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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | |
Premiere | September 20, 1999 |
Airs | Thursdays at 9PM |
Creator | Dick Wolf |
Network/Provider | NBC (USA)
CTV (Canada seasons 1-22) Citytv (Canada seasons 23-) |
Style | 60-minute crime drama |
Company | Wolf Films
Studios USA (seasons 1-3) Universal Network Television (seasons 4-5) NBC Universal Television Studio (seasons 6-8) Universal Media Studios (seasons 9-12) Universal Television (season 13-) |
Seasons | 26 |
Episodes | 551 + 1 unaired (through season 25) (List of episodes) |
Status | Currently airing season 26 |
Origin | USA |
Official Site | NBC USA |
Official Twitter | @nbcsvu feed on X |
Official Facebook | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on Facebook |
See the Law & Order franchise article for other Law & Order series.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (known as Sex Crimes during development) 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.
Contents |
Cast
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 | May 19, 2010 | 24 | |||
Season Twelve | September 22, 2010 | May 18, 2011 | 24 | |||
Season Thirteen | September 21, 2011 | May 23, 2012 | 23 | |||
Season Fourteen | September 26, 2012 | May 22, 2013 | 24 | |||
Season Fifteen | September 25, 2013 | May 21, 2014 | 24 | |||
Season Sixteen | September 24, 2014 | May 20, 2015 | 23 | |||
Season Seventeen | September 23, 2015 | May 25, 2016 | 23 | |||
Season Eighteen | September 21, 2016 | May 24, 2017 | 21 + 1 | |||
Season Nineteen | September 27, 2017 | May 23, 2018 | 24 | |||
Season Twenty | September 27, 2018 | May 16, 2019 | 24 | |||
Season Twenty-One | September 26, 2019 | April 23, 2020 | 20 | |||
Season Twenty-Two | November 12, 2020 | June 3, 2021 | 16 | |||
Season Twenty-Three | September 23, 2021 | May 19, 2022 | 22 | |||
Season Twenty-Four | September 22, 2022 | May 18, 2023 | 22 | |||
Season Twenty-Five | January 18, 2024 | May 16, 2024 | 13 | |||
Season Twenty-Six | October 3, 2024 | — | — |
In-Depth
- At a Glance: Additional information about the series
DVD Releases
Title | Release | Discs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season Sets (Region 1) | ||||||
The First Year | October 21, 2003 | purchase | 6 | |||
The Second Year | September 27, 2005 | purchase | 3 | |||
The Third Year | January 30, 2007 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Fourth Year | December 4, 2007 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Fifth Year | September 14, 2004 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Sixth Year | April 1, 2008 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Seventh Year | July 29, 2008 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Eighth Year | February 17, 2009 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Ninth Year | May 26, 2009 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Tenth Year | September 22, 2009 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Eleventh Year | September 21, 2010 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Twelfth Year | September 27, 2011 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Thirteenth Year | September 25, 2012 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Fourteenth Year | September 24, 2013 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Fifteenth Year | September 23, 2014 | purchase | 5 | |||
The Sixteenth Year | September 1, 2015 | 5 | ||||
Individual Episodes (Region 1) | ||||||
Premiere Episode | June 3, 2003 | purchase | 1 |
External Sites
The Law & Order Franchise | |
---|---|
Current Series |
Law & Order • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit • Law & Order: Organized Crime |
Current Adaptations | |
Past Series |
Law & Order: Criminal Intent • Law & Order: Trial by Jury • Law & Order: Los Angeles • Conviction • Law & Order: True Crime |
Past Adaptations |
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