Official: Meloni/Hargitay back for 2 years at SVU

And now it's official:

"Law & Order: SVU" will be returning in the fall with its two stars.

After lengthy negotiations, Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have inked new deals to continue on the crime procedural, which is coming back for an 11th season in the fall.

Additionally, Emmy winner Christine Lahti has signed on to play the ADA on the veteran series for the first four episodes. Stephanie March will then return, reprising her role as ADA Alexandra Cabot.

Sources said Hargitay and Meloni, who regularly negotiate their contracts together, have inked one-year deals with an option for a second year.

And, despite the congloms and particularly NBC Universal being in a cost-cutting mode, both Hargitay and Meloni are said to have received salary increases to their most recent paychecks of about $385,000 an episode.

Hargitay and Meloni's deals come a month after NBC closed a deal with Wolf Films for the renewal of "Law & Order: SVU."

At the time, NBC brass said that the show will return with or without its stars as the networks and reps for the actors had been embroiled in intense negotiations.

But, while crime procedurals are more resilient than character dramas in replacing leads, losing both Hargitay and Meloni, considered the heart of the show, would've been a big hit to "SVU."

Hargitay is repped by Paradigm. Meloni is repped by Gersh.

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."