Guide Note

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is a police procedural dramatic television series broadcast on NBC and distributed in syndication.

Fast Facts

1. Network: NBC
2. Current season: 9th (Fall 2007)
3. Episodes: More than 200
4. First aired: September 20, 1999
5. Created by: Dick Wolf
6. Tagline: 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.

• Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler
• Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
• Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch
• Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
• Ice-T as Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola

"...raw, emotional performances, and the sort of dramatic confrontation between perp and victim that just isn't possible with a murder investigation. Such powerful elements have to be managed carefully, though, and the show's sharp writing and excellent performances shine."—Jay Seaver¹

"SVU offers more focus on the cops and their personal lives without sacrificing the never-sensationalized police-procedural aspect that fans tune in for."—Maryane Johanson²

"An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." —Alex Cabot³

"You have the right to an attorney and if you throw up in my car, I'll kill ya." —Fin Tutuola³

"We're supposed to uphold the law..." —Olivia Benson

"Your heart's bleedin' all over my shoes." —Fin Tutuola³