Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Genre	Police procedural
Creator(s)	Dick Wolf
Starring	Current cast: Christopher Meloni (1999- ) Mariska Hargitay (1999- ) Richard Belzer (1999- ) Diane Neal (2003– ) Ice-T (2000– ) B.D. Wong (2002– ) Tamara Tunie (2005– ) Dann Florek (1999-) Adam Beach (2007-)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	178 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 20 1999 – present
Links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Law & Order franchise

Original series

Special Victims Unit
Criminal Intent
Trial by Jury

Franchise characters

Conviction
Exiled
Crime & Punishment

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (also known as Law & Order: SVU, or SVU) is an American drama television program about the Special Victims Unit in the fictitious 16th Precinct of New York City.

SVU can currently be seen on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST on NBC in America. In addition, the show is syndicated on the USA Network. The show is currently in its eighth season. On January 25, 2007, NBC confirmed that the show would be back next fall for a ninth season, as Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have extended their contracts for an additional two years. [1]

The show originally aired on Monday nights at 9 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 four on May 16, 2003. SVU was placed in its current time slot for the season 5 opener on September 23, 2003 on Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. ET and occasionally runs previous shows on Saturday nights at 10pm ET.

SVU is currently the highest rated series of the Law & Order franchise, and is one of NBC's top rated shows. The Law & Order franchise also includes two other series dramas: the original Law & Order, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

[edit] Series overview

The following statement is spoken at the beginning of every episode, except the first episode of the third season (in which this statement is replaced by a statement relevant to the September 11, 2001 attacks):

In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories....

[edit] Sex Crimes Investigations

Unlike the original Law & Order, SVU follows a distinct division of the New York City Police Department: the Special Victims Unit (aka the Sex Crimes division, as explained in the first episode). As its name implies, the detectives in this division investigate crimes involving sexual assault, the very young, or the very elderly, as well as any crime loosely connected with any of the three. Their unit is based out of the fictitious 16th Precinct (sometimes called Manhattan SVU).

[edit] Origins

The series was originally proposed under the title Sex Crimes, and unrelated to the Law & Order brand. NBC thought the title was too harsh, and after discussions between network executives and Dick Wolf (creator of Law & Order) it became part of the L&O brand, debuting as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

[edit] Character drama

In addition, the show is more character-driven than the typical police procedural, with a less-than-complete focus on the main case. For example, detectives Stabler and Benson 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 dealing with issues involving an abusive father and anger issues that drove away his wife and children. Benson was the child of a pregnancy resulting from the rape of her mother.

In the 2005 and 2006 seasons, the spotlight seemed to drift from the cases to the relationship between the two main characters. 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 2005 season, when Benson asked for a new partner. When Hargitay returned from maternity leave at the end of 2006, the partnership seemed to be on shaky ground. Concerning the Benson and Stabler relationship, Hargitay stated in an interview[2],

"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."

[edit] Controversial subject matter

SVU contains by far the most controversial subject matter of any of the L&O series^{[citation needed]}, focusing mostly on rape and child abuse, as well as episodes based on real incidents and current hot topic issues, such as physician-assisted suicide, abortion, and gun control.

[edit] The Real NYPD "Special Victims Unit"

The NYPD does have a real unit that investigates sex crimes; which is housed in various Patrol Boroughs like in Manhattan (similar to how L&O: SVU is depicted in the show). In addition to the different name, the real Special Victims Unit only investigates the following types of cases:

Any child under 13 years of age that is the victim of any sex crime or attempted sex crime by any person.
Any child under 11 years of age who is the victim of abuse by a parent or person legally responsible for the care of the child.
Any victim of Rape (all degrees) or Attempted Rape (all degrees)
Any victim of Criminal Sexual Act (all degrees) or Attempted Criminal Sexual Act (all degrees)
Victims of Aggravated Sexual Abuse (all degrees)
Victims of Sexual Abuse 1st Degree

The Special Victims Unit does not investigate any murder, robbery or child pornography cases. Murders and robberies are investigated by precinct detective squads. If a sex crime is involved, the Special Victims Unit may assist in the investigation. Child pornography is investigated by the NYPD Vice Enforcement Sexual Exploitation of Children Unit.

