Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
(also known as
Law & Order: SVU,
SVU: Special Victims Unit or simply
SVU) is an American
police procedural TV series about the
Special Victims Unit in a fictional
version of the 16th Precinct of the
New York City Police
Department. The show debuted on September 20, 1999 as a
spin-off of the
crime drama Law
& Order and follows the same opening style of its
parent.
SVU is currently the highest-rated series of the
Law & Order
franchise, and is one of NBC's top rated shows. The franchise
also includes four other series dramas: the original
Law &
Order,
Law
& Order: Criminal Intent,
Law & Order: Trial By
Jury and
Law &
Order: UK.
Production
Technical information
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been shot on
film in the
16:9 aspect
ratio since at least 2003 (the year first-run episodes also
began airing in HDTV). Since 2006, all new episodes of the multiple
Law & Order series have aired in 16:9. Recently USA
Network began airing reruns going all the way back to "Payback" in
wide-screen (16:9) format.
Title sequence
As with the original
Law and Order series, the opening
title card features a voiceover by
Steven Zirnkilton:
SVU uses a re-mixed version of the theme music from its
parent show
Law & Order.
Since the second season on, the franchise convention of the
characters walking toward the camera at the end of the opening
sequence was replaced by the cast gathered in front of a desk. This
change was dictated by the large credited cast (nine members as of
2007).
The photo in the opening credits for
Dann
Florek (from the beginning of the show) and
Ice-T (starting with the second episode of season two)
has only changed once since they first appeared on the show. The
photo for
Mariska Hargitay has
changed six times (Season one has one photo, seasons 2-4 and the
first four episodes of season 5 have another, the rest of season 5
has a third, seasons 6-8 have a fourth, season 9 has a new picture,
and season 11).
Christopher
Meloni,
Richard Belzer and
B.D. Wong had new
photos starting with the fifth episode of season five (coinciding
with the debut of
Diane Neal as
Casey Novak). Neal had one photo for season
five, a second for seasons six and seven, and a new photo for
season eight and a new one for season nine.
Tamara Tunie, who first appeared in the opening
credits in season seven, has a new photo for season eight and yet
another for season nine. The photos for each cast member were
updated for season 9 to coincide with the addition of
Adam Beach to the cast.
The current order of introduction in the opening credits is Meloni,
Hargitay, Belzer, Ice-T, March, Wong, Tunie, and Florek. Meloni,
Hargitay, and Belzer have always been the first three, with Florek
last, much as the district attorney has always been last on the
original series.
Prior to
the September 11, 2001
attacks, the show's opening sequence featured two separate
shots of the Twin Towers of the World Trade
Center
. After September 11, a new shot of the same
area of lower Manhattan was used and still is the current
one.
Broadcast history
The show originally aired on Monday nights at 9:00 p.m. ET for the
first nine episodes, from September 20 through November 29, 1999.
It was then shifted to Friday nights at 10 p.m. ET on January
7, 2000, and remained in that time slot through the end of Season 4
on May 16, 2003.
SVU was placed in its current time slot
for the Season 5 premiere on September 23, 2003 Tuesday nights at
10:00 p.m. ET and occasionally runs previous shows on Saturday
nights at 10:00 p.m. ET. The
USA Network
also runs previous episodes on weekday afternoons, generally in a
block from 3 to 5 p.m. ET.
The series vacated its Tuesday 10:00 p.m. ET slot in fall 2009 when
NBC began a primetime weeknight
Jay Leno series.
Law and Order: Special Victims
Unit currently airs on Wednesday nights at 9:00 p.m. ET, while
CTV will still air SVU on Tuesdays at 10:00 in Canada. The eleventh
season premiered its new time slot on September 23, 2009.
Episodes
Storylines
Plot inspirations
Like the other member shows of the Law and Order franchise, many
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes are clear
references to high-profile real-life cases (or notable fictional
works), and are based on thinly veiled dramatizations of these
actual events, though the particulars and outcome may end up to be
quite different. In addition to referencing real-life cases,
episodes reference real-life popular culture and political issues,
often through fictitious entities with real world counterparts such
as a faux
Facebook or
MySpace.
