The tides of change are sweeping in on the thirteenth season premiere of 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' (Wed., 10PM ET on NBC). After twelve seasons on the top-rated show, Christopher Meloni won't be a part of the show after contract negotiations failed, while Mariska Hargitay is reducing her workload.

In the season premiere, we learned that Det. Stabler has put in his retirement papers. And since Meloni wasn't available to be in the show, Det. Benson had to learn this second-hand. While publicly she appeared to take it pretty well, she had a breakdown in private.

Now it's going to be the show's task to reinvigorate the show with a different energy and some new faces without the face of one of its biggest stars. Why does that sound familiar?

It's been a confusing time for fans of 'Law & Order: SVU' over the last few months. First, veteran showrunner Neal Baer stepped down, and then came news of star Christopher Meloni's surprise exit.

After producers hired not one, but two, new actors for lead roles in the wake of Meloni's departure, worried fans have been left to question the fate of Mariska Hargitay and her character, Det. Olivia Benson.

Now producers have acted to reassure fans, telling 'Entertainment Weekly' that the new additions to the cast do not pose a threat to Hargitay, and that she will continue to play a marquee role in the 'Law & Order' franchise when it returns in the fall.

A NBC spokesman said that Hargitay will appear in every episode of the upcoming Season 13 even though Kelly Giddish ('The Chase') and Danny Pino ('Cold Case') have joined the cast.

It's only been a month since Christopher Meloni stepped down from 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,' but producers are reportedly screen-testing his possible replacements in New York today.

Production on the upcoming Season 13 is due to get underway soon and, according to Deadline.com, 'SVU' creator/executive producer Dick Wolf and NBC have narrowed the field to a short list of five.

The actors, who have all doubtless just spent a sleepless night in the Big Apple rehearsing their lines, have been named as: Danny Pino ('Cold Case'), Kevin Alejandro ('True Blood,' 'Southland'), David Conrad ('Ghost Whisperer'), Michael Raymond-James ('Terriers') and Rhys Coiro ('Entourage').

Each one will test today with Meloni's co-star, Mariska Hargitay, who plays Det. Olivia Benson on the drama. Both Alejandro and Raymond-James recently guest-starred on 'SVU,' so could be feeling like they've got the edge.

I remember when 'Law & Order: SVU' debuted, there were a lot of joking articles asking what would be next, 'Law & Order: Pet Detectives'? There were also questions about how many of these shows an audience could really take, and so on and so forth, with the same humor (if you can call it that) applied to the 'CSI' and 'NCIS' franchises as they came along.

Well guess what, people? 'Law & Order' is doing it again. NBC has greenlit a fourth version of 'L&O' -- set in L.A. -- for a fall debut. The original and 'SVU' are also looking good for renewals, while 'Criminal Intent' airs on cable network USA and on NBC.

My mind is boggled by this news. At this point, when I watch 'L&O' it has the same sort of nostalgic feeling I used to get from old episodes of 'Little House on the Prairie'.

I remember when 'Law & Order: SVU' debuted, there were a lot of joking articles asking what would be next, 'Law & Order: Pet Detectives'? There were also questions about how many of these shows an audience could really take, and so on and so forth, with the same humor (if you can call it that) applied to the 'CSI' and 'NCIS' franchises as they came along.

Well guess what, people? 'Law & Order' is doing it again. NBC has greenlit a fourth version of 'L&O' -- set in L.A. -- for a fall debut. The original and 'SVU' are also looking good for renewals, while 'Criminal Intent' airs on cable network USA and on NBC.

My mind is boggled by this news. At this point, when I watch 'L&O' it has the same sort of nostalgic feeling I used to get from old episodes of 'Little House on the Prairie'.

After 20 years, NBC's relationship with the 'Law & Order' franchise is still going strong.

According to sources for Deadline Hollywood, NBC has picked up 'Law & Order: Los Angeles,' the latest show in Dick Wolf's juggernaut franchise, for 13 episodes this fall. 'Brotherhood' creator Blake Masters is co-creating the series with Wolf.

Meanwhile, a 12th season of 'Law & Order: SVU' is looking more and more likely now that show leads Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have cleared their schedules to shoot new episodes this summer, according to the report. Based on contract negotiations from last spring, Hargitay and Meloni are expected return under a one-year deal that includes the option of an additional season.

Was that a real moment between Bob Costas and Lindsey Vonn during the NBC coverage of the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Saturday night ... or just a typical cross promotion for the Peacock network? You be the judge.

The gold medal winning American downhill ski champion, one of the darlings of the Vancouver games, appeared with Costas. At the end of the interview, Bob reminded Lindsey that she's the biggest 'Law & Order' fan in the world. Lindsey didn't deny it. She said it was true and the video they showed of her visiting the set and gushing about the show looked very sincere.