[edit] Episodes

Season 1 (20 September 1999 - 21 May 2000)
Season 2 (20 October 2000 - 11 May 2001)
Season 3 (28 September 2001 - 17 May 2002)
Season 4 (27 September 2002 - 16 May 2003)
Season 5 (23 September 2003 - 18 May 2004)
Season 6 (21 September 2004 - 24 May 2005)
Season 7 (20 September 2005 - 16 May 2006)
Season 8 (19 September 2006 - )

[edit] Awards

[edit] Won

2001 Edgar Award - Best Episode in a Television Series Teleplay (Michael R. Perry, for "Limitations")
2002 NAACP Image Award - Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Ice-T)
2003 Edgar Award - Best Episode in a Television Series Teleplay (Dawn DeNoon and Lisa Marie Petersen, for "Waste")
2005 Golden Globe Award - Best Actress in a Television Drama Series (Mariska Hargitay)
2006 Emmy Award - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Mariska Hargitay)

[edit] Nominated

2004 Emmy Award - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Mariska Hargitay)
2004 NAACP Image Award - Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Ice-T)
2004 Screen Actors Guild - Best Female Actor in a Drama Series (Mariska Hargitay)
2005 Emmy Award - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Mariska Hargitay)
2006 Emmy Award - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Christopher Meloni)
2006 NAACP Image Award - Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Ice-T)
2006 Screen Actors Guild - Best Female Actor in a Drama Series (Mariska Hargitay)
2007 Screen Actors Guild - Best Female Actor in a Drama Series (Mariska Hargitay)

[edit] Principal cast

Christopher Meloni - Detective Elliot Stabler
Mariska Hargitay - Detective Olivia Benson
Richard Belzer - Detective John Munch
Michelle Hurd - Detective Monique Jeffries (2000)
Dean Winters - Detective Brian Cassidy (1999-2000)
Ice T - Detective Odafin Tutuola (2000-present)
Dann Florek - Captain Donald Cragen
Stephanie March - ADA Alexandra Cabot (2000-2003)
B.D. Wong - Dr. George Huang (2002-present)
Diane Neal - ADA Casey Novak (2003-present)
Tamara Tunie - Dr. Melinda Warner, M.E. (2005-present)

[edit] Supporting characters

The cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2002-2003); from left, Ice T, Richard Belzer, Mariska Hargitay, Dann Florek, Christopher Meloni, B.D. Wong, and Stephanie March.

Two of the regular characters have appeared in two other NBC series: Captain Donald Cragen (played by Dann Florek), who was on the first three 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, Arrested Development, The Beat and The X-Files.

Supporting cast during season one included Dean Winters as Munch's partner, Detective Brian Cassidy, and Michelle Hurd as Detective Monique Jeffries. Cassidy was an immigrant detective, just assigned to the unit, who transferred to narcotics because he was having trouble dealing with some of the disturbing cases the division dealt with regularly.

Jeffries was originally a minor character, but when Dean Winters left the show midseason, 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 left the show.

[edit] Seasons 9 & 10

Recently, Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni signed contracts to pick up a ninth and a tenth season, making the show a definite until 2009. Recently, it was revealed that all the current cast members will return as well. Adam Beach will also join the cast [¹].

[edit] Casting changes

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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 eight seasons.

[edit] Odafin Tutuola

Ice T as Detective Odafin Tutuola.

Stephanie March as Alexandra Cabot.

B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang.

After Hurd left the series, her Monique Jeffries character was replaced with Detective Odafin Tutuola (played by rapper-turned-actor, Ice-T); he has been on the show since season two. While technically Munch's partner, Fin 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, Fin is much more active in aiding the main characters' investigations, and is often sent on undercover assignments as well.

[edit] Alexandra Cabot

Also in season two the show added Stephanie March, as Alexandra Cabot, as a permanent supporting ADA to the show. In season five, Alexandra was shot and presumed dead, but actually was placed in the Witness Protection Program for her safety. Casey Novak, portrayed by Diane Neal, replaced Cabot. However, Cabot came out of Witness Protection and returned to testify against the man who gunned her down.