Character drama
The show is more character-driven than most
police procedurals (such as the rest of
the
Law & Order franchise), with a less-than-complete
focus on the main case. For example, detectives
Elliot Stabler (Meloni) and
Olivia Benson (Hargitay) each signed up to
work for the Special Victims Unit for different reasons: Stabler
felt a moral responsibility to protect all people from the
criminals that they had to deal with, especially because he had
four children of his own, and later dealt with anger issues that
drove away his wife and children. Benson was conceived when her
mother was
raped and had to put up with much of
her subsequent
alcoholism.
In the 2005 and 2006 seasons, more attention is paid to Benson and
Stabler's relationship. This breaks form with the rest of the other
Dick Wolf franchises. Benson and Stabler were seen struggling with
their partnership. The emotional attachment between them became
almost volatile at the end of the 2006 season, when Benson asked
for a new partner. Concerning the Benson and Stabler relationship,
Hargitay stated in an interview: "It's very complicated. Sometimes
it's very much like brother and sister, and I think the reason that
they're so close is that they share a passion for their jobs and
for the people. They have a mutual respect for one another. I think
that the average lifespan of an SVU detective is four years because
of the difficulty and stress involved. They've been doing it for
longer than that, so they feel like they're in their own world
almost. There's also sexual chemistry between them, it's so loaded
and layered. People ask me if they'll ever get together — and
people want that, and sometimes I think even Olivia wants that —
but I don't think that will ever happen."
Cast and characters
The characters of
Olivia Benson and
Elliot Stabler were named for creator
Dick Wolf's children. Wolf's third child,
daughter Sarina, had a character named for her in the original
Law & Order (A.D.A.
Serena Southerlyn, played by
Elisabeth Röhm from 2001-05). Also, in
Special Victims Unit, Benson's mother was named Serena. In
the original
Law & Order, Detective Ray Curtis's
daughter was also named Olivia.
Two of the regular characters have appeared in two other
NBC series: Capt.
Don Cragen
(Florek), who was on the first three seasons of Law &
Order and Detective John Munch
(Belzer), formerly a Baltimore
detective on Homicide: Life on the
Street. This character also made appearances on
Law & Order,
Law & Order: Trial by
Jury,
Arrested Development,
The Beat,
The X-Files and the
HBO series
The
Wire.
The show, like its parent show, has had several cast changes,
although the original four credited cast members,
Christopher Meloni,
Mariska Hargitay,
Richard Belzer, and
Dann Florek, have remained with the show through
the first 10 seasons.
The show's first A.D.A. was
Abbie
Carmichael played by
Angie Harmon.
While plans had originally called for Harmon to serve as a
recurring guest star, she appeared in only six episodes during the
show's first season.
Munch's partner was
Detective Brian
Cassidy, played by
Dean Winters,
during the show's first season. Cassidy was just assigned to the
unit as the show began; he transferred to Narcotics partway through
the first season because he was having trouble dealing with some of
the disturbing cases the division dealt with regularly, and
possibly also because his relationship with Benson ended.
Michelle Hurd played
Detective Monique Jeffries. Jeffries was
originally a minor character, but when Dean Winters left the show
mid-season, she played a more prominent role as Munch's partner.
Hurd played the role for a few episodes during the second season,
after which she was written out of the show as part of a police
review of the unit.
After Hurd left the series, the Jeffries character was replaced
with
Odafin "Fin" Tutuola (played by
rapper-turned-actor,
Ice-T), who has been on
the show since season two. While technically Munch's partner, he
has become much more prominent on the show than Munch; while Munch
usually remains at the station, with sometimes only a few lines in
some episodes, Tutuola is much more active in aiding the main
characters' investigations and is often sent on undercover
assignments as well.
In season two, the show added
Stephanie
March, whose character,
Alexandra Cabot, served as a permanent
supporting A.D.A. for the show. In season five, Cabot was shot and
presumed dead, but was actually placed in the
Witness Protection Program for
her safety. Stephanie March reprised her role in the sixth season
episode "Ghost", when her character comes out of Witness Protection
and testifies against the man who shot her. On January 9, 2009, it
was announced that Stephanie March would return for a six episode
arc in the tenth season, beginning with the episode "Lead" set to
air on March 10, 2009. On June 12, 2009 it was announced the she
would reprise her role for a part of the eleventh season, while
producers search for a more permanent actress for SVU's ADA. On
June 29, 2009, it was reported that she would return for the fifth
episode and guest star for a total of ten episodes.
