Stephanie March Returns -- Again -- to SVU

Stephanie March (ADA Alex Cabot) fans rejoice: She's back for Season 11!

According to EW.com:

NBC declined comment, but an SVU insider says March's pact calls for her to appear in a minimum of 10 episodes next season. The show is expected to introduce one or possibly two new characters to fill the ADA void when Cabot isn't around.

More L&O in the news: Filming at the United Nations

No new revelations -- but expect scenes from the United Nations in an upcoming episode. This, from CNN today (full article here):

The U.N. recently opened the gates of its New York headquarters to the NBC Universal show "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" for the filming of an episode scheduled to air Tuesday. The taping marked the first time in its nearly 60-year history that the United Nations has allowed its iconic location to be used as a setting in a major network television production.

Series stars Stephanie March, who plays Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot, and Christopher Meloni, along with nearly 200 other cast and crew members, came to the U.N. on March 7 to film an episode revolving around child soldiers, refugees, warlords and the International Criminal Court.

Meloni described how the U.N. episode "really does kind of revolve around child soldiers, how they've been brainwashed, the horrible journeys that they've had to endure and how they can be assimilated back and be productive. And I think in this particular episode, we're trying to carry on with whatever clout we may possess. We have the medium to shine the light out there and tell this story."

Considering the "ripped-from-the-headlines" and complicated themes regarding conflict in Africa and the ICC, "Special Victims Unit" writers and actors relied on Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast as a consultant throughout the filming.

The Enough Project is an advocacy group committed to preventing genocide, crimes against humanity and other atrocities in six historically tumultuous African nations.

Prendergast explained that he perceived the episode as "one where reality dovetailed quite neatly with fiction, and hopefully more people will understand now what is happening in real life with President Bashir and Sudan, and then the accountability for war crimes because they saw it on 'Law & Order.' "

The "Special Victims Unit" filming was the first official project within Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's newly formed Creative Community Outreach Initiative. The intent of the program is to establish a relationship with international film and television industries to enhance the image of the United Nations and to "raise the profile of critical global issues," according to a U.N. representative.

Eric Falt, director of the U.N.'s outreach initiative, elaborated: "We're starting a program where we're going to say to filmmakers, people who produce television series, that we are essentially open for business. You want to come to the U.N.? Talk to us. We'll make it happen."

Michaela McManus out at SVU, Plus Lots of Speculation

Over at E! Online, they got some great scoopage from SVU's Neal Baer, who reports that Michaela McManus is out, the season finale won't be until June 2 -- and that somebody's getting killed. Key excerpts:

Someone's going to die on the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit finale..... When we asked Neal if we'd be losing a series regular, he would only say this: "It's a castmember." .... For some reason, Detective Munch's (Richard Belzer) name always comes up whenever the talk turns to SVU departures. Could it finally be time? Being the slick exec that he is, when asked if Munch were leaving, Neal played coy, saying, "I hope not. Well, we'll see." .... When we asked Neal about Stephanie March's future on SVU, he told us: "Stephanie is in the next-to-the-last episode; she's not in the last episode." .... Neal did confirm that Michaela McManus won't be back on SVU, but also that the door is not entirely closed on that other A.D.A. we all love, Diane Neal's Casey Novak. "Well, she was disbarred for a year but as I said, life is unpredictable." ..... One last thing, Neal mentioned another very special guest star coming up. We can't name names just yet, but he reveals that "an Oscar-winning performer is coming on in the next-to-the-last episode."

How real does SVU need to be?

An interesting discussion of "SVU" surfaced on the great blog Jezebel" the other day.

http://jezebel.com/5168036/law--order-svu-reproducing-rape-myths-or-working-against-them

The discussion presented there is fair; the blog it links to (which started the discussion) seems to paint very broad strokes about the show and is clearly written by someone who hasn't exactly seen every episode.

What do you think?

Also, speaking of "SVU" -- who was happy about the return the other night of Stephanie March?

Stephanie March Returns to SVU

Well, for about six episodes. Here's what Yahoo is reporting today:

LOS ANGELES – Stephanie March is back on the job as New York prosecutor Alexandra Cabot on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

March will guest star on NBC's top-rated drama for six episodes, beginning Feb. 17, series executive producer Neal Baer said Thursday. The show airs at 10 p.m. EST Tuesday.

The actress compared the program to "an old flame."

"Every time I run into it I think, `Hmmm, what if?' I look forward to spending some time working with a production that has always been so rewarding for me," March said in a statement.

She starred on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" for four seasons, leaving the show in 2003 as her character was forced into witness protection because of efforts to break a drug cartel.

In a 2005 episode, Cabot came out of the protection program to testify against the head of the cartel, who ultimately was killed in prison. March also briefly reprised the role of Cabot on NBC's drama "Conviction," which aired in 2006.

As Baer tells it, Cabot wasn't ready until now to put her difficult experience behind her and return to work with her former special victims unit colleagues. He welcomed having Cabot's "commanding presence" back in the courtroom, Baer said.

During Cabot's return, prosecutor Kim Greylek (Michaela McManus) will be temporarily on assignment in Washington, D.C., working with the Justice Department.

March, who is married to celebrity chef Bobby Flay, appears in the upcoming movie "This Side of Truth" with Ricky Gervais and has guest-starred in series including "30 Rock," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Rescue Me."

It's unclear what this means for Michaela McManus' character in the long run; why bring on a new actress just to shunt her to the side after half a season? But we'll see....