In early 2006, Stephanie March reprised the character of Alexandra Cabot in the now-defunct series Conviction.

[edit] Dr. George Huang

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.

[edit] Melinda Warner

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.

[edit] Casey Novak

As of 2003, another cast change came after the fourth episode of season five ("Loss"), when Stephanie March was replaced with Diane Neal as Casey Novak. Her first episode was Season 5, Episode 5 (Serendipity). In season 6, she was attacked by the brother of a rape victim in her office. Neal also previously played Amelia Chase, a murder suspect, on the 10th episode of season 3 ("Ridicule").

[edit] Dani Beck

In 2006, Connie Nielsen was cast as Detective Dani Beck, a multi-lingual warrants detective who comes from a specialized unit, to fill in for Hargitay while she was on maternity leave. Beck's husband, a police officer, was murdered in 2002, and she and partner Elliot Stabler flirted with the possibility of a romantic involvement. In the November 21 episode, she admitted to him she felt she was unable to deal with the nature of the crimes handled by SVU, but implied she'd be willing to stay if Stabler asked her. When he told her she needed to remain for herself, not him, she told him goodbye and exited the series.

[edit] Chester Lake

It has been announced that Adam Beach will be joining SVU full-time next season with the role of Chester Lake, a character that first appeared in a guest-starring role as a Brooklyn SVU detective. Originally in the January 16th episode, he helped Fin and his son stop a serial rapist.[3].

[edit] Other guest stars

In season one, Reiko Aylesworth (best known as Michelle Dessler from the FOX television series 24) played Erica Alden in episodes "Slaves," "Remorse," and "Contact."

In seasons one to three, Lance Reddick (best known for his roles on two HBO television series, Desmond Mobay/Detective Johnny Basil on Oz and Cedric Daniels on The Wire) had a recurring role as the Medical Examiner.

From season three on, Judith Light has had multiple appearances as Bureau Chief, turned judge, Elizabeth Donnelly. One other character that was important was Detective Ken Briscoe (nephew of Lennie Briscoe), played by Chris Orbach (son of Jerry Orbach). He appeared in early episodes of the show, along with his father.

Mary Stuart Masterson appeared in three episodes of season six ("Weak", "Contagious", and "Identity") and one episode of season seven ("Ripped") as Dr. Rebecca Hendrix, who attended the police academy with Olivia Benson and was on the NYPD force for two years. Elliot Stabler turned to Hendrix for comfort in season seven after a confrontation in a courthouse restroom with his former partner, Pete Breslin.

Joel de la Fuente has had numerous recurring roles as Rueben Morales, a computer expert who helps the detectives with online evidence. In the Season 7 episode "Web," he played a major part in the investigation of a young man who was running a web site featuring himself and other underage boys. During the investigation, Morales told Stabler that he had given his nephew a computer as a gift. The nephew had met and been molested by an online predator via the computer and Morales joined SVU to ease his guilt and try to save other children from that fate. As was the case with Tunie's and Wong's characters, his role has expanded early in season eight.

Caren Browning has had numerous appearances since the middle of season four as Capt. Judith Siper, and Mike Doyle has appeared on numerous occasions as Ryan O'Halloran over the same period. Siper and O'Halloran often lead the canvass for evidence at crime scenes, and often are able to provide key clues when analyzing that evidence in the crime lab. Welly Yang has appeared numerous times as an unnamed (although sometimes identified as "Georgie" in the credits) CSU technician. Paula Garcés also played a recurring CSU technician, named Millie Vizcarrondo. In the Season 7 episode "Name," involving the disappearances of several Puerto Rican boys, she teamed up with Detective Stabler and played a significant part in the investigation.

Julie White has a recurring role as Dr. Anne Morella, and has made three appearances: in the season five episodes "Shaken" and "Head," and the season seven episode "Starved."

In addition, the show has had many guest stars, including cast from Law & Order, including Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green, Angie Harmon as Abbie Carmichael, Sam Waterston as Jack McCoy, Steven Hill as Adam Schiff, Dianne Wiest as Nora Lewin, and Fred Dalton Thompson as Arthur Branch. In addition to that, a number of other doctors appeared on the show from time to time, including Leslie Hendrix as her Law & Order character, Elizabeth Rodgers, Carolyn McCormick as her Law & Order character, Elizabeth Olivet, and J.K. Simmons as his Law & Order character, Emil Skoda.

