Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

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

It is the first of three spin-offs of the long-running, award-winning crime drama Law & Order set in New York City, currently airing on NBC. SVU began in the United States on September 20, 1999, and 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. The current season, numbered 7, premiered on September 20 2005.

SVU is currently the highest rated spin-off of the Law & Order franchise, and is one of NBC's top rated shows. The other two spin-offs are Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

Contents

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Series overview

The following statement is spoken at the beginning of every episode:

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.
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Investigation of Sex Crimes

Unlike the 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, as explained in the first episode). As its name implies, the detectives in this division investigate crimes involving sex, 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.

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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.

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Distinction from Original Series

SVU has the distinction of breaking from the original series' split storytelling format (where the police detectives investigate and arrest the criminals in the first half hour, and the district attorneys prosecute them in the second half), by focusing on the SVU detectives throughout the entire episode.

In many episodes, but not all, the viewers will see the case go to trial. In the first season, the program relied on a rotating mix of Assistant District Attorneys, 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.

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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 volunteered 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 father issues and anger issues that drove away his wife and children. Benson was the child of a pregnancy resulting from the rape of her mother by an as-yet unknown assailant.

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Controversial Subject Matter

SVU contains by far the most controversial subject matter of any of the L&O series, focusing mostly on rape and child abuse, as well as episodes based on real incidents and current hot topic issues.

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Episodes

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Awards

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Won

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Nominated

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Principal cast

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Supporting characters

Image:Casts4.jpg The cast also has characters from two other NBC series: Captain Don 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.

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Casting changes

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Detective Tutuola

The show, like its parent show, has had several cast changes: After Hurd left the series, her Monique Jeffries character was replaced with Detective Odafin "Fin" 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.

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Alexandra Cabot

Also in season two the show added Stephanie March, as Assistant District Attorney Alexandra "Alex" 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. March left the show with Diane Neal as ADA Casey Novak replacing her role, but former ADA Cabot came out of Witness Protection and returned to testify against the man who gunned her down. The Alexandra Cabot character is now appearing in the series Conviction, a show dealing mainly with the lives of district attorneys.

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Dr. George Huang

Joining the cast since season four is B.D. Wong, as George Huang, a forensic psychiatrist on loan from the FBI. In addition to that, a number of other doctors appeared on the show from time to time, 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 ME Melinda Warner, is the division's current Medical Examiner on the show. Having played the role in virtually every episode of the last three seasons, Tunie was added to the opening credits for the show's seventh season.

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Casey Novak

As of 2003, the show's most recent cast change came during season five, when Stephanie March was replaced with Diane Neal as ADA Casey Novak. The storyline had Cabot prosecuting a drug dealer and being shot on the street while with Stabler and Benson. At the time it appeared that Cabot had actually died. At the end of the episode, the two discovered Cabot was alive but going into Witness Protection. March would reprise the role in a 2005 episode when Cabot chose to come out of hiding and reveal she was alive in order to testify against the man accused of shooting her. After he was convicted, she went back into Witness Protection with a new identity.

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Other Guest Stars

From season 2 on, Judith Light has had multiple appearances as bureau chief Elizabeth Donnelly, turned judge in season 7. 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.</p>

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 ADA Abbie Carmichael, Fred Dalton Thompson as District Attorney Arthur Branch and Dianne Wiest as Interim DA Nora Lewin. Other high-profile guests have included John Ritter, Bret Harrison, Martin Short, Andrew McCarthy, Alfred Molina, Angela Lansbury, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Mary Steenburgen and Martha Plimpton. The seventh-season opener featured Robert Patrick and Robert Walden. It was recently announced that Connie Nielsen will be making a series of appearances in the future as a detective taking over for parts originally meant for Olivia Benson but were scheduled to be taped while Mariska Hargitay is on maternity leave.

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Plot inspirations

Like its predecesor, 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.

  • Season 3's episode 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 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 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 comes under scrutiny for his bizarre practice of inviting little children over to his childlike mansion.
  • 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.
  • 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 20 years went unsolved until the mid 2000s.
  • The 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 episode 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 episode Starved took several plot details from the Terri Schiavo case.
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Trivia

  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit follows the same opening style of its parent Law & Order.
  • SVU, like every other spinoff, 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. Except for the now cancelled Law & Order: Trial by Jury, this was a characteristic unique to SVU and is symbolic of the large credited cast (8 members as of 2006).
  • One can generally tell which episode is from which season by looking at the photo of Detective Benson in the opening credits. The only other cast member's photo that has changed between seasons is that of Chris Meloni's character, Detective Stabler.
  • This is one of seven series in which the character Detective John Munch, played by Richard Belzer, has appeared. Others include Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, The X-Files, The Beat, Law & Order: Trial by Jury and Arrested Development.
  • It should be noted that due to the presence of John Munch this show can also be considered a spin-off of Homicide: Life on the Street as the show started right after Homicide ended its run.
  • Jerry Orbach (Detective Lennie Briscoe), Jesse L. Martin (Detective Ed Green), Fred Dalton Thompson (District Attorney Arthur Branch) and Leslie Hendrix (Dr. 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 ADA Casey Novak, Diane Neal played a woman on the show who is investigated by the detectives for raping a male stripper.
  • Tamara Tunie also appeared as an attorney on the original series before being cast as Dr. 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. Ironically Chris Meloni (Detective Stabler) played a sadistic rapist and murderer on Oz, and now hunts them on SVU.
  • 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 drama Conviction (2006), despite her character's entry into the Witness Protection Program on SVU.
  • It is believed that the characters of Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler were named from creator Dick Wolf's three real live children: Olivia, Elliot and Sarina (the latter namesake of Olivia Benson's mother, seen in the series pilot, as well as Law & Order ADA Serena Southerlyn).
  • Title theme for the UK aired version: "I'm Not Driving Anymore" from Rob Dougan's Furious Angels
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Technical Information

Law & Order: SVU 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.

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DVD Releases

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DVD Name
Release dates
Region 1
Region 2
Region 4
The Complete 1st Season October 21 2003 February 28 2005 N/A
The Complete 2nd Season September 27 2005 November 21 2005 March 6 2006
The Complete 5th Season September 14 2004 N/A N/A

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

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International

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Related Series

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External links


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