Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

From The TV IV

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Premiere	September 20, 1999
Finale
Airs	Wednesdays at 9PM
Creator	Dick Wolf
Network	NBC
Style	60-minute crime drama
Company	Wolf Films Studios USA Television (seasons 1–3) Universal Network Television (seasons 4–5) NBC Universal Television Studio (seasons 6–8) Universal Media Studios (season 9)
Episodes	224 (through season 10)
Seasons	11
Status	Currently airing season 11
Origin	USA

See the Law & Order franchise article for other Law & Order series.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-) was the first series to spin off from Law & Order, starring two detectives in New York's Special Victims Unit, a section of the police dedicated to investigating sex crimes and child abuse. However, despite being one of the most popular shows connected to the Law & Order franchise, it was originally pitched to NBC as an original series under the name Sex Crimes. When the idea was shot down due to the harsh name, executives at the network met with Dick Wolf to adopt the series into the Law & Order universe.

The series breaks with Law & Order's method of splitting the episode in half, one part being about the investigation of the crime and the other about the prosecution of that crime. Instead, SVU utilizes character based drama by focusing on the main two detectives, Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson with a supporting cast who act as foils to the main two. This makes the series less about the crime committed and more about the reactions of the detectives to the crime.

1 Cast
2 Seasons
3 In-Depth
4 DVD Releases
5 External Sites

[edit] Cast

Actor	Character	Duration
Main Cast
Christopher Meloni	Det. Elliot Stabler	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Mariska Hargitay	Det. Olivia Benson	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Richard Belzer	Det./Det. Sgt. John Munch	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Michelle Hurd	Det. Monique Jefferies	1	2
Stephanie March	ADA Alexandra Cabot		2	3	4	5	6				10	11
Diane Neal	ADA Casey Novak					5	6	7	8	9
Ice-T	Det. Fin Tutuola		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Adam Beach	Det. Chester Lake								8	9
Michaela McManus	ADA Kim Greylek										10
B.D. Wong	Dr. George Huang		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Tamara Tunie	ME Melinda Warner		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Dann Florek	Capt. Donald Cragen	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Season numbers in red indicate a recurring or guest role in that season.
Supporting/Recurring Cast
Isabel Gillies	Kathy Stabler	1	2	3	4	5	6		8	9	10
Joanna Merlin	Judge Lena Petrovsky		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Joel de la Fuente	TARU Tech Ruben Morales			3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Peter Hermann	Trevor Langan			3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Judith Light	Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly			3	4		6	7	8	9	10
Caren Browning	CSU Capt. Judith Siper				4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Mike Doyle	Forensics Tech Ryan O'Halloran					5	6	7	8	9	10
Christine Lahti	Executive ADA Sonya Paxton											11

[edit] Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale	#
NBC
Season One	September 20, 1999	May 21, 2000	22
Season Two	October 20, 2000	May 11, 2001	21
Season Three	September 28, 2001	May 17, 2002	22
Season Four	September 27, 2002	May 16, 2003	25
Season Five	September 23, 2003	May 18, 2004	25
Season Six	September 21, 2004	May 24, 2005	22
Season Seven	September 20, 2005	May 16, 2006	22
Season Eight	September 19, 2006	May 22, 2007	22
Season Nine	September 25, 2007	May 13, 2008	19
Season Ten	September 23, 2008	June 2, 2009	22
Season Eleven	September 23, 2009	—	—

[edit] In-Depth

At a Glance: Additional information about the series

[edit] DVD Releases

Title	Release Date	#
Season Sets
The First Year	October 21, 2003	6	purchase
The Second Year	September 27, 2005	3	purchase
The Third Year	January 30, 2007	5	purchase
The Fourth Year	December 4, 2007	5	purchase
The Fifth Year	September 14, 2004	5	purchase
Year Six	April 1, 2008	5	purchase
Year Seven	July 29, 2008	5	purchase
Year Eight	February 17, 2009	5	purchase
Year Nine	May 26, 2009	5	purchase
Year Ten	September 22, 2009	5	purchase
Individual Episodes
Premiere Episode	June 3, 2003	1	purchase