Prominent actors appearing as defense lawyers include Peter Hermann (Mariska Hargitay's husband) as Trevor Langan, Annie Potts as Sophie Devere, John Cullum as Barry Moredock (Alexandra Cabot's former law school professor), David Thornton as Lionel Granger, Ned Eisenberg as Roger Kressler (Eisenberg previously appeared as two other attorneys before assuming the role of Kressler), CCH Pounder as Carolyn Maddox, and Illeana Douglas as Gina Bernardo.

Other high-profile guests have included Jane Alexander, Karen Allen, Anthony Anderson, Elizabeth Banks, Jonathan Bennett, Craig Bierko, Jacqueline Bisset, Lewis Black, Richard Bright, Dean Cain, Billy Campbell, Bobby Cannavale, Lynda Carter, Gary Cole, Natalie Cole, Holliston Coleman, Bradley Cooper, Bruce Davison, Beverly D'Angelo, Dana Delaney, Rebecca De Mornay, Jeffrey DeMunn, Emily Deschanel (before rocketing to stardom on the FOX series Bones), Doug E. Doug, Illeana Douglas, Sherilyn Fenn, Bobby Flay (Stephanie March's husband), Joe Morton, Patrick Flueger, Jim Gaffigan, Kelli Garner, Ben Gazzara, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Pam Grier, Michael Gross, Tom Guiry, Darrell Hammond, Mickey Hargitay (Mariska Hargitay's late father), Gale Harold, Bret Harrison, John Heard, Peter Hermann (Mariska Hargitay's husband), Judd Hirsch, Doug Hutchison, Amy Irving, David Keith, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Jamie Kennedy, Margot Kidder, Shirley Knight (who also guested stared on Law & Order), Jane Krakowski, Stephen Lang, Frank Langella, Angela Lansbury, Michael Lerner, Piper Laurie, Sharon Lawrence, Chad Lowe, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Andrew McCarthy, Kyle MacLachlan, Kellie Martin, Samantha Mathis, Marlee Matlin, Mark McGrath, Matthew Modine, Rita Moreno, Alfred Molina, Kate Mulgrew, Ming-Na, James Naughton, Brian F. O'Byrne, Michael O'Keefe, Leland Orser, Hayden Panettiere (who appeared twice, several years apart, in two different roles), Connor Paolo (who also appeared twice, four years apart, in two different roles), Martha Plimpton, Lou Diamond Philips, Michael Pitt, Patricia Richardson, Shawn Reaves, Norman Reedus, Peter Riegert, John Ritter as well as his son Jason Ritter, Eric Roberts, Anthony Rapp, Gloria Reuben, Julian Sands, Fred Savage, John Savage, Jane Seymour, Martin Short, Susan Saint James, Tom Skerritt, Brittany Snow, Ian Somerhalder, Shannyn Sossamon, Mary Steenburgen, Eric Stoltz, Nicole Sullivan, Richard Thomas, Raviv Ullman, Blair Underwood, Lea Thompson, Tom Verica, Estella Warren, Kathleen Wilhoite, Serena Williams, Henry Winkler, and Mare Winningham.

Marcia Gay Harden has appeared twice (Season 7, "Raw" and Season 8, "Informed") as Agent Dana Lewis, who uses her undercover alias, Star Morrison, to infiltrate a group of white supremacists and an ecoterrorism ring.

Rapper/actor Ludacris appeared as the nephew of Odafin Tutuola on one episode. He has recently confirmed that he will be on more episodes of the show.^{[citation needed]}

Rob Estes, whose detective show Silk Stalkings also pushed the envelope of adult subject matter, played a villain in one SVU episode. Estes' Chris Lorenzo and Mitzi Kapture's Rita Lee Lance can be considered the forerunners of Benson and Stabler, as Lance and Lorenzo often investigated sexual-based murders on Silk Stalkings.

