Christopher Meloni is bringing back his famous ‘Law & Order SVU’ character

If you need some good news and you also happen to be an OG fan of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, then today is your lucky day. Because at it turns out, whenever Hollywood opens back up for business after this current coronavirus pandemic, Christopher Meloni is treating fans to a new version of his fan favourite SVU character, Elliot Stabler.Yup, the hard-headed, heart-of-gold character is coming back, only this time he’s not heading to his former stomping grounds. As Meloni’s longtime screen partner Mariska Hargitay continues to keep things going over at SVU, the actor will star as his beloved character in a new 13-episode series on NBC. Like many of the Peacock’s other dramatic series (read: Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago P.D. and SVU), the untitled show will be produced by Dick Wolf.

Sleep tight https://t.co/RFDSPoQCWF

— Chris Meloni (@Chris_Meloni) April 1, 2020

[video_embed id='1929889']RELATED: Mariska Hargitay pays tribute to SVU’s crew member who died[/video_embed]Deadline revealed the good news on March 31, hinting that whatever the show is called it will probably be a part of the Law & Order franchise. Overall there have been seven such series over the years, including the original, Law & Order: LA, Law & Order: True Crimes, and a bunch of others. The OG iteration ran from 1990-2010; back then fans thought it would be the series to finally beat Gunsmoke’s record as the longest-running primetime series (20 seasons). However it was cancelled in season 20 so it really only tied. Luckily for him, Wolf still made history with the franchise when season 21 of SVU kicked off last September.As for Meloni’s new series, it will supposedly take place in New York within the organized crime division of the NYPD. The Big Apple is also where SVU is set, so fans can probably expect some epic crossovers and big reunions. After all, when you have chemistry between leads like Meloni and Hargitay, who starred for more than a decade together, you want to take advantage.Meloni left SVU in 2011 when his character unexpectedly quit the police force because things got too emotional for him. Since then he’s starred in plenty of series including True Blood, Surviving Jack, and Happy! Fans most recently caught him as the sleazy toxic male character in The Handmaid’s Tale who tried to mess with June (Elisabeth Moss) at Jezebel's.Fans have been hoping the actor would reprise his role as Stabler in some way, shape or form since he left, but he always seemed to be against the idea. (He’s confirmed as much on social media in the past.) Who knows what finally got him to say yes, but whatever it was, people are clearly excited. Sure he’ll probably be a changed man after all these years, but he’ll at least still be the hero fans love to root for.[video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: Golden Retriever puppy very ecstatic to find a new 'friend'[/video_embed]