Casey Novak, portrayed by
Diane Neal, fills Cabot's vacancy as the new SVU
A.D.A. Neal's final episode was the ninth season finale "Cold,"
after which she gets disbarred for withholding evidence from the
defense during a trial, and then lying to Judge Petrofsky and Judge
Donnelly about what she did after getting caught.
B.D. Wong began appearing
as George Huang, a
forensic psychiatrist on loan
from the FBI
, in the penultimate episode of season two.
He was a frequently recurring character during season three before
being elevated to contract status starting with season four.
Tamara Tunie, as
Melinda Warner, is the division's current
Medical Examiner on the show. Having played the role in virtually
every episode of seasons four, five, and six, Tunie was added to
the opening credits for the show's seventh season.
Mike Doyle entered in 2003 as
Ryan O'Halloran, a CSU agent who worked frequently with the unit.
He appeared in 50 episodes until his death in the Season 10
finale.
In 2006,
Connie Nielsen was cast as
Detective Dani Beck, a warrants detective
who comes from a Specialized unit, to fill in for Benson (Hargitay
was on maternity leave) who was undercover for the FBI at the time.
Beck's husband, a police officer, was murdered in 2002, and she and
Stabler flirted with the possibility of a romantic involvement. In
the November 21, 2006 episode, she admits to him she feels unable
to deal with the nature of the crimes handled by SVU, but implies
she would be willing to stay if Stabler asked her. When he tells
her she needs to remain for herself, not him, she tells him goodbye
and exits the series.
It was announced that
Adam Beach would be
joining
SVU full-time starting in season nine with the
role of
Chester Lake,
a character who first appeared in a guest-starring role as a
Brooklyn SVU detective. In the January 16, 2007 episode, he helped
Tutuola and his son stop a serial rapist, then returned in the
eighth season finale as a transfer to Manhattan SVU. On April 18,
2008, it was reported by the
Hollywood Reporter that Adam Beach
was leaving his role after his one-season contract had officially
expired. Detective Lake is arrested for murder of a rapist in the
ninth season finale (involved in the same case in which A.D.A.
Casey Novak gets suspended). Both Beach and Neal were written out
of the show after this episode, which aired May 13, 2008.
In June 2008 it was announced that
Michaela McManus would join the cast as new
A.D.A.
Kim Greylek, but she appeared in
only fourteen episodes of season ten and was abruptly replaced by
Stephanie March, who returned with the credit "Special Guest Star"
(
Melinda McGraw also filled the ADA
role for one episode, playing attorney Samantha Copeland). On April
18, 2009, it was confirmed that McManus had departed the cast
permanently.
On June 29, 2009 it was reported that
Christine Lahti would sign on for four
episodes of the eleventh season, starting with the season premiere
as SVU's temporary
A.D.A.
Sonya Paxton and then return for the show's eight episode,
where she clashes with Alex Cabot.
The eleventh season premiered on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at
9pm/8c (CTV retains SVU in its Tuesday timeslot). Christopher
Meloni and Mariska Hargitay both signed on for the eleventh
season.
Main characters
* Denotes a character who hasn't appeared in opening credits,
yet commonly appeared on the show
** Denotes a character who only appeared in the opening
credits, when in that episode.
Reception
U.S. television ratings
SVU premiered on a Monday in 1999. After the November 29
episode, the show was sent to Friday nights where it found its
audience and following its first season became a top 20 show.
Beginning with the fifth season, the show was aired on Tuesdays to
compete with
CBS'
Judging Amy and
ABC's
NYPD Blue.In recent years,
SVU has
consistently outperformed
Law & Order in the Nielsen
ratings for first run episodes. Despite this,
SVU has
never eclipsed the peak popularity of
Law &
Order.
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of
Law & Order: SVU on
NBC.
Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late
September and ends in late May (with the exception of the 10th
season), which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
| Season |
Timeslot |
Season premiere |
Season finale |
TV season |
Ranking |
Viewers
(in millions) |
|
| 1st |
Monday 9:00 p.m.
