It looks like it's going to be an even longer wait to see Christopher Meloni back as Stabler in Law & Order: Organized Crime. The SVU spin-off series just lost its showrunner. Matt Olmstead has stepped down as writer-showrunner and there reportedly is no immediate replacement. It was announced back at the end of August that the new show was going to be delayed until January 2021 because of the public health crisis, but the wait will now be longer due to behind-the-scenes changes.

It's not clear why Matt Olmstead stepped down from Law & Order: Organized Crime, but NBC did reveal they will announce a replacement when it's "appropriate." The SVU spin-off was given a series order back in March, which gave Law & Order fans a lot to be excited about. The Elliott Stabler character has not been involved in the past 12 seasons of the hit series and it was said that he retired. As for what fans can expect, Christopher Meloni said, "we're going to reintroduce my character, Elliott Stabler, and give the audience the backstory of where he's been, how he's been, and he's going to rejoin the NYPD, but with the organized crime unit."

Christopher Meloni's Elliott Stabler was supposed to be reintroduced in the season 22 premiere of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which is set to premiere in November. However, that is no longer going to happen. Meloni spoke about the spin-off's slow development over the summer, noting that it was extremely difficult to get the ball running because of the public health crisis. He also added, "So that is the long way of saying the writers are breaking rocks, trying to figure out the arc of the story, who the characters are and how they interact, and I have yet to see a script... 'I'm working on my tan, okay?'"

Christopher Meloni's long-time SVU co-star Mariska Hargitay will also appear on Law & Order: Organized Crime. Christopher Meloni was not able to comment on how much Hargitay will be in the spin-off, stating that it's up to the writers and her schedule. "I think whatever we can slice away, whatever the writers come up with. I think we will both be looking forward to playing with each other in each other's sandbox." The two actors are looking forward to the new show and the fans are definitely looking forward to it too.

For now, it is unclear when NBC will be able to get Law & Order: Organized Crime up and running again. Bringing back such an important character in the Law & Order franchise is proving to be a lot more difficult than originally imagined. NBC will announce a new showrunner for the series in the near future, while SVU is set to return to TV on November 12th. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to announce that Law & Order: Organized Crime showrunner Matt Olmstead has stepped down.