Mariska Hargitay may be in her 26th season of Law & Order: SVU, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t still surprised by her L&O colleagues, including her boss. Dick Wolf has a variety of shows on the 2024 TV schedule, including all the One Chicago and FBI series, plus he's the mastermind behind L&O. So, considering all of that, you can understand why Hargitay cracked up while telling the story about the time the world found out about her boss's funny ringtone.
The actress was appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where the host brought up Wolf, and just from Hargitay’s expression, she knew exactly where this was going. She and Wolf were doing a panel at the Smithsonian, and that's when her boss's phone went off, despite being told to turn it off beforehand.
While it wasn’t the first time Hargitay heard her boss’ ringtone, she pointed out that it was extra funny because people were saying beautiful, meaningful words, and they were "all half-crying." And then you just hear the Law & Order "dun dun" in the middle of all that. Meyers played a clip of the moment too, and it’s as hilarious as you’d think it’d be:
Honestly, it’s not so surprising that the Law & Order theme song is Wolf’s ringtone, because it really is one of the best and most iconic jingles out there. But it’s the fact that his phone went off during a panel when it was all quiet and everyone was emotional that just makes the entire thing.
I don’t blame Hargitay for continuing to laugh about it. Plus, I bet that it’s going to be one of those moments that randomly comes back to mind every once in a while, and she’ll laugh all over again.
The Law & Order franchise has been around since the early ‘90s, and tons of actors have come and gone. But the one thing that has stuck through all these years is the theme song. Just hearing the “DUN DUN” part of the opening credits gets me all amped up. Not to mention that Seth Meyers had the fun idea, saying that after answering a call with that ringtone, the person should say “There’s been a murder” after getting off the phone. It’ll be like you’re truly in the show.
While one might get tired of constantly hearing the Law & Order theme song, it seems like Dick Wolf or Mariska Hargitay are not over it, in fact, they love it. It just shows the kind of impact the franchise as a whole has had and how a simple moment can instantly break the tension. There are plenty of retro theme songs that still slap, and Law & Order's is certainly one, as proven by this hilarious story from the show's lead actress.
To see Hargitay solving murders after that iconic theme song plays, you can catch new episodes of SVU every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC or stream it the next day with a Peacock subscription.