Richard Belzer has announced his departure from the hit crime drama, Law And Order: SVU. The news came on Wednesday, October 9th, when he gave fans a big surprise, and it was announced that his character Sergeant John Munch would be retiring on the show, and that he would be leaving the show as a result. The show has enjoyed a great amount of success over the years and has been on the air since 1999, currently in its 15th season.

Belzer has been with the cast from the beginning and will surely be missed by the show’s beloved fans. The only other actors to remain on the show for the entire 15 seasons are Mariska Hargitay and Dann Florek, although Ice T, joined the show shortly after it premiered and has stuck with it ever since. Belzer’s character Munch has appeared in not only Law And Order: SUV, but also several other crime shows, first being seen in NBC’s Homicide: Life On The Street. The famous cop character has also appeared in episodes of The X-Files, The Beat, Law And Order, and Law And Order: Trial By Jury, according to US Weekly.

@MRbelzer you cant leave @nbcsvu come on man! The show needs the Belz!

— Justin Pone (@JustinPone) October 11, 2013

In the episode on October 9th, Captain Cragen told Olivia Benson in a huge shock that Munch had put in his papers. While this was hard news for her to grasp, he told her that nothing changes, and that everything will be okay. Unlike his former co-star Chris Meloni, Munch will be given a proper farewell on the show, and the cast will be throwing him a retirement party in the episode that will air on October 16th. Chris Meloni played Detective Elliot Stabler, Benson’s longtime partner.

Richard Belzer ending his role as John Munch on Law and Order SVU, a role that actually started on #BMORE based Homicide:Life on the Streets

— Graham Whaples (@GrahamWhaples) October 10, 2013

STOP EVERYTHING RICHARD BELZER IS LEAVING LAW AND ORDER

— Mallory Ortberg (@mallelis) October 10, 2013

For a character that has had a television career of more than 20 years, fans will be sad to see him go. However, fans of the show do not have to worry too much since, although he will be leaving the show as a series regular, it has been confirmed that he will make recurring appearances on the show. Law And Order: SVU airs Wednsedays at 9 p.m. on NBC.

Richard Belzer star of Law and Order SVU is leaving the show. Munch, name on show, is retiring. As stated last night in show #BITS

— MiniKam11 (@When_I_Care) October 10, 2013

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