'Law & Order' : NBC Announces Premiere Date for Spinoff Starring Christopher Meloni

Christopher Meloni is returning to his role as Detective Elliot Stabler in Law & Order: Organized Crime, which will feature a reunion with SVU's Mariska Hargitay

Christopher Meloni. Photo: David Livingston/Getty

Elliot Stabler is officially returning to the NYPD.

On Thursday, NBC announced the premiere date for the highly anticipated Law & Order spinoff series, Law & Order: Organized Crime, starring Christopher Meloni as Detective Stabler.

In a two-hour TV crossover on Thursday, April 1, Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime will finally reunite Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot once again.

Along with Meloni, the new spinoff, from creator Dick Wolf, will also star Dylan McDermott and Tamara Taylor. It will follow Stabler, who returns to the New York Police Department to battle organized crime. After a devastating personal loss, he will aim to rebuild his life as part of a new elite task force.

Meloni was an original cast member with costar Hargitay when the Law & Order: SVU franchise premiered in September 1999. After he left in 2011 when contract negotiations broke down, his character was written off the show in the season 12 finale as he retired from the police force.

Since his departure, demand for an Elliot and Olivia reunion has been vocalized amongst fans.

RELATED VIDEO: Chris Meloni Says Reuniting With 'Law & Order: SVU' Costar Mariska Hargitay Is 'Effortless'

In March, it was reported that Meloni would be reprising his role for the spinoff, and in July, the actor confirmed his beloved costar would be making a cameo on the upcoming series.

During an appearance on The Talk, co-host Sharon Osbourne asked the 59-year-old actor if Hargitay, 57, would be reprising her role on the series and Meloni confirmed, "Oh yeah!"

"How much? I don't know, because I hear she has her own day job," he added. "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."

Since then, the onscreen power duo has shared several behind-the-scenes photos from the upcoming reunion episode.

Last week, Hargitay posted a series of photos teasing the upcoming crossover.

Mariska Hargitay/instagram

In one black-and-white picture, Hargitay poses next to Meloni while filming on-location at a cemetery. Other shots show two director's chairs, which feature the names their characters made famous on Law & Order: SVU, with the back reading Law & Order: Organized Crime.

"It's all happening," Hargitay captioned the post. "OC PTL."

Along with the Law & Order crossover, NBC also announced premiere and return dates for multiple other series on Thursday. Good Girls will make its season 4 premiere on Sunday, March 7 at 10 p.m ET; Manifest will return for season 3 on Thursday, April 1 at 8 p.m ET; Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist will air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET beginning March 28; and Ellen's Game of Games will move to Sundays beginning March 7 at 9 p.m. ET before shifting to 8 p.m. ET on March 28.

The Law & Order crossover is set for Thursday, April 1, with SVU airing at 9 p.m. ET and Organized Crime premiering at 10 p.m. ET, both on NBC.