Could NBC really be considering shoving Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni out the door? That's the word as the network renewed Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for an 11th season, but had not yet secured the stars. Hargitay and Meloni's contracts are up for renewal, and it's been widely reported that they aren't going to sign unless they get some extra bucks in the pay envelope.

Things got bitter two years ago when the stars banded together and squeezed the network for deals worth about $6.5 million per season. Now, they reportedly are looking at some additional back end profits. Hey, if the studios and networks can make some coin on this top-rated show, why can't the stars?

The bad news is that the Law & Order franchise has been known as a revolving door for stars who might have worked up to some nice money if they had stuck around as long as Hargitay and Meloni. After all, the mothership lost Carrie's sexy city guy Chris Noth and moved right along without a hiccup.

That might be tougher with SVU, since that part of the franchise has relied heavily on the often volatile professional relationship between Stabler and Benson. And beyond that, how will TV critics cope without the ritual annual bashing of Hargitay as an Emmy nominee?

While we doubt NBC will dump the two stars, we wonder if SVU can keep their stellar ratings if they can't come up with some suitable stars.

As always, we're here to help with our own top-5 suggestions that could make SVU's ratings skyrocket:

5. John Stamos and Linda Cardellini. Now that they've taken off their ER scrubs, isn't it time that this crackling couple team up again? The actors are used to large ensemble casts that are frequently replaced and Stamos said he just wasn't ready to leave the series. The way his character Dr. Tony Gates went after a parent he suspected of abusing his child made us think he could put the hurt on a lot of bad guys. And Linda's Nurse Sam took no guff from anyone. Book 'em.

4. Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton. These two have gone their separate ways, but we think it's time for the reunion now that they are more like the contemporary Cagney & Lacey. Richie's a mom with a husband, Paris is the stylin' party girl. Now that's hot.

3. Lindsay Lohan and Sam Ronson. Who knows more about being special victims than L & S? These two can't stop stirring up stuff, but we think they can probably take on any suspect that crosses their paths. After all, they've been handling that paparazzi for years, and they know the underbelly of society on a first-name basis.

2. Pam and Jim. This Office couple has needed a spin-off of their own, and what better venue than a place where they can do some sleuthing with their mocking? They've been observing perverted behavior for years from behind their desks, now it's time to take that act to the streets.

1. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. These two guys captured us with their outrageous behavior in Lethal Weapon and became relevant again after the How I Met Your Mother episode about Murtaugh's famous quote "I'm too old for this s**t." Besides, Danny's highest profile gig lately has been getting stalked at the L.A. airport by TMZ and we all know with Mel facing the Big D, he's going to giving up some substantial cash to the departing wife.

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