The seventh-season opener featured Robert Patrick and Robert Walden. The season seven finale featured Brittany Snow. Eighth-season guest stars include Jerry Lewis (as Munch's homeless uncle), Robert Vaughn, Charles Shaughnessy, Leslie Caron, Ken Howard, Elle Fanning, Chris Sarandon, Bob Saget, Catherine Bell, Bernadette Peters, Brian Dennehy, Blair Underwood, Michael Michele, Kal Penn, Bill Goldberg, Ray Wise, Cary Elwes, Kim Delaney and Tim Daly.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Plot inspirations

Like its predecessor, many Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes are clear references to high-profile real-life cases, and are based on thinly-veiled dramatizations of these actual events, though the particulars and outcome may end up to be quite different.

The Season 1 episode, "Uncivilized", comes from the Leopold and Loeb case.
The Season 1 finale, "Slaves", was based on the case of Cameron Hooker who abducted Carol Smith and proceeded to torture and use her as a sex slave for seven years.
The Season 2 episode, "Baby Killer", was based on the Kayla Rolland case.
The Season 3's finale, "Silence", dealt with allegations of sexual abuse performed by Catholic clergymen, echoing the real-life proliferation of Roman Catholic sex abuse cases.
The Season 4 premiere, "Chameleon," deals with a prostitute who repeatedly murders her clients and claims it was self-defense every time. This is based on the real-life story of Aileen Wuornos.
In the Season 4 episode "Angels" the plot of young Latin boys being taken from their foreign homes and raped by their kidnapper, is quite similar to the case of Michael Skult in Arkansas.
The Season 4 episode, "Damaged", shares several similarities to the case of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, a husband and wife duo who raped and murdered several teenage girls in the late 1980s and early 90s. Similarities include; the female involved drugging her own underage sister to be raped by herself and boyfriend, all while taping the crime; a plea bargain hastily made to the female that is undermined when later evidence, namely video tapes, shows that the female was a willing accomplice, not a compliant victim; and the male claiming that the female was responsible for all the murders. The Season 6 episode "Pure" with guest star Martin Short also had similarities with this case.
The Season 4 episode, "Appearances", has superficial similarities to the JonBenét Ramsey case, as it questions the motives of parents who put their young daughters in beauty pageants. The parents are quickly cleared of any charges, though.
The Season 4 episode, "Pandora", has similarities to the Operation Avalanche investigation. In this episode, an investigation into a woman's murder leads SVU detectives to a a wealthy suburban couple who are found to be operating a global system for processing credit card payments used to access child pornography websites.
Another Season 4 episode, "Perfect", is loosely based on two unrelated events, the scandal surrounding the mysterious death of Lisa McPherson and the abduction of Elizabeth Smart.
The Season 5 episode "Serendipity" is based on the story of John Schneeberger, who put a tube of his patient's blood in his arm to fool the Kipling, Saskatchewan police.
The Season 5 episode "Hate" is based on accounts of anti-Arab reprisals following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The Season 5 episode, "Sick", is a clear reference to the allegations of pedophilia against Michael Jackson, and the questionable credibility of some of the accusers. In the episode, a wealthy, eccentric celebrity named Billy Tripley comes under scrutiny for his bizarre practice of inviting little children over to his childlike mansion. The role is played by Will Keenan, whose facial features resemble Jackson's to some degree.
The Season 5 episode "Mean" about the murder of a teenage girl by her so-called clique of friends due to the jealousy of the leader was loosely based on the 1992 case of Shanda Sharer in Indiana (see Melinda Loveless) and a similar case in California in 1989.
The Season 5 episode, "Control", which was also the 100th episode of the show, is based on the John Jamelske kidnappings in DeWitt, NY.
The Season 6 episode "Charisma" focuses on a mass execution of children, most of whom were involved in or fathered by incestuous relationships to a sole father. This parallels accounts of the Marcus Wesson case, including the defense that the eldest daughter committed the actual murders.
