Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Dick Wolf for NBC. The first spin-off of Law & Order, it starred Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler until Meloni left the series in 2011 after 12 seasons, and Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson, now the commanding officer of the Special Victims Unit after originally having been Stabler's partner in a fictionalized version of the New York City Police Department. Meloni has since reprised his role as Stabler in the spin-off series Law & Order: Organized Crime (2021–present). Law & Order: Special Victims Unit follows the style of the original Law & Order in that some episodes are loosely based on real crimes that have received media attention.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural drama television series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the third series in Wolf's successful Law & Order franchise. Criminal Intent focuses on the investigations of the major case squad in a fictionalized version of the New York City Police Department set in New York City's One Police Plaza. In the style of the original Law & Order, episodes are often "ripped from the headlines" or loosely based on a real crime that received media attention.
Benjamin "Ben" Stone is a fictional character portrayed by Michael Moriarty in the TV drama Law & Order. He was the Executive Assistant District Attorney for New York County until his resignation at the end of season four. He appeared in 88 episodes.
Law & Order is a media franchise composed of a number of related American television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment. They were originally broadcast on NBC, and all of them deal with some aspect of the criminal justice system. Together, the original series, its various spin-offs, the TV film, and crossover episodes from other shows constitute over 1,000 hours of programming.
Alana de la Garza is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Connie Rubirosa on the NBC television series Law & Order in the last four seasons of its initial run, Law & Order: LA until the show's conclusion in 2011, and in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She also portrayed Marisol Delko-Caine on CSI: Miami. In 2014 and 2015, she starred as Detective Jo Martinez in the ABC series Forever. From 2016 to 2017, she starred in Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders as Special Agent Clara Seger. In 2019, she began starring as SAC Isobel Castille on FBI, a role she also plays on the spin-off series FBI: Most Wanted.
The sixth season of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered September 21, 2004 and ended May 24, 2005 on NBC. It aired on Tuesday nights at 10pm/9c. In January 2005, when the season was halfway through airing, Mariska Hargitay won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama becoming the first regular cast member of any Law & Order series to win a Golden Globe.
The fourth season of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered September 27, 2002 and ended May 16, 2003 on NBC. This was the last season of the series to air on Friday nights at 10pm/9c.
The ninth season of the police procedural/legal drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered September 25, 2007 and ended May 13, 2008 on NBC. It aired on Tuesday nights at 10pm/9c. Mariska Hargitay, having won a Golden Globe Award in 2005, received her second Golden Globe nomination for her work in the ninth season.
Crusoe is an adventure-drama television series, based loosely on the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The series' 13 episodes aired on NBC from October 17, 2008, to January 31, 2009, during the first half of the 2008–2009 television season. It follows the adventures of Robinson Crusoe: a man who has been shipwrecked on an island for six years and is desperate to return home to his wife and children. His lone companion is Friday, a native whom Crusoe rescued and taught English.
Michaela McManus is an American actress, known for her portrayals of Lindsey Strauss on One Tree Hill, A.D.A. Kim Greylek on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Grace Karn on the NBC drama Aquarius.
The eleventh season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered on September 23, 2009 and concluded on May 19, 2010. It was moved from Tuesdays to Wednesdays at 9 pm/8c ET for the NBC broadcast. On March 3, 2010, SVU returned to its previous time slot of 10pm/9c ET. On January 22, 2010, in the wake of the conflict between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien, NBC announced that they would order two additional episodes to fill in the gaps of the departing The Jay Leno Show.
The twelfth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered in the United States on NBC on September 22, 2010, and concluded on May 18, 2011. This was the first season that the show did not air alongside the original Law & Order. Episodes initially aired on Wednesdays between 9pm/8c and 10pm/9c Eastern, except for the season premiere, which aired from 9pm/8c to 11pm/10c. After the winter hiatus, SVU returned with another two-hour showing on January 5, 2011, before the broadcast time switched to the 10pm/9c time slot the following week.
The thirteenth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit debuted on NBC on September 21, 2011, and concluded on May 23, 2012. With Law & Order: LA and Law & Order: Criminal Intent having ended in July 2011 and June 2011 respectively, this season of Law & Order: SVU was the first to be broadcast without any other running U.S. Law & Order series, a position the series has held until the nineteenth season, when Law & Order True Crime premiered.
The fourteenth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit debuted with a two-part premiere episode on September 26, 2012, at 9pm/8c - 11pm/10c (Eastern) on NBC, which was the show's weekly time slot.
Rafael Barba is a fictional character portrayed by Raúl Esparza, who joined the cast of the long-running NBC crime drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on a recurring basis during the 14th season episode "Twenty-Five Acts". The character was promoted to a series regular for the 15th season and exited the series during season 19. He has since made guest appearances in the 21st, 22nd and 23rd seasons and a brief appearance in the spin-off series Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Peter Muller Scanavino is an American actor. He stars as ADA Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. in the long-running NBC crime/legal drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
The nineteenth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered on September 27, 2017 and finished on May 23, 2018 with a two-part season finale. Michael S. Chernuchin, who had previously worked on Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Chicago Justice took over from Rick Eid as showrunner. This is also the first season since season twelve in 2010–2011 where another Law & Order series—Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders—aired alongside SVU on NBC.
Peter Stone is a fictional character portrayed by Philip Winchester. Peter was initially a guest character as part of a backdoor pilot in the third season of the police procedural Chicago P.D. Following the success of the backdoor pilot and his character, Winchester was cast as a main character in Chicago Justice, a spin-off of Chicago P.D. During the character's time in the Chicago franchise a guest appearance was also made in Chicago Med. Following the cancellation of Chicago Justice, Winchester was cast as a series regular in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He departed SVU ahead of the series' twenty-first season.
The twentieth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered on Thursday, September 27, 2018, at 9PM ET with a two-part premiere episode. The following Thursday, the series started airing new episodes at 10PM ET. The season ended on May 16, 2019.
