Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)
Hope in the darkness.
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.
| Type | TV series |
|---|---|
| First aired | 20 September 1999 |