Law & Order: Organized Crime Enlists Ilene Chaiken as New Showrunner

Elliot Stabler has a new boss: NBC‘s forthcoming Law & Order: Organized Crime series has tapped Ilene Chaiken (The L Word, Empire) to serve as its showrunner, our sister site Deadline reports. She succeeds Chicago P.D./Chicago Fire alum Matt Olmstead, who stepped down as showrunner in October.

The Law & Order: SVU spinoff was ordered to series in March and features Chris Meloni reprising the character of Elliot Stabler. His comeback is expected to include his first appearance on Law & Order: SVU since exiting the show nearly a decade ago. (Meloni departed SVU after negotiations related to his contract broke down at the end of Season 12. When Season 13 started, Stabler had retired from the police force without saying anything to his co-workers; Olivia learned the devastating news at the same time as the audience did.)

Last week, SVU showrunner Warren Leight tweeted a table read photo, which featured Meloni among its participants. Neither a premiere date for Organized Crime, nor an airdate for the SVU episode that launches it, have been set yet.

In Organized Crime, Stabler is a boss in the Organized Crime unit of the New York City Police Department. Per the spinoff’s official logline, the series will deal with the realities of modern policing and will take place as Liv’s old partner returns to the department “after a devastating personal loss.”

In addition to creating The L Word and showrunning Empire‘s first four-plus seasons, Chaiken’s credits include The L Word: Generation Q, Stumptown and The Handmaid’s Tale.