TV SERIES · 1999–present · USA
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Created by
- Dick Wolf
- Network
- NBC
- Seasons
- 28
- Episodes
- 595
- Studio
- Wolf Entertainment, Universal Television, Studios USA
47 archived facts 5 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Sep 2026
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.
Summary: TMDB
16 Facts From the Making of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- #001
The concept for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit began with the 1986 "preppie murder" case of Robert Chambers, who killed Jennifer Levin in Manhattan's Central Park.
- #003
That crime led Dick Wolf to write the story for the Law & Order season one episode "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die".
- #006
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was originally titled Sex Crimes. Producers worried that if Sex Crimes failed, associating the new show with the Law & Order franchise could harm the original series.
- #008
Ted Kotcheff wanted to create a new series that would not depend on the original Law & Order for its success.
- #010
Dick Wolf considered it important and commercially desirable to include "Law & Order" in the title, and he first proposed Law & Order: Sex Crimes.
- #013
Neal Baer departed Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as showrunner after season twelve, ending eleven years with the series across seasons 2 through 12, to sign a three-year deal with CBS Television Studios.
- #014
Warren Leight, formerly showrunner of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, replaced Neal Baer on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; in March 2015 Leight signed a three-year deal with Sony Pictures Television allowing him to remain on SVU for one more season, its seventeenth.
- #015
On March 10, 2016, it was announced that original Law & Order veteran producer Rick Eid would succeed Warren Leight as showrunner of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit beginning with season 18; creator Dick Wolf told The Hollywood Reporter he was extremely pleased that Eid had decided to rejoin the family and hoped he would remain for years.
- #016
During post-production of season 18 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, after the series was renewed for a nineteenth season, it was revealed that showrunner Rick Eid had left; he was set to take over another Dick Wolf/NBC series, Chicago P.D.
- #017
Michael S. Chernuchin, who had previously served as showrunner on the original Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, was announced on May 25, 2017 to return to that role for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit beginning with its nineteenth season.
- #018
Chernuchin had also been co-creator and executive producing showrunner of Chicago Justice, a Wolf-related series that NBC canceled at the close of the 2016–17 TV season.
- #019
On April 22, 2019, it was announced that Leight would come back as showrunner for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's twenty-first season.
- #020
Leight stated on May 3, 2022 that he would not return as showrunner for the twenty-fourth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
- #021
NBC renewed Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for its twenty-seventh season in May 2025.
- #038
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit initially centered only on the police work of the Special Victims Unit detectives of the 16th precinct, with District Attorney's office members appearing occasionally as guest roles crossing over from the original Law & Order.
- #039
From season two onward, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit changed its format to include court cases, making it more faithful to the original Law & Order concept.
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