Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Television series
German title	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit / partially Law & Order: New York
Original title	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Year (s)	since 1999
Production company	Universal Television Wolf Films
length	43 minutes
Episodes	472+ in 21 seasons ( list )
genre	Crime series , drama
idea	Dick Wolf
music	Mike Post
First broadcast	September 20, 1999 (USA) on NBC
German-language first broadcast	April 28, 2005 on RTL II
occupation
synchronization

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (also Law & Order: SVU or Law & Order: New York ) is an American television series broadcast since 1999 and the first offshoot of the series Law & Order . So far, 21 seasons with over 450 episodes have been produced. In March 2020, the series was extended by three more seasons.

concept

Mariska Hargitay and Danny Pino during the production work for the 13th season

In contrast to the mother series, which deals with violent crimes of all kinds, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit deals with the investigation of sexual crimes and crimes by the special unit "Special Victims Unit". Such special units also exist in reality in the New York Police Department in all five boroughs of New York City . Law & Order: Special Victims Unit takes place in the fictional New York police district (Precinct) 16. Each episode begins, following the pattern of Law & Order , with the same voice-over introduction, the original by Steven Zirnkilton and the German Version spoken by Michael Brennicke:

“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. "

“The police and the public prosecutor's office consider sex crimes to be particularly heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives investigating these brutal cases belong to the special unit for sex offenses. These are their stories. "

On RTL II , the introduction was shown for the first time in the 18th episode of the ninth season. At VOX it was shown from the first season, but in a different form, while RTL II used the original opening credits.

Cast and dubbing

The cast has not changed much over the years compared to the mother series. So up to the twelfth season there were four and up to the beginning of the 15th season there were still three main actors who have been with us since 1999. A leading actor has been with us since the beginning of the second season. Only the role of the public prosecutor changed frequently.

The German synchronization was created under the dialogue director Peter Stein and John Keller by the synchronous company Munich Synchron GmbH in Grünwald . Ulrich Johannson took over the direction of the twelfth season.

main characters

rank	Role name	actor	Main role (season)	Main role (episode)	Guest role (season)	Guest role (episode)	German dubbing voice
police officers
Junior Detective Senior Detective Sergeant Lieutenant Captain	Olivia "Liv" Benson	Mariska Hargitay	1-	1-			Anja Godenschweger
Senior Detective Sergeant DA Investigator	John Munch	Richard Belzer	1-15	1-324	15, 17	334, 386	Christian Schult
Captain	Donald "Don" Cragen	Then Florek	1-15	1-330	16	364	Leon Rainer
Senior detective	Elliot "El" Stabler	Christopher Meloni	1-12	1-272			Frank Röth
Junior detective	Monique Jeffries	Michelle Hurd	1-2	14-23, 29, 38	1	1-13	Claudia Lössl
Junior Detective Senior Detective Sergeant	Odafin "Fin" tutuola	Ice-T	2–	24–	2	23	Torsten Münchow
Junior detective	Chester Lake	Adam Beach	9	184-202	8th	173, 183	Dennis Schmidt-Foss
Junior detective	Amanda Rollins	Kelli Giddish	13–	273–			Melanie Pukass
Senior detective	Nicholas "Nick" Amaro	Danny Pino	13-16	273-366			Norman Matt
Officer	Katriona Tamin	Jamie Gray Hyder	21–	459–
Prosecutors
Assistant District Attorney	Alexandra "Alex" Cabot	Stephanie March	2-5, 11	24-95, 229-240	2, 6, 10, 13, 19	23, 132, 217-223, 273-293, 429	Martina Duncker Claudia Kleiber
Assistant District Attorney	Casey Novak	Diane Neal	5-9	96-202	12-13	269, 275-290	Melanie Manstein Tatjana Pokorny
Assistant District Attorney	Kim Greylek	Michaela McManus	10	203-224			Solveig Duda
Assistant District Attorney	Rafael Barba	Raúl Esparza	15-19	320-423	14th	298-319	Peter Flechtner
Assistant District Attorney	Peter Stone	Philip Winchester	19-20	424-458	19th	423	Stefan Günther
Junior Detective Assistant District Attorney	Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr.	Peter Scanavino	16–	348–	16	344-346	Benedikt Gutjan
Mediciners
Criminal Profiler	Dr. George Huang	BD Wong	4-12	67-272	2-3, 13-15, 17	42-66, 292, 314, 342, 375	Niko Macoulis
Medical examiner	Dr. Melinda Warner	Tamara Tunie	7-12	140-272	2-6, 13-17, 19	28-139, 273-340, 358, 363, 367, 368, 374, 420	Daniela Arden

Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson in season 12

Remarks

1. ↑ The rank within the police station or the public prosecutor's office and the medical practitioner that the represented figure has.
2. ↑ Many actors are featured in the opening credits even if they do not appear in an episode. So z. B. Mariska Hargitay performed from episodes 163 to 166, although she does not play. Richard Belzer, who had only irregular appearances from seasons 12 to 15, was featured as the main actor in every episode.
3. ↑ From season 1 to 12.
4. ↑ From seasons 13 to 15.
5. ↑ From seasons 15 to 17.
6. ↑ From season 17 to 21.
7. ↑ Since season 21.
8. ↑ From season 1 to 8.
9. ↑ From seasons 9 to 15.
10. ↑ In seasons 15 and 17.
11. ↑ From season 1 to 15.
12. ↑ From season 2 to 8.
13. ↑ From season 9 to 19.
14. ↑ Since season 19.
15. ↑ Has been the main actor since episode 273, but only appears from episode 274.
16. ↑ In episode 19x19 (episode 429).
17. ↑ From season 9 (episode 184).
18. ↑ Michaela McManus' last appearance was in episode 217, but was performed as the leading actress up to and including episode 224.
19. ↑ From seasons 16 to 20.
20. ↑ Since season 21.
21. ↑ From season 2 to 15.
22. ↑ BD Wong's last appearance was in episode 267, but was shown as the main actor up to and including episode 272.

Minor characters

• JK Simmons as psychiatrist Dr. Emil Skoda (seasons 1–2)
• Sam Waterston as EADA / District Attorney John James "Jack" McCoy (Seasons 1, 9, 11, 19)
• Dean Winters as Detective / Officer Brian Cassidy (Seasons 1, 13-15, 19)
• Leslie Hendrix as ME Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers (Season 1)
• Angie Harmon as ADA Abigail "Abbie" Carmichael (Season 1)
• Jerry Orbach as Detective Leonard "Lennie" W. Briscoe (Season 1)
• Jesse L. Martin as Detective Edward "Ed" Green (Season 1)
• Joanna Merlin as judge Lena Petrovsky (seasons 2–12)
• Joel de la Fuente as computer criminalist Ruben Morales (seasons 3–12)
• Robert John Burke as Sergeant / Lieutenant / Captain Ed Tucker (Seasons 3–5, 8–12, 14–18)
• Judith Light as prosecutor / judge Elizabeth Donnelly (seasons 3–4, 6–12)
• Fred Thompson as District Attorney Arthur Branch (Seasons 4-7)
• Mike Doyle as Forensic Technician Ryan O'Halloran (Seasons 5–10)
• Mary Stuart Masterson as a psychiatrist Dr. Rebecca Hendrix (Seasons 6-8)
• Marcia Gay Harden as Special Agent Dana Lewis (Seasons 7-8, 12, 14)
• Vincent Spano as Special Agent Dean Porter (Seasons 8-9, 11)
• Connie Nielsen as Detective Danielle "Dani" Beck (Season 8)
• Christine Lahti as EADA Sonya Paxton (seasons 11-12)
• Sharon Stone as ADA Jo Marlowe (season 11)
• Francie Swift as ADA / Attorney Sherri West (Seasons 12-13)
• Melissa Sagemiller as ADA Gillian "Gill" Hardwicke (Season 12)
• Linus Roache as EADA Michael "Mike" Cutter (season 13)
• Harry Connick, Jr. as EADA David Haden (season 13)
• Adam Baldwin as Captain Steven Harris (season 14)
• Donal Logue as Lieutenant Declan Murphy (Seasons 15-16)
• Peter Gallagher as Deputy Chief William Dodds (season 16–)

