NBC and Dick Wolf have tapped Warren Leight to take the reins of “Law & Order: SVU” as exec producer and showrunner.

He succeeds Neal Baer, who wrapping up production on this season and will segue to a three-year overall deal to produce and develop series at CBS Television Studios.

The choice of Leight, who is coming off the recently canceled FX series “Lights Out,” makes sense considering he worked on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” for six years beginning in 2002, serving as executive producer of the series for his last two years.

Universal Media Studios still has some key “SVU” deals to work out, namely series stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni. Both are under two-year deals set to expire shortly.

Last November, Baer signaled he was moving on after 11 seasons at “SVU” by inking the overall deal with CBS TV Studios.

Leight received critical acclaim for “Lights,” but FX pulled the plug after one season due to poor ratings. In recent weeks Leight attempted to revive the series at other networks, but his gig on “SVU” is likely indication “Lights” has gone permanently dark.

Source: Variety

I added pictures from earlier today of Mariska, August and Amaya, out with Hugh Jackman and his children. Check them out below, they’re adorable!

Playdate with the Jackmans
April 10, 2011

*EDIT* Added 6 more pictures to the gallery.

Mariska Hargitay shows off photos of new baby Amaya Josephine to longtime pal Mario Batali during the Food Bank For NYC’s Can-Do Awards Gala held Thursday at Abigail Kirsch’s Pier Sixty.

“Isn’t she adorable?” the actress, 47, says.

She continues beaming as she makes her way down the orange carpet. How’s the little one she adopted last week?

“Dreamy!” she says, giving a thumbs up.

Amaya joins a family that includes Mariska’s son August, 4, and hubby Peter Hermann, 43, whom she wed in 2004.

“She’s a perfect mom,” Mario says. “August, her first son, is a spectacularly brilliant little kid. Her husband, Peter, is delightful. You can tell when people have happy kids. They’re smart, they’re creative, they’re thoughtful, they’re curious. They cry, too.”

While the adoption announcement may have been a surprise to the public, Law and Order: SVU co-star Chris Meloni knew all about it in advance.

“I saw her before [she got her], and she was a little stressy-stressy, but it all worked out, so it was a happy ending,” he says.

Although he has no plans to meet little Amaya right now, he looks forward to getting to know her daughter.

“I just hope I don’t meet her while I’m trying to take a nap in my dressing room,” he laughs.

When it comes to a present for the baby, Chris says he’s still mulling the gift.

“You want to make it unique and not a cliché,” he tells me.

According to Chris, balancing a career, motherhood and charity work with her Joyful Heart Foundation comes easy for Mariska.

“Having 42 assistants helps,” he jokes. “She’s going to be great. She’s a woman, a person, who possesses a lot of love. She’s extraordinarily intelligent. I think she understands human behavior. She has endless patience.”

And if she ever needs any additional help, Mario will be there in a second. (She recently cooked for him – a “delicious” steak with asparagus.)

“I want to move in with her,” he jokes. “I’ll help her with the baby, too. But she’s got a great husband.”

Mariska heads inside the event for ten minutes, where she enjoys a drink, and heads back home to be with her expanded family.

Source: OK Magazine

There are no secrets between partners!

Chris Meloni knew all along that his Law and Order: SVU costar Mariska Hargitay was planning to adopt. “She was a little ‘stressy stressy,’” the actor, 50, told UsMagazine.com Thursday night in New York at the Food Bank for New York City’s Can-Do Awards.

Hargitay, 47, and husband Peter Hermann, 43, recently adopted a baby girl and named her Amaya Josephine, the star’s rep confirmed Wednesday night to Us.

“Uh, yeah [I knew she was adopting!] I’m her partner,” he said. “You didn’t know; I knew. I had to keep my mouth shut.”

Meloni, who has two kids of his own with wife Doris (Sophia, 11, and Dante, 7) said Hargitay was “going to be great” with her family’s new addition. “She’s a woman that possesses a lot of love. She’s extraordinarily intelligent. I think she understands human behavior. She has endless patience.”

Hargitay gave birth to son August, 4, back in June 2006. Her rep told Us: “The couple are overjoyed by the wonder of their new daughter.” A source added that the adoption “was a long time coming.”

So what did Meloni give to the newest member of the SVU family? “I haven’t figured out what [to get] yet! I’ll have to get back to you. You want to make it unique — not a cliche.”

Source: US Magazine

When it came time for Mariska Hargitay and husband Peter Hermann to choose a name for their 1-week-old daughter, the entire family got involved.

“We all talked about names because everything is a family decision in our house,” says Hargitay.

That meant also consulting her 4-year-old son, August, for ideas. “I threw out my name and he threw out his name and I said, ‘August, why do you get to name the baby?’ And he said, ‘Because it’s my idea!’ ” the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 47, says with a laugh.

The family settled on Amaya Josephine – an adaptation of one of Hargitay’s favorite names, Maya.

“I liked that name, but I wanted her to have the same initials as August,” Hargitay explains. “I thought adding the ‘A’ was so feminine. Amaya sounded so open and feminine and beautiful – just like her.”

Source: People

Mariska Hargitay has a big surprise to share.

The Law & Order: SVU star and her husband, actor Peter Hermann, have adopted a baby girl, she tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Baby Amaya Josephine was born about a week ago and is from the United States.

“I’m deliriously happy,” Hargitay, 47, tells PEOPLE. “From the minute she was born, she was just surprisingly alert and so full of love.”

“We were considering both international and domestic adoption and we’re thrilled that this is the way our prayers were answered,” she adds. “We talked a lot about mixed-race adoptions, and we are very excited that we are now a multi-racial family. We’re just so happy she’s here.”

And there’s one family member who’s more excited than anyone: Hargitay’s 4-year-old son, August.

“He is over the moon,” says the actress. “He calls her his baby because he says the whole thing was his idea. He always talks about how he’s going to protect her. He’s going to be a great big brother.”

Source: People

Congratulations Mariska & Peter! We’re so happy for you!

My friend Jessica is doing a project for the Joyful Heart Foundation. Here are all the details if you would like to participate

Hey!
We all know Mariska founded the JHF.
Now we wanted to do something back, not just for Mariska but the people working at JHF.
We decided to make a Fundraiser book Joyful Hearts for JHF!!
The idea is in order to submit a message to the book you have to donate at least $10 and show us the confirmation WITH DATE!
After that you can email your message, artwork, poems etc to to.befearless@mail.com (it’s the email for the blog I’ll post it on the blog too )
Now the idea of this book is that it’s not solely for Mariska but for the people at JHF bc they are doing amazing work trying to raise awareness and help heal survivors…
The theme of the book will be Dolphins bc that is one of the JHF healing methods..
The deadline will be somewhere in June and we’ll post an update about that later

xo,

When you submit a message for the book, since it is for the Joyful Heart Foundation you can say something like “Joyful Heart, “I’m so thankful for Joyful Heart because…” or “Mariska helped so many people with Joyful Heart and it inspired to get involved, etc.” The deadline is in June and you can email Jessica at to.befearless@mail.com So far they have raised over $80 so that’s a good start

You can donate online, by phone, or by mail. Donate here.