The Season 6 episode, "Scavenger", is about a long-unsolved cases of rapes and murders by a serial killer known only by the moniker "RDK", for "rape, dismember, kill". An actual serial killer from the 1970s was known as "BTK" for "bind, torture, kill", and his crime streak of almost 30 years went unsolved until 2005.
The Season 6 episode "Identity," about brother-sister twins who are actually identical male twins who had attempted sexual reassignment and bizarre therapy sessions to create the gender reassignment is based on the "John/Joan" case of Brian and David Reimer.
Season 6's episode, "Game", features a popular, violent video game that is blamed for inspiring the hit-and-run murder of a prostitute. The game featured and the lawsuit following it closely resemble the video game franchise Grand Theft Auto, which has been blamed for several violent crimes committed by young game players.
The Season 6 episode, "Pure", features a wife who lures virgin girls into a dangerous situation so they can be raped by her husband. The details are almost exactly the same as the real-life case of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.
The Season 6 finale, "Goliath", deals with soldiers who return from a post in Afghanistan experiencing long-term side-effects from a fictional drug called "Quiniam", that soldiers were forced to take. This paralleled real-life allegations that the Lariam being given to soldiers in Afghanistan could cause psychosis and suicidal thoughts in some soldiers.
The Season 7 episode, "Name", was based on the 1957 case of The Boy in the Box which is still unsolved.
The Season 7 episode, "Starved", took several plot details from the Terri Schiavo case.
The Season 7 episode, "Storm", had the search for a child molestor who had taken three girls from post-Katrina New Orleans, touching on the reports of missing molestors in the wake of the storm. It turns out he was also involved in the theft of anthrax from a government lab in New Orleans. A reporter took info on the story from Olivia and published it. When he refused to name his source, he went to jail, in a nod to the Judith Miller case.
The Season 7 episode, "Gone", is based on the Natalee Holloway case.
The Season 7 episode, "Class", is based on the cheating scandal of Elizabeth Paige Laurie.
The Season 7 episode, "Fault", is based on the case of Joseph E. Duncan III who abducted Dylan and Shasta Groene after murdering the rest of their family.
The Season 7 episode, "Web", about a teenaged boy who takes erotic pictures of himself and posts them on self-created Internet pay sites to get money from internet pedophile subscribers is based loosely on the story of Justin Berry.
The Season 7 finale, "Influence", is based on the controversy regarding actor Tom Cruise and his views on psychiatry, with the perpetrator having refused to take her medication because of a rock star's statements regarding the evils of psychiatric medication, leading to tragic results.
The Season 8 premiere, "Informed," about a young woman involved with an ecoterrorism cell, notes several real examples of ecoterrorism, including the 2001 arson of several new homes under construction on Long Island, the 2003 arson of a Hummer dealership in California, and the death threats against animal testing labs such as Huntingdon Life Sciences. In addition, a suspect is arrested at a protest against a manufacturer of genetically modified food. The episode also notes that ecoterrorism is the FBI's top domestic terrorism threat; in 2005, an FBI official made a statement exactly to that effect.
Season 8 episode "Uncle" with Jerry Lewis ends similarily to the Andrew Goldstein case where a homeless man pushes someone to their death on the subway tracks.
Season 8 episode "Cage" is based on the 2000 Candace Newmaker case, as well as the 2006 Sharon Gravelle case.
Season 8 episode "Choreographed" has similarities to the RFID couple Amal Graafstra and Jennifer Tomblin.
Season 8 episode "Scheherezade" with Brian Dennehy shares similarities with the Bobbed Hair Bandit case from the 1920s, in which a young housewife and her husband robbed a string of stores.
Season 8 episode Burned is based on the Roger Hargrave case.
Season 8 episode Haystack is based on the Trenton Duckett case.
Season 8 episode Sin is based on the Ted Haggard scandal

