"Law & Order: SVU" will return with its two stars on board.
After on-again, off-again negotiations, Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have inked new deals to continue on the crime procedural, which is coming back in the fall for its 11th season.
Additionally, Christine Lahti has signed on to play the assistant district attorney on the veteran series for the first four episodes. Stephanie March will return after that to reprise her role as ADA Alexandra Cabot.
Sources said Hargitay and Meloni, who regularly negotiate their contracts together, have inked one-year deals with an option for a second year.
Despite the conglomerates and particularly NBC Universal being in cost-cutting mode, Hargitay and Meloni are said to have boosted their most recent salaries of about $385,000 an episode. In a rare feat for show talent, they have been able to negotiate a piece of "SVU's" lucrative back end, sources said.
Taking all into account, Hargitay's and Meloni's paychecks are expected to grow to more than $400,000 an episode, solidifying Hargitay's position as the highest-paid woman in television and Meloni as one of the top male earners.
All parties involved declined Monday to comment on the terms of the agreement.
Hargitay and Meloni's deals come more than a month after NBC closed a deal with Wolf Films for "SVU's" renewal. At the time, NBC brass said the show would return with or without its stars as the networks and reps for the actors had reached an impasse.
The two sides resumed talks at the beginning of June and, after a series of sessions, the deals were finalized last week.
Crime procedurals are more resilient than character dramas in replacing leads, but losing both Hargitay and Meloni, considered the heart of the show, was a potential big blow to "SVU."
Hargitay is repped by Paradigm. Meloni is repped by Gersh.
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Michael Jackson's mother, having won temporary guardianship of her late son's three children, is now attempting to take control of the King of Pop's estate, according to a person close to the court proceedings.
Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff granted Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of the children on Monday. He also scheduled a hearing for Aug. 3 on Jackson's petition to become permanent guardian of her son's children. The petition also seeks to name Jackson as administrator of the children's estates, but the judge did not grant that request.
Katherine Jackson filed another court action Monday, seeking to take control of her son's estate, according to a person close to the proceedings who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and requested anonymity. She is taking that action with the intent of protecting Jackson's legacy, the person said.
Jackson left behind three children: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12; Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11; and Prince Michael II, 7. The youngest son was born to a surrogate mother.
In the request to take over the children's estate, Jackson, 79, lists its value as "unknown."
The filing lists the children as living at the Jacksons' family compound in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.
"Minor children are currently residing with paternal grandmother," the filing states in an explanation of why Katherine Jackson should be appointed guardian. "They have a long established relationship with paternal grandmother and are comfortable in her care."
The filings provide no other declarations by Katherine Jackson, nor do they state whether Michael Jackson left a will.
The filings note that Deborah Rowe is the mother of Jackson's two eldest children, but list her whereabouts as "unknown." An e-mail message sent to Rowe's attorney seeking comment wasn't immediately returned Monday morning.
For Michael Jackson's third child, nicknamed as Blanket, the filing states "None" for the mother.
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Megan Fox has sparked rumors that she's moved on from ex-fiancé Brian Austin Green and into the arms of Transformers co-star Shia LaBeouf.
The 23-year-old actress ended her engagement to Green, 35, earlier this year. The couple subsequently tried to work through their problems, but Fox has now confirmed that the romance is officially over.
She already appears to have moved on from the split and chosen a new suitor in 23-year-old LaBeouf -- they were spotted dining together in New York.
According to the New York Daily News, the pair turned heads as they sat side by side during a dinner with 10 friends on Thursday, days after attending a West Hollywood party together.
A source says, “They definitely seemed into each other... Shia couldn’t keep his eyes off of Megan. He literally watched her like a hawk all night.”
The reports follow LaBeouf's own confession just last week that he feels a real chemistry with his sexy co-star, telling reporters, "I'm a 23-year-old red-blooded male, so sure, there's a lot of real there. She's a beautiful woman."
Thanks to a $201 million haul for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf were on top of the box office this weekend.
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Hugh Hefner's former Playboy Playmate girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson has wed football star Hank Baskett on the grounds of her former home, the Playboy Mansion.
The pinup-turned-reality TV star, who is three months pregnant with her new husband's baby, exchanged vows with Baskett on Saturday.
Her former fellow Hef girlfriends, Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt, and the Playboy boss himself were among the guests.
Wilkinson originally asked Hefner to walk her down the aisle, but she chose her brother to do the honors on the big day. Hefner will be godfather to the model's first child, which is due on Christmas Day.
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The famed pitchman Billy Mays has been found dead at his home in Tampa, Florida. He was 50.
According to the site, Mays' wife Deborah found him unresponsive at 7:45 a.m. Sunday. The cause of death is not yet known, but an autopsy is expected to be completed by Monday afternoon.
Mays was best-known for his high-energy infomercials promoting OxiClean, Orange Glo and his many other cleaning and home improvement products.
The first season of Discovery Channel's docudrama Pitchmen, on which Mays starred with Anthony Sullivan, ended on June 24.
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