‘There’s No Toxicity’: Mariska Hargitay and the ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Team on How the First Female Showrunner in 26 Years Changed Everything

By Emily Longeretta

Emily Longeretta

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Michele Fazekas has known Mariska Hargitay and the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” team for 25 years. While she didn’t join the drama as showrunner until this year’s 27th season, she was in the writers’ room for Seasons 3 through 7 and kept a friendship with the show’s leading women.

So, at the end of Season 26, as the Dick Wolf procedural began searching for a new showrunner, it was perfect timing: Fazekas had just wrapped Prime Video’s “Gen V” and was looking for something new. She returned in a big way, becoming the first woman to showrun the iconic series.

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