[edit] Trivia

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit follows the same opening style of its parent Law & Order.
SVU uses a re-mixed version of the theme music from its parent show Law & Order.
Prior to September 2001, SVU's opening sequence featured two separate shots of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. After September 11, the show's opening sequence changed, with generic city shots replacing the World Trade Center. The original shots can be seen in syndicated episodes.
From the second season on, the franchise convention of the characters walking towards the camera at the end of the opening sequence was ditched and replaced by the cast gathered in front of a desk. This characteristic was symbolic of the large credited cast (8 members as of 2006).
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 2) have not changed since they first appeared on the show. The photo for Mariska Hargitay has changed four times (Season 1 has one photo, seasons 2-4 and the first four episodes of season 5 have another, the rest of season 5 has a third, and seasons 6-8 have a fourth). Christopher Meloni, Richard Belzer and B.D. Wong got new photos starting with the fifth episode of season 5 (coinciding with the debut of Diane Neal as Casey Novak). Diane Neal had one photo for season five, a second for seasons 6 and 7, and a new photo for season 8. Tamara Tunie, who first appeared in the opening credits in season 7, has a new photo for season 8.
This is one of eight series in which the character Detective John Munch has appeared. Others include Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, The X-Files, The Beat, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Arrested Development and Sesame Street .
Jerry Orbach (Detective Lennie Briscoe), Jesse L. Martin (Detective Ed Green), Fred Dalton Thompson (Arthur Branch) and Leslie Hendrix (Elizabeth Rodgers) are the only actors to play the same character on all four Law & Order series (Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: Trial by Jury).
Two years prior to being hired for the show as Casey Novak, Diane Neal played a woman on the show who is investigated by the detectives for raping a male stripper in the episode "Ridicule".
Tamara Tunie also appeared as a defense attorney on the original series before being cast as Warner.
George Huang's FBI badge number is 2317616, as told in the episode "Charisma." This is the same badge number as Agent Dana Scully of The X-Files.
Mariska Hargitay's (Detective Olivia Benson) real-life father, Mickey Hargitay, appears in the episode "Control". He plays a man on an escalator, who is seen speaking to her character.
Many actors previously starred on the HBO show Oz including Dean Winters and B.D. Wong. Christopher Meloni (Detective Stabler) played a sadistic rapist and murderer on Oz, and now hunts them on Special Victims Unit.
SVU has surpassed, in both ratings and popularity, the original Law & Order television program. This is a rare occurrence in the television industry.
Stephanie March reprised her role as Alexandra Cabot as a Bureau Chief in Dick Wolf's short-lived drama Conviction (2006), despite her character's entry into the Witness Protection Program on Special Victims Unit.
It is believed that the characters of Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler were named from creator Dick Wolf's three real life children: Olivia, Elliot and Sarina (the latter namesake of Olivia Benson's mother, seen in the series pilot, as well as Law & Order Serena Southerlyn).
Title theme for the UK terrestrial channel five version: "I'm Not Driving Anymore", the instrumental version from Rob Dougan's Furious Angels (Disc 2) [4]
Mariska Hargitay keeps a photo of her mother, Jayne Mansfield, on her desk on the set.
The precinct is sometimes referred to as "Manhattan SVU". This is not an error, as each borough (Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island) has its own SVU.
A parody of SVU called "Law and Order: Special Letters Unit" aired on the first episode of the 37th Season of Sesame Street. It consisted of four muppets made to look like Benson, Munch, Stabler, and Cragen. The plot involved each of the detectives searching for a missing letter "M". The Cragen muppet refers to the Stabler muppet not as Stabler, but instead as Meloni. Munch, Meloni, and Mariska are all names which begin with the letter M. Throughout the segment, Law & Order's distinctive "Chung-Chung" sound is parodied. In a NBC.com blog, Dick Wolf stated that he approved the parody, and hopes that Sesame Street continues the segment using the rest of the letters in the alphabet. [5]
Mariska Hargitay is the first cast member from any member of the Law & Order franchise to win an Emmy (as well as a Golden Globe) for her role on the show.
In the episode Ritual, a character says that no one has been executed in New York in forty years. While this is true in the real world, it is not in the Law and Order universe: The Law & Order episode Aftershock revolves around the characters' reaction to an execution, and the episode Bad Girl results in the execution of a defendant who had murdered a police officer. Coincidentally, the defendant in Bad Girl was played by Isabel Gillies, who would go on to play the recurring role of Kathy Stabler (Elliot Stabler's wife) in SVU.
There have been twenty directors for this series.
Christopher Meloni played a small part in the episode in which Kal Penn guest-starred; they previously worked together in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.
In a season 7 episode called "Manipulated" (#154), officers respond to a call and identify themselves as "3-William-56," the same call sign used by Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon franchise of films. In addition, in a clear allusion to Martin Riggs' dead wife (Victoria Lynn Riggs), the victim is identified as "Vicky Riggs." The middle name is different, but this is otherwise a clear reference to the exemplar film for the buddy cop device.