Well, it looks like NBC is doing something right.

Amidst an ongoing late-night war between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien, the network has handed out additional episode orders to a number of its shows.

According to the Live Feed, NBC has ordered four more episodes of 'Trauma,' bringing its season 1 total to 20. 'Community' and 'Parks and Recreation' also received handouts, with three and two new episodes, respectively.

If Dick Wolf's Festivus wish was to get Law and Order renewed for another season on NBC, he got what he wished for. NBC chief Angela Bromstad has vowed to renew Law and Order for season 21. That'll mean that Wolf's show will break the long-running record of 20 seasons for a dramatic series held by Gunsmoke.

Bromstad's vow presumably extends to Law and Order SVU, as well, especially since it does better in the ratings. Of course, nothing on the NBC slate is doing particularly well this season with the exception of the National Football League and The Biggest Loser. All the scripted series have struggled in the Nielsens. The Jay Leno Show experiment has been anything but a boon for the prime time schedule, no matter how NBC spins it.

Since its first episode aired 20 years ago, 'Law & Order' has specialized in dramatizing crime stories that are, as they say, "ripped from the headlines."

According to an article in The New York Post, an upcoming episode of the series may be fictionalizing a tragedy that is too fresh.

On July 26 of this year, Diane Schuler, 36, was driving in the wrong direction on the Taconic State Parkway north of New York City when her minivan collided with an SUV. Schuler, her 2-year-old daughter and her three young nieces were killed, as were the three men in the SUV.

An autopsy later revealed that Schuler's blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit and that she had marijuana in her system.

According to the Post, last week a 'Law & Order' crew was shooting a scene in upper Manhattan in which a woman drove a minivan filled with young children in the wrong lane on a busy street. The scene ended with a fiery car crash. The episode is reportedly set to air in November.

NBC's fall premiere schedule is all about 'The Jay Leno Show.'

The new 10PM series will begin its first full week on the network beginning Mon., Sept. 14. Also included that week are premieres of 'The Biggest Loser' (Tue., Sept. 14) and 'The Office' (Thu., Sept. 17).

Meanwhile, 'Heroes' returns with a two-hour premiere on Mon., Sept. 21.

See the full schedule after the jump.

10 - Survivor, CBS

9 - Ghost Whisperer, CBS

8 - The Bachelor, ABC

7 - The Unit, CBS

6 - At least one CSI, CBS

5 - At least one Law & Order, NBC/USA Network

4 - Brothers & Sisters, ABC

3 - Private Practice, ABC

2 - American Idol, FOX

1 - Grey's Anatomy, ABC

Want to see the pictures or leave a comment? Click here.

Does the return of Law and Order to the weekly NBC lineup strike a "welcome back" chord, or does it mean that the Peacock needs a boost in the ratings from a tried and true player? I think it's the latter, because just weeks into the new season, NBC is floundering in the Nielsens, prompting a change in the schedule.

First, Law and Order is returning this week. On Wednesday, October 29, NBC presents what could be called their crime-time line up -- Knight Rider at 8, Life at 9, and Law and Order at 10.

Clearly, with the pick up earlier this week for Knight Rider, NBC is committed to the show despite the weak ratings. Presenting this solid Wednesday block of cop shows will hopefully translate into better Nielsen numbers.

Lost and Found is one of those projects that's been swirling around in the ether for the past couple of years. Chris Levinson penned the one-hour script for NBC a year and a half ago. When the network's old regime passed on the project, it got lost in the shuffle. But now it's been found again, because the network recently gave it the green light.

The story, from Wolf Films and Universal Media Studios, centers on Tessa, a quirky, offbeat female LAPD detective who gets sent to the basement to work on John and Jane Doe cases. That's what happens to cops who butt heads with the higher-ups.

But Levinson says don't expect another slick CSI-type drama. "There are exposed pipes, it's grimy and dingy, and can't be further from the glossy 'CSI' shows."

(S18E18) Oh, boy. Jack McCoy is up to his neck in trouble now. This Law and Order season finale -- number 18 -- was a maze-like story that started with a gold merchant being murdered, wound its way through high-class escort services, and landed at the desk of the governor of New York. Any resemblance between this story and the demise of real-life New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was completely on purpose.

In true Law and Order fashion, the part about the hookers and the Governor was ripped right from the headlines. Unlike reality, though, the fictional governor was even more slimey and reprehensible than Spitzer seemingly. I'll explain it all, and go into more details about how it comes to bear on the characters on L&O after the jump.

%Gallery-23409%