background

Naming

The title Special Victims Unit was chosen because it is primarily about sex crimes and crimes against children. When RTL II had the rights to the first broadcasts, the series title was completely changed to Law & Order: New York . This is semantically illogical since the mother series is already set in New York City . After it became known that VOX had the rights to the first broadcasts, the original title was also used in Germany.

Soundtrack

As with Law & Order , the film composer Mike Post composed the soundtrack for this series. This was not changed or shortened in the original in the twelve years of running, as was the case in Law & Order or Criminal Intent - Verbrechen im Visier . In the German broadcast, however, VOX shortened the opening credits as well as the title melody from the ninth season.

Radiance and reach

Except for season 9, which consists of only 19 episodes due to the writers' strike , the other seasons comprise between 21 and 25 episodes.

United States

In the US, the first season began broadcasting on September 20, 1999 and ended on May 19, 2000. Since then, a new season has been aired each year in September and ends the following May. The broadcast slot for the first season was Monday at 9:00 p.m., later Friday at 10:00 p.m. Seasons two to four were also shown on this slot. Seasons 5 to 10 were shown on Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. Season 11 was shown on Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. respectively. The twelfth season was broadcast from September 22, 2010 to May 18, 2011, on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m., then at 10:00 p.m. A 13th season was ordered on May 15, 2011, which was also broadcast on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. from September 2011 to May 2012. The 14th season, which was ordered in May 2012, ran from September 26, 2012 to May 22, 2013 on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. on NBC. The 15th season was also broadcast on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. from September 25, 2013 to May 21, 2014. The 16th and 17th seasons should also run at this time. In May 2018 it was announced that the series would be extended by another and thus 20th season.

Germany

Free TV

In Germany, the series initially ran on the private broadcaster RTL II . Seasons 1 to 10 were broadcast between April 28, 2005 and April 22, 2010 with several breaks. The series has been broadcast for the first time on the private broadcaster VOX since season 11 . The audience ratings initially improved compared to those on the previous channel.

Repetitions of seasons 1 to 4 have been broadcast on RTL Nitro since November 6, 2013 . Until October 2013 RTL II still showed reruns.

The 16th season has been broadcast on VOX since October 9, 2015.

Pay TV

The first four seasons of the series were initially broadcast between May 12 and September 22, 2009 on 13th Street Universal without pauses. Until May 2011, the station repeated seasons 1 to 4 over and over again.

Since the fifth season, the broadcast took place on FOX , where seasons 5 to 7 were shown between February 4, 2010 and March 29, 2012. Until April 2014, the station repeated seasons 5 to 7 over and over again.

Further repetitions of the seasons have been broadcast on the Universal Channel since September 6, 2013 . Since January 14, 2014, further episodes have been broadcast from the eighth season.

So far (as of 2018) only seasons 1 to 14 have been broadcast on pay TV.

Austria

The first season was never broadcast in Austria. Since June 20, 2009, the station Puls 4 has been broadcasting the series beginning with the fourth season. Seasons 2 and 3 were shown by the broadcaster Austria 9 from September 1, 2009 to March 9, 2010. But the last episode of the third season was broadcast on October 26, 2010.

The 15th season will be broadcast on Puls 4 from January 27, 2016.

