Mariska Hargitay to Continue with Law & Order:SVU

[The Borgified Corpse]

^Ah, yes, I'd forgotten about Attanasio.

BTW, has anyone ever read David Simon's original book? Is it any good?

 

[Timby]

Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana waived their rights to Munch but there's a third guy whose name escapes me right now who didn't and they still have to pay him royalties.

David Simon? I believe he's one of the other creators of Homicide.

Simon wrote the non-fiction book the series was based upon, but the third person is probably Paul Attanasio, who wrote the pilot and has the sole "created by" credit on the series (Simon's "based on" credit is relegated to the end titles; he didn't join the series until the fourth season, although he did co-write an episode of season two).

It is Simon, actually, who has the third part of Munch's character rights, due to Munch being based essentially entirely upon a character in Simon's book, right down to lines of dialogue, and as part of his sale of the book, Munch was one of the characters to whom he holds partial ownership. According to The Unofficial Companion, which is at least authentic enough to have a pretty detailed foreword from Dick Wolf and direct quotes from cast and staff (along with being written by two longtime Hollywood Reporter writers), Simon was the lone holdout in waiving the rights to Munch on SVU, and as a result he gets a royalty payment for every single appearance the character makes.

In any event, between his television, stand-up and book work, Belzer's made his money, and it's not like, after 13 years on SVU, he's making eight bucks an hour for his work. He's made his money, and from comments he's made in the past, he's perfectly fine with showing up for a few scenes an episode and earning a decent paycheck to finance his love of travel.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Interestingly enough, Detective Munch is based on a real Baltimore PD Sgt. Jay Landsman, who was known as the skinniest guy in the department. The Jay Landsman in The Wire, of course, does not have this feature.

 

[Harvey]

It is Simon, actually, who has the third part of Munch's character rights, due to Munch being based essentially entirely upon a character in Simon's book, right down to lines of dialogue, and as part of his sale of the book, Munch was one of the characters to whom he holds partial ownership.

Interesting. Thanks for the info. Although I'm bewildered why Attanasio wouldn't have some ownership of the character, but Levinson and Fontana would.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

While I suppose it makes sense that perhaps Belzer would want a reduced shooting schedule, I would prefer it if we at least got two or three kickass Munch-centric episodes per season rather than dribbling out a few token scenes per episode.

BTW, does Simon get paid just for Munch being listed in the opening credits, even if it's an episode that he's not actually in?

 

[PsychoPere]

BTW, has anyone ever read David Simon's original book? Is it any good?

It's very good, as is The Corner.

 

[Capt. Vulcan]

I heard from a friend that either this season or last season that she finally started getting % money from the show. That might be why she's sticking around.