Chris and Mariska: Bigger pay, longer stay

Looks like Chris and Mariska will be sticking around, albiet with fatter paychecks. Yay us! From The Hollywood Reporter:

"Law & Order: SVU" stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have signed lucrative deals, valued by sources at more than $330,000 per episode for each actor.

The two-year pact makes Hargitay the highest-paid actress on television, surpassing "The Closer" star Kyra Sedgwick, who recently secured a rate of
$250,000-$300,000 per episode of TNT's hit police drama.

Meloni would join the top tier of TV actors, closing in on the highest-paid actor on broadcast TV, Charlie Sheen of CBS' "Two and a Half Men."

Sources said NBC and the show's producers briefly considered replacement
scenarios, sending out feelers to several male actors, but they ultimately
opted to stick with the show's original leads. The hit show is currently in its eighth season, and was recently picked up for a ninth.

Through a representative, "Law & Order" franchise creator Dick Wolf declined comment on any specifics of Hargitay and Meloni's deals.

"Obviously, I'm thrilled that Chris and Mariska have decided to stay with a show that they've made an indelible stamp upon as we move into our ninth
season," Wolf said.

At the announcement of the early pickup last week, NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly was asked whether "SVU" could continue without its
two stars.

"The 'Law & Order' brand has proven before that it can be stronger than any one performer if it were to ever come to that," he said. "But they are
stars, and I certainly hope they're going to be our stars for the run of the show."

"SVU," the first spinoff of the long-running "Law & Order," is the strongest of the three "L&O" series ratingswise and the only one already picked up for next season.

Last year, Hargitay and Meloni were nominated for an Emmy for their work on the show, and Hargitay won for best actress in the drama series.