Episode list

→ Main article : Law & Order: Special Victims Unit / episode list

Further information

The statements to be found here are better placed elsewhere in the article if they are adequately documented (see also the explanations in the film format , the recommendations for the structure of an article and the restraint with lists )

• Richard Belzer took his role from the crime series Homicide again and plays this role in a total of 21 full seasons. (As of August 2013)
• Then Florek played the chief of the police station, Captain Donald Cragen, already in the mother series Law & Order from 1990 to 1993.
• Ice-T already starred in the Law & Order television film "Punished - Murder in Manhattan," in which he played a pimp and pimp.
• Episodes 28 and 139 have the same title side effects in Germany .
• In episode 53, Diane Neal has a supporting role as the suspect Amelia Chase, although 39 episodes later she can be seen as Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak.
• Episodes 9 and 53 have the same title Dangerous Games in Germany .
• In episode 159, Anthony Anderson has a guest appearance as Detective Lucius Blaine. Anderson later appears as Detective Kevin Bernard on the parenting series Law & Order .
• In the 200th episode ("Authority", Season 9), actor Robin Williams appears as a suspect.
• Kelli Giddish played a rape victim in Season 8 Failure, and from Season 13 she played Detective Amanda Rollins.
• Peter Scanavino played in the episode Innate (season 10, episode 2) a suspicious family man and from season 16 Detective Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr.
• In seasons 13 and 14, Andre Braugher made five guest appearances as attorney Bayard Ellis, although he impersonated detective Frank Pembleton in Homicide in seasons 1-6 (1993-1998).
• In episode 325, Kirk Acevedo has a guest appearance as Eddie Garcia, although he impersonated the role of DA Investigator Hector Salazar in episode 136 and Law & Order: Trial by Jury in 2005/06 .
• Episode 334 (15x15) is a crossover with the Chicago PD series, also produced by Dick Wolf .
• Episode 20 of season 16 is the continuation of episode 67, cool reception of the series Chicago Fire and episode 35, The Evil Person in the series Chicago PD
• On November 12, 2014 there was a crossover with the series Chicago Fire and Chicago PD .
• The rapper and stage actor Daveed Diggs appears as a lawyer in two episodes of season 17.

Awards

The series was nominated 25 times for an Emmy Award and won 6 times in the first 13 seasons . Mariska Hargitay won an Emmy in 2006 and a Golden Globe Award in 2005 , both in the category of Best Actress in a Drama Series .

> Emmys

Season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	1-14
Award year	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2000-2013
Nominations	2	0	1	1	3	3	2	3	3	4th	2	1	0	0	25th
Awards	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	6th

DVD publications

The first 10 and 13 seasons have already been released on DVD in the United States, Great Britain and Australia. This series is the only one in the Law & Order series that has been released entirely on DVD.

The following table shows an overview of the releases of the individual series seasons on DVD in the following regions and countries: USA / Canada ( Region 1 ), Great Britain (Region 2), Germany (Region 2) and Australia (Region 4).

Season	United States	Great Britain	Germany	Australia
1	October 21, 2003	February 28, 2005	July 22nd, 2010 (1st part) October 7th, 2010 (2nd part)	January 20, 2005
2	September 27, 2005	November 11, 2005	May 30, 2014	March 6, 2006
3	January 30, 2007	July 23, 2007	N / A	August 1, 2007
4th	4th December 2007	September 11, 2007	N / A	November 21, 2007
5	September 14, 2004	June 16, 2008	N / A	July 2, 2008
6th	April 1, 2008	September 22, 2008	N / A	December 3, 2008
7th	July 29, 2008	February 16, 2009	N / A	March 4, 2009
8th	February 17, 2009	April 13, 2009	N / A	June 3, 2009
9	May 26, 2009	August 31, 2009	N / A	September 30, 2009
10	September 22, 2009	December 28, 2009	N / A	February 3, 2010
11	September 21, 2010	N / A	N / A	December 1, 2010
12	September 27, 2011	N / A	N / A	December 7, 2011
13	September 25, 2012	N / A	N / A	September 28, 2012
14th	September 24, 2013	N / A	N / A	N / A

