Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Template:Infobox television (current/past cast)
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | |
|---|---|
| File:B0002CX224.jpg Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - Season 5 DVD | |
| Created by | Dick Wolf |
| Starring | (current cast) Christopher Meloni Mariska Hargitay Richard Belzer Diane Neal Ice-T B.D. Wong Dann Florek |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 135, as of March 29, 2005; 139, as of May 24, 2005 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 1 hour per episode |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | September 20, 1999 – Present |
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (or known by its abbreviations as Law & Order: SVU, or simply SVU) is the first of four spin-offs of the long-running, award-winning crime drama Law & Order, currently airing on NBC (the others being Criminal Intent, Crime & Punishment and Trial by Jury). SVU, which first aired in the United States on September 20, 1999, has received higher ratings than any of the other L&O shows in recent seasons. The show is syndicated on the USA Network.
Series Overview
Unlike the original Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU follows a distinct division of the New York Police Department: the Special Victims Unit (aka the Sex Crimes division). As its name implies, the detectives in this division investigate crimes involving sex or children.
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. The show's main cast members are Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler and Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson.
Both 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. Benson was an example of promise though her father was a serial rapist.
The cast also has characters from 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 (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 during season one included Dean Winters as Munch's partner, Detective Brian Cassidy, and Michelle Hurd as Detective Monique Jefferies. 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.
Jefferies was originally a minor character, but when Winters left the show midseason, she played a more prominent role as Munch’s partner. Hurd left at the end of season one.
SVU also breaks 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 staying with the SVU detectives throughout the entire episode.
Sometimes the viewers will see the case will go to trial. In the first season, the program relied on a rotating mix of Assistant District Attorneys, including ADA Abbie Carmichael, a character on the original Law & Order, but the main focus always remains on the SVU detectives.
Casting Changes
The show, like its parent show, has had several cast changes: After Hurd was fired, 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.
Also in season two the show added Stephanie March, as Assistant District Attorney Alexandra "Alex" Cabot, as a permanent supporting ADA to the show.
Joining the cast since season four is B.D. Wong, as George Huang, a forensic psychiatrist on loan from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (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 Tamara Tunie as ME Melinda Warner, the division's current Medical Examiner. The show's most recent cast change came during season five, when Stephanie March was replaced with Diane Neal as ADA Casey Novak.
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 uncle, Detective Lennie Briscoe (another character from the original Law & Order; played by Jerry Orbach).
In addition, the show has had many guest stars, including cast from Law & Order, including Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green, Fred Thompson as District Attorney Arthur Branch and Dianne Wiest as Interim DA Nora Lewin.
Cast
- Christopher Meloni - Det. Elliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay - Det. Olivia Benson
- Richard Belzer - Det. John Munch
- Dann Florek - Capt. Donald "Don" Cragen
- Dean Winters - Det. Brian Cassidy (1999-2000)
- Michelle Hurd - Det. Monique Jeffries (1999-2000)
- Stephanie March - ADA Alexandra "Alex" Cabot (2000-2003)
- Ice-T - Det. Odafin "Fin" Tutuola (2000-present)
- B.D. Wong - Dr. George Huang (2002-present)
- Diane Neal - ADA Casey Novak (2003-present)