Images thanks to BauerGriffinOnline.

In January, news broke that Mariska Hargitay had suffered a partially collapsed lung, and the actress was hospitalized for a week. She went back to work soon after, but there were still rumors that the actress was struggling. Then last week word broke that Hargitay had been experiencing chest pain on the set of “Law & Order: SVU” and was being re-hospitalized.

The current information is that Mariska is still suffering from some kind of infection, and sources told Star Magazine that she will most likely need surgery, though Mariska’s spokeperson only confirmed that she’s undergoing tests. Her L&O co-star Ice-T (who brilliantly portrays Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola) spoke out about his friend at a recent event, and People Magazine has more:

Law & Order: SVU star Ice-T was surprised to hear that his costar, Mariska Hargitay, was re-hospitalized Tuesday night after she had returned to the set so quickly – less than a month – after undergoing surgery in January for a partially collapsed lung.

“When she came back last time it was like nothing ever happened. She’s very resilient. This woman is a hard worker; she works 14 hours a day. I don’t know what you know about episodic drama television, but it’s like a movie that never ends, it’s just one day,” the Grammy-winning rapper and actor, 51, told PEOPLE Thursday at the VH1 Save the Music Foundation event, co-sponsored by LG Mobile Phones.

On the topic of Hargitay, 45, Ice-T cited her desire to downplay any hardships she might be facing. “Mariska is the type of woman that if you walk up and say, ‘How are you?’ She’s almost like a guy and is like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m all right.’

“It’s almost as if you insult her. She doesn’t want you to feel sorry for her, she’s like, ‘I’m on my feet.’ ”

In the meantime – although Ice-T’s been told Hargitay is “doing okay” – “My personal thought is she just needs to take a little time and rest,” he says. “I mean, it’s a serious thing. You can’t just come right back. You’ll re-injure yourself.”

[From People Magazine]

That’s sweet, right? Like the gangster rapper really cares about his girl Mariska. Ice-T has been on the cast of SVU for more than eight years, and I’ve always believed that out of all of the L&O series, SVU has the best, most cohesive ensemble cast. And I agree whole-heartedly with Ice-T’s recommendation to his girl – Mariska needs to take a break and get well. SVU will still be there when she gets better. In the meantime, they can write around her character like they did when she was pregnant. Prayers to Mariska!

Here’s Ice-T and Mariska on the “SVU” set in Manhattan on February 10th. Images thanks to PRPhotos.com.

Poor Mariska Hargitay. The Emmy-winning “Law & Order: SVU” star has been hospitalized yet again for something involving the mysterious lung problems she faced in January. At the start of the year, Mariska had a collapsed lung, and had to stay in a hospital for more than a week. Nothing was ever reported about exactly what had happened to Mariska. A few weeks after the incident, Mariska was back at work. Now it seems that Mariska is back in the hospital after complaining of chest pains yesterday.

After suffering through a lung that collapsed twice and multiple surgeries earlier this year, it seemed Mariska Hargitay was on the mend, reporting to work on the set of Law and Order: SVU and seeming healthy.

But now an insider confirms to OK! that the actress has headed back to the hospital, perhaps for an ailment related to her previous lung problems, but it is unsure exactly what has her checking in for medical care this time around.

The star reportedly complained of chest pains on the set of the NBC show yesterday and was taken to the hospital.

Co-star Stephanie March told OK! in January that Mariska seemed “strong as an ox” when she returned to the set.

From OK! Magazine

I’m a fan of the show, and I’ve been really disappointed with this season. That is, when new episodes come on. A new episode of “Law & Order: SVU” hasn’t been shown in weeks. Maybe this is the reason – Mariska is sicker than SVU producers are letting on.

Mariska is an extremely cool actress, mother, wife and women‘s rights advocate. I really hope everything turns out okay for her and her health.

Mariska Hargitay is shown at the Guys and Dolls Broadway premiere on 3/1/09. Credit: PRPhotos

Law & Order: SVU is a great show that seems to have jumped the shark this season. It happened with an unfortunate episode where Christopher Meloni’s character Elliot Stabler gets shot while tracking someone smuggling exotic animals. Not to put too fine a point on it, but exotic animals are not special victims! Rape victims are special victims. Children are special victims. Leopards are not special victims.

Anyhoo, L&O: SVU’s Emmy-winning star Mariska Hargitay has been hospitalized while on vacation. Apparently, she has a collapsed lung, which sounds pretty serious. Her reps are releasing very little info, though. The only thing they’re sure of is that Hargitay will be back to filming SVU episodes very, very soon.

Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay has a partially collapsed lung, but won’t miss any work, according to her rep.

“Mariska Hargitay has been sidelined with a pneumothorax (a partially collapsed lung),” the rep says.

In spite of her condition, the 44-year-old actress “will appear in all episodes for the rest of the season of Law & Order: SVU,” the rep says.

According to a source, the actress has been on vacation and her injury did not occur on the set of her show.

Hargitay was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actress in a television drama, but did not attend Sunday’s ceremony. Access Hollywood was first to report the news.

From People

Mariska Hargitay seems like a really cool person, judging her solely from her E! True Hollywood Story, which made me cry. Her role as Detective Olivia Benson has defined her career, and she takes it seriously. After a couple of years playing a cop dealing with victimized women and children, Hargitay started a charity that funds therapeutic vacations for rape and molestation victims, bringing them to Hawaii to swim with the fish. It’s got me wondering if she was in Hawaii when her lung collapsed. My thoughts and prayers are with Hargitay, her family, and the people she helps.

Mariska Hargitay is shown on the set of Law & Order: SVU with co-star Christopher Meloni on 12/22/08. Credit: Bauergriffinonline.

Remember Ellen’s sitcom, back in the day? I don’t think a ton of people watched it before she came out, but I always thought it was funny. Before her current talk show, I always heard people saying they thought she was annoying, but now everyone seems to be in love with her (I’m no exception – listen to her old comedy CD, it’s hysterical). Ellen had Mariska Hargitay on her show this week, and wanted to show a clip of Hargitay guest starring on Ellen’s sitcom back in 1996 (though weirdly enough, the episode was taped in 1994 during the show’s first season). ABC gave Ellen a big old no, even though she worked for the network for years – and her show is still syndicated on many local ABC channels.

“Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has been refused access to clips from her own former sitcom. The comedienne asked ABC/Disney bosses to let her show a segment from her old program, which featured a guest appearance from actress Mariska Hargitay – and was told the footage was off limits.

“DeGeneres, who hit the headlines a decade ago when she ‘came out’ as a lesbian on the sitcom and in real life, was hoping to use the clip to show Hargitay when the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star made her debut on the Ellen show on Friday.

“‘She was a guest star on my original sitcom and it was a hilarious scene… I wanted to show it today… but Disney will not let me have any clips of my show to show, unless we pay a whole lot of money. It was my show… We’d be advertising it, it would help them.’”

[From Starpulse]

That would piss me off too. I’m kind of surprised Ellen even mentioned it, since she’s considered the real “Queen of Nice.” We forget that Rosie O’Donnell used to have that title, before the “View” and drawing horns on pictures of Elizabeth Hasselbeck. Ellen had Kathy Griffin on her show this week, and admitted that she originally didn’t watch Griffin’s show “My Life on the D List” because she thought it’d be too mean-spirited, but said she’d given it a viewing and enjoyed it. The contrast between the stars was interesting to watch.

“Ellen’s good-natured style of humor made for an interesting conflict with the sharp, pointed jabs Kathy is known for taking against celebrities, a difference the host brought up in the interview.

Ellen: “Do you feel bad? Do you feel like you could then go up — because I know all these people. So, for me — and I was also on the other end of it — I used to get… After I came out, I was the butt of everybody’s joke. So I know what it feels like to be talked about all the time.”

Kathy: “Not mine. Not mine. And that’s really — people say ‘Do you have lines? Do you have lines?’ [lines that you won’t cross] Yeah, I don’t make fun of people who have a sense of humor about themselves, I don’t make fun of people — honestly, what I do is I make fun of people who created a situation. I don’t say about Star Jones, ‘Uhm, she’s fat. Goodnight everybody!’ I say ‘I worked with her and my experience was she was a [censored].’ That’s my experience with her, we all know it. Don’t act like I’m the first one to say that … but, also, if you were puking all over in nightclubs or get out of the car without the panties that’s a different story because that’s something you’re controlling … and it’s fun. Honestly, I make fun of people’s behavior more than I make fun of how they look. And I’ve been that person too, I’ve had the nasty pictures and had the ‘worst dressed’ and all that too.”

[From After Elton]

After that, Ellen had a segment where she held up pictures of famous people and told Kathy she had to find a nice thing to say about each of them. Kathy made a few barbs instead (you could tell she was trying not to but couldn’t resist) and Ellen looks visibly pissed/annoyed and almost angry at her a few times. It’s kind of funny. Here’s a clip below.