[edit] Technical information

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been shot on film in 16:9 format since at least 2003 (the year first run episodes also began airing in HDTV). This presents the unique oddity of reruns in this format providing more (previously cropped) material than when the episodes were first run broadcast in 4:3. Since 2006, all new episodes of the multiple Law & Order series have aired in widescreen for 4:3 screens, following other NBC shows such as The West Wing, ER, and Crossing Jordan.

[edit] DVD Releases

DVD Name	Cover Art	Release dates
DVD Name	Cover Art	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
The Complete 1^st Season		October 21, 2003	February 28, 2005	January 20, 2005
The Complete 2^nd Season		September 27, 2005	November 21, 2005	March 6, 2006
The Complete 3^rd Season		January 30, 2007	N/A	N/A
The Complete 5^th Season		September 14, 2004	N/A	N/A

Season 1 and Season 7 are available for purchase on Apple's United States iTunes Music Store as individual episodes or full seasons.

[edit] International Broadcasters

Country	Alternate title/Translation	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere	Weekly Schedule
Argentina	La Ley y el Orden: Unidad de Víctimas Especiales	Universal Channel		Monday - Friday 8:00pm ART
United States		NBC (Original Airing) and USA Network (Syndication)	September 20, 1999	Tuesdays 10:00pm ET
Canada		CTV & NBC (Original Airing), OMNI.2 (Syndication) and Mystery (Syndication)	September 20, 1999	Tuesdays 10:00pm ET
Australia		Network Ten (Original Airing) and TV1 (Reruns)		Thursdays 8:30pm AEST
Brazil	Lei e Ordem: Unidade de Vítimas Especiais	Universal Channel		Monday - Friday 08:00pm BRT
Croatia	Zakon i red: Odjel za žrtve	HRT2		Monday - Sunday 11:05pm CET
Czech Republic	Zákon a pořádek: Útvar pro zvláštní oběti	Nova
France	New York - Unité spéciale ("New York - Special Unit")	TF1	September 16, 2000
Germany	Law & Order: New York ("Law & Order: New York")	RTL 2	April 28, 2005	Thursdays 8:15pm UTC
Italy	Law & Order - Unità Vittime Speciali ("Law & Order - Special Victims Unit")	Rete 4 and Fox Crime (Sky TV)
Japan	Law & Order: 性犯罪特捜班 ("Law & Order: Sexual Crime Special Victims Units")	Fox Crime
Mexico	La Ley y El Orden: Unidad de Víctimas Especiales ("Law and Order: Special Victims Unit")	Universal Channel Televisa Channel 5		Monday - Friday 8:00pm UTC
Netherlands	Law & Order: SVU	Net 5
New Zealand	Special Victims Unit (English title)	TV3		Wednesdays 8:30pm NZST
Panama		TVMax
Peru	La Ley y El Orden: Unidad de Víctimas Especiales ("Law and Order: Special Victims Unit")	Universal Channel		Monday - Friday 3:00am, 7:00pm, 11:00pm ET
Poland	Prawo i bezprawie	TVP1		Saturdays 1:00pm
Saudi Arabia and Arab World		MBC Action		Tuesdays 10:00pm UTC
Singapore		Channel 5		Thursdays 11:00pm SGT
Slovenia	Zakon in red: Enota za posebne primere ("Law and Order: Unit for special cases")	Pop TV		Monday - Thursday 10:30pm CET
South Africa		SABC 3	July 20, 2006
South Korea		CGV - Signature
Spain	Ley y orden: Unidad de víctimas especiales ("Law and order: Unit of special victims")	Canal 13	July 16, 2002
Sweden	Law & Order SVU	Kanal 5 (first run) and Hallmark Channel (syndication)		Thursdays 9:55pm
Turkey		Dizimax
United Kingdom		Hallmark Channel (Original Airing) and Channel Five (Reruns)
Venezuela	La Ley y el Orden Unidad de crimines especiales	Televen (first run)'		Fridays 10.00 PM