Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
All About Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (often abbreviated to Law & Order: SVU or just SVU) is an American police procedural, legal, crime drama television series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced
In the style of the original Law & Order, episodes are often "ripped from the headlines" or loosely based on real crimes that have received media attention
Created and produced by *** Wolf, the series premiered on NBC on September 20, 1999 as the first spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama, Law & Order
The show started its 15th season on September 25, 2013 and has aired 343 original episodes as of May 21, 2014
It is the current longest running scripted non-animated U.S
primetime TV series since the cancellation of the original Law & Order in 2010 and is the sixth longest running scripted U.S
primetime TV series.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit originally centered almost exclusively on the detectives of the Special Victims Unit in a fictional version of the 16th Precinct of the New York City Police Department
As the series progressed, additional supporting characters were added as allies of the detectives in the New York County Manhattan District Attorney's office and the Medical Examiner's office
Typical episodes follow the detectives and their colleagues as they investigate and prosecute sexually based offenses
The show starred Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler and Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson for its first twelve seasons until the former left the cast, unable to come to an agreement on his contract.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been nominated for and won numerous awards, including the 2006 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Hargitay, the first Emmy to be received by a regular on any Law & Order series.
The series was renewed for a sixteenth season on May 7, 2014 which is set to premiere on September 24, 2014.