Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (also known as Law & Order: SVU, or simply SVU) is the first of three spin-offs of the long-running, award-winning crime drama Law & Order, currently airing on NBC (the others being Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: Trial by Jury). SVU, which number one aired in the United States on September 20, 1999, has received higher ratings than any of the other 50&O shows in recent seasons. A indicate stars Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler, and Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson.

Law & Order: SVU can currently be seen on Tuesdays at 10 pm ET on NBC. In addition, the show is also syndicated on the USA Network.

Year 7, a todays year, premired in September 20 2005.

Series overview

Unlike a original Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU follows a distinct division of the New York City Police Department: the Special Victims Unit (aka the Sex Crimes division). When its title implies, a detectives therein section investigate crimes involving sex or children. Their unit is depending away from a fictitious Sixteenth Precinct.

A series was originally projected under a title Sexual assault, & unrelated to the Law & Order brand. NBC thought the title was as well coarse, & fallowing discussions between network executives & Dick Wolf (creator of Law & Order) it became part of the L&O brand, debuting as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

SVU too has a distinction of breaking from either a original series' split storytelling format (in which a police detectives investigate & arrest a outlaw in a 1st half hour, and the district attorneys prosecute them in a 2nd half), by focusing on the SVU detectives throughout the entire episode. Additionally, a indicate is other character-caused than a average police procedural, with the less-than-complete revolve around the independent instance. For instance, detectives Stabler & Benson both volunteered to operate for a Favorite Hikers Unit for different reasons: Stabler felt the moral responsibility to protect everthing population from either the malefactor that it got to treat by using, especially because he got quatern kids of his have. Benson joined because her father was the serial raper world health organization raped her mother.

Occasionally a viewers might watch a out break attend test. In the 1st year, the program relied in a rotating mix of Assistant District Law office, including ADA Abbie Carmichael (played by Angie Harmon), a character on the original Law & Order, but the main focus always remains on the SVU detectives.

SVU contains by far a virtually al50 controversial subject matter of any of the L&O series, focusing mostly on rape and child abuse. A plots, characterization & dialogue as well tend to become less sophisticated than a original series & notably less therefore than Criminal Intent.

Supporting characters
A cast too has characters from either 2 more NBC series: Captain Don Cragen (played by Dann Florek), who was on the number 1 3 seasons of Law & Order and Detective John Munch (played by Richard Belzer), formerly a Baltimore detective on Homicide: Life on the Street. This character also made appearances on Law & Order, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, The Beat and The X-Files.

Supporting cast when you took year a single involved Dean Winters when Munch's partner, Detective Brian Cassidy, & Michelle Hurd when Detective Monique Jefferies. Cassidy was an immigrant detective, upright assigned to a unit, world health organization transferred to narcotics because he was getting condition treating by having a select few of the worrisome instances the section dealt using regularly.

Jefferies wwhen originally the minor character, however once Winters left the indicate midseason, she played a further large role as Munch’s partner. Hurd played a role for two or three episodes in a period of a 2nd year, fallowing which she left the indicate.

Casting changes

A indicate, such as its parent show, has had many cast changes: When Hurd left a series, her Monique Jeffries character was replaced using Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola (played by rapper-turned-actor, Ice-T); he has been on the show since year deuce. Patch technically Munch's partner, Finside has get great deal other large on a indicate than Munch; when Munch normally remains at a station, by having periodically single two or three lines within a bit of episodes, Fin is lot supplementary active in aiding the independent characters' investigations, & is typically forward cloak-and-dagger assignments too.

Besides within year deuce a indicate added Stephanie March, as Adjunct District Attorney Alexandra "Alex" Cabot, as a permanent supporting ADA to the indicate.

Joining a cast since year little joe is B.D. Wong, as George Huang, a forensic psychiatrist on loan from the FBI. Additionally thereto, the total of more doctors appeared on the indicate occasionally, including Leslie Hendrix as her L&O character, ME Elizabeth Rodgers, and J.K. Simmons as his L&O character, psychiatrist Emil Skoda. Tamara Tunie, as Us Melinda Warner, is the section's todays Medical Examiner on the indicate. Getting played a role within virtually each episode of the survive leash seasons, Tunie was added to the opening credits for the indicate's seventh year.

When of 2003, the indicate's virtually all recent cast vary come in the period of year 5, whilst Stephanie March was replaced by owning Diane Neal as ADA Casey Novak. the plot line experienced Cabot prosecuting a peddler & existence shot on the street spell sustaining Stabler & Benson, apparantly death. At a prevent of the episode, them found Cabot was alive however running into Witness Protection. March would reprise a role within a 2005 episode whilst Cabot chose to appear of hiding & reveal she was alive sequentially to testify against the human accused of shooting her. Fallowing he was convicted, she went back into Witness Protection using the newly identity.

A single more character that was significant was Detective Ken Briscoe (nephew of Lennie Briscoe), played by Chris Orbach (son of Jerry Orbach). He appeared inside early episodes of the indicate, along by using his father.

Additionally, a indicate has experienced numbers of guest stars, including cast from either Law & Order, including Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green, Fred Dalton Thompson as District Attorney Arthur Branch and Dianne Wiest as Interim DA Nora Lewin. More high-profile guests keep close at hand involved John Ritter, Martin Short, Andrew McCarthy, Mary Steenburgen and Martha Plimpton. A seventh-year opener featured Robert Patrick and Robert Walden.

Principal cast

Christopher Meloni - Det. Elliot Stabler Mariska Hargitay - Det. Olivia Benson Richard Belzer - Det. John Munch Dann Florek - Capt. Donald Cragen Michelle Hurd - Det. Monique Jeffries (2000; recurring 1999) Stephanie March - ADA Alexandra Cabot (2000-2003) Ice-T - Det. Odafin Tutuola (2000-present) B.D. Wong - Dr. George Huang (2002-present; recurring 2001-2002) Diane Neal - ADA Casey Novak (2003-present) Tamara Tunie - ME Melinda Warner (2005-present; recurring 2000-2005)

Supporting cast

Dean Winters - Det. Brian Cassidy (recurring 1999-2000) Mary Stuart Masterson - Dr. Rebecca Hendrix (recurring 2004-present)

Trivia
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit follows the same opening style of its parent Law & Order. SVU, such as each more spinoff, utilizes the re-mixed version of the theme music from either its parent indicate Law & Order. a as a result statement appears at the beginning of each episode:

In the criminal justice technique, sexually-depending offenses come considered especially atrocious. Inside Future York City, a dedicated detectives world health organization investigate these vicious felonies come members of an elect squad called a Favorite Outdoor enthusiasts Unit. Which are actually their stories.