Friday 10:00 p.m. |
September 20, 1999 |
May 19, 2000 |
1999-2000 |
#40 |
12.2 |
| 2nd |
Friday 10:00 p.m. |
October 20, 2000 |
May 11, 2001 |
2000-2001 |
TBA |
TBA |
| 3rd |
September 28, 2001 |
May 17, 2002 |
2001-2002 |
#14 |
15.2 |
| 4th |
September 27, 2002 |
May 16, 2003 |
2002-2003 |
#16 |
14.8 |
| 5th |
Tuesday 10:00 p.m. |
September 23, 2003 |
May 18, 2004 |
2003-2004 |
#21 |
12.7 |
| 6th |
September 21, 2004 |
May 24, 2005 |
2004-2005 |
#23 |
13.5 |
| 7th |
September 20, 2005 |
May 16, 2006 |
2005-2006 |
#23 |
13.8 |
| 8th |
September 19, 2006 |
May 22, 2007 |
2006-2007 |
#30 |
11.9 |
| 9th |
September 25, 2007 |
May 13, 2008 |
2007-2008 |
#30 |
11.3 |
| 10th |
September 23, 2008 |
June 2, 2009 |
2008-2009 |
#35 |
10.3 |
| 11th |
Wednesday 9:00pm |
September 23, 2009 |
May 2010 |
2009-2010 |
TBA |
8.48 (to date) |
Syndication ratings
In its second season in weekend syndication, "SVU" is improving
time periods across the country, averaging more than 4.7 million
viewers per week and it's the #1 off-network weekly drama in many
key demos, according to season-to-date
Nielsen Media Research GAA ratings
data. The series is #1 among all off-net weekend dramas in Women
18-49, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 (tied with
CSI: NY). For the week of December 1, 2008,
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit scored its
season-high ratings in syndication, averaging a 3.9 HH rating and
5.3 million viewers.
Awards and honors
DVD releases
Universal Studios
Home Entertainment has released
Law & Order: Special
Victims Unit on DVD in Regions 1, 2 & 4. Seasons 1-8 have
been released in Regions 1, 2 and 4.
|
Title |
Ep# |
Release
dates |
| Region 1 |
Region 2 |
Region 4 |
| The Complete 1st Season |
22 |
October 21, 2003 |
February 28, 2005 |
January 20, 2005 |
| The Complete 2nd Season |
21 |
September 27, 2005 |
November 21, 2005 |
March 6, 2006 |
| The Complete 3rd Season |
23 |
January 30, 2007 |
July 23, 2007 |
August 1, 2007 |
| The Complete 4th Season |
25 |
December 4, 2007 |
September 10, 2007 |
November 21, 2007 |
| The Complete 5th Season |
25 |
September 14, 2004 |
June 16, 2008 |
July 2, 2008 |
| The Complete 6th Season |
23 |
April 1, 2008 |
September 22, 2008 |
December 3, 2008 |
| The Complete 7th Season |
22 |
July 29, 2008 |
February 16, 2009 |
March 4, 2009 |
| The Complete 8th Season |
22 |
February 17, 2009 |
April 13, 2009 |
June 3, 2009 |
| The Complete 9th Season |
19 |
May 26, 2009 |
August 31, 2009 |
September 30, 2009 |
| The Complete 10th Season |
22 |
September 22, 2009 |
December 28, 2009 |
N/A |
| The Complete 11th Season |
24 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Online releases
Seasons 1
and 5-10 are available for purchase on the Amazon Unbox Video System and on Apple
iTunes in both HD and
standard formats in the United States.
Seasons 1-10 are also available on
Netflix's
Instant Viewing feature. Seasons 1-10 are available for rent.
Crossovers
Law & Order crossed
over three times with other NBC shows:
- "Entitled – Part I" (Law & Order:
Special Victims Unit 1x15), continued in
"Entitled – Part II" (Law &
Order 10x14)
- "Night" (Law & Order: Special Victims
Unit 6x20), continued in "Day" (Law &
Order: Trial by Jury 1x11)
- "Design" (Law & Order: Special Victims
Unit 7x2), continued in "Flaw" (Law &
Order 16x2)
Russian adaptation
Twelve episodes (in a random order, taken from the first three
seasons of the show) were remade for Russian television to much
success, which resulted in a full season order for fall of
2007.
Notes
- http://abcmedianet.com/web/dnr/dispDNR.aspx?id=051909_05
-
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?date=12/18/08&id=20081218nuts02
-
http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/11540943/Law-Order-Special-Victims-Unit-Season-10/Product.html
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