Web links

• Law & Order: Special Victims in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit at Fernsehserien.de
• L&O: SVU at NBC.com (English)
• Cut reports on the series on schnittberichte.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Background: “Special Victims Unit” not only on TV , Focus Online from May 16, 2011.
2. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit . Synchronkartei.de . Retrieved January 9, 2016.
3. ^ The VOX highlights of the TV season 2010/11, VOX press release . Mediengruppe RTL Germany. July 5, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
4. ↑ 1999/2000
5. ↑ 2001/2002
6. ↑ 2004/2005 ( Memento of July 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ 2005/2006 ( Memento of December 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
8. ↑ 2006/2007 ( Memento from August 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ 2008/2009
10. ↑ Final 2009-10 Broadcast Primetime Show Average Viewership . In: Tvbythenumbers.com . June 16, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
11. ↑ Bill Gorman: 2010-11 Season Broadcast Primetime Show Viewership Averages . In: TV by the Numbers . June 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2011.
12. ↑ Bill Gorman: Complete List Of 2011-12 Season TV Show Viewership: 'Sunday Night Football' Tops, Followed By 'American Idol,' 'NCIS' & 'Dancing With The Stars' . In: TV by the Numbers , May 24, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2012. 
13. ↑ Sara Bible: Complete List Of 2012-13 Season TV Show Viewership: 'Sunday Night Football' Tops, Followed By 'NCIS,' 'The Big Bang Theory' & 'NCIS: Los Angeles' . In: TV by the Numbers . May 29, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
14. ↑ Nellie Andreeva: NBC Announces Fall Premiere Dates . In: Deadline.com . June 21, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
15. ↑ Amanda Kondolojy: NBC 2014-2015 Schedule: 'Parenthood' Renewed; 'State of Affairs' & 'Marry Me' To Air Post-'Voice'; 'The Blacklist' Moves Midseason + 'Parks and Recreation' Final Season Benched . In: TV By the Numbers . May 11, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
16. ↑ Nirat Anop: Law and Order SVU - Renewed for a 20th season . May 10, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
17. ↑ ^{a b c d} Quota check: “Law & Order: SVU” or “Law & Order: New York” (seasons 1 and 2) . quotenmeter.de. May 9, 2006. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
18. ↑ ^{a b} Quota check: “Law & Order: New York” (Season 5) . quotenmeter.de. June 8, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
19. ↑ ^{a b} Quota check: “Law & Order: New York” (Season 6) . quotenmeter.de. November 23, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
20. ↑ ^{a b} Quota check: “Law & Order: New York” (Season 8) . quotenmeter.de. December 29, 2008. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
21. ^ ^{A b} Quota check: "Law & Order: New York" (Season 9) . quotenmeter.de. May 19, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
22. ^ ^{A b} Quota check: “Law & Order: New York” (Season 10) . quotenmeter.de. April 30, 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
23. ↑ ^{a b} Quota check: “Law & Order: SVU” (season 11) . quotenmeter.de. June 16, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
24. ↑ ^{a b} Quota check: “Law & Order: SVU” (season 12) . quotenmeter.de. July 5, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
25. ↑ ^{a b} Quota check: “Law & Order: SVU” (see quota overview for season 13) . quotenmeter.de. July 5, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
26. ↑ ^{a b} Quota check: “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (season 14) . quotenmeter.de. July 8, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
27. ↑ Broadcast dates of the TV series on RTL II . fernsehserie.de. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
28. ↑ Broadcast dates of the TV series on RTL Nitro . fernsehserie.de. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
29. ↑ Broadcast dates for the TV series on 13th Street Universal . fernsehserie.de. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
30. ↑ Broadcast dates of the TV series on FOX . fernsehserie.de. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
31. ↑ Broadcast dates for the TV series on the Universal Channel . fernsehserie.de. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
32. ↑ Broadcast dates of the TV series on Puls 4 . fernsehserien.de. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
33. ↑ Broadcast dates of the TV series on Austria 9 . fernsehserien.de. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
34. ↑ goldenglobes.org  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Golden Globe Award SVU  
35. ^ ^{A b} Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: Primetime Emmy® Award Database , accessed December 31, 2012