After 26 seasons, Law & Order: SVU finally hires a woman showrunner

Michele Fazekas is returning to Law & Order: SVU after almost two decades away, and this time she’s running the damn show. Deadline reports today that Fazekas will take the showrunner reins from David Graziano for the series’ 27th season, making her the first woman to hold the position. 

As a show with a female lead, investigating crimes often committed against women, it’s high time a woman took the lead of SVU. The promotion is part of what sounds like a long-time tide shift behind the scenes. A 2024 cover story at Variety focused on star Mariska Hargitay notes that it wasn’t until season 13 that SVU hired a female executive producer: Julie Martin. It happened to be the season that Hargitay became number one on the call sheet after Christopher Meloni left. “It was an empowering journey for me to watch,” Martin said of Hargitay taking the top spot. “It was really impressive.” Hargitay herself called the behind-the-scenes transition “the perfect feminist story,” explaining, “I started off as this little detective with this very powerful man, powerful showrunners, co-star, alpha, alpha, alpha. That’s a very specific energy to navigate — great artists, super-talented people. I learned so much. And then it was time for change.”

Per her IMDB, Fazekas has worked in TV for 25 years, working on SVU from 2002 until 2006 and then going on to produce and executive produce Hawaii Five-O, Agent Carter, Kevin (Probably) Saves The World and most recently The Boys‘ spinoff Gen V. Deadline notes that she worked on the first two seasons of Gen V and that a renewal decision isn’t expected until late summer, freeing her up to return to the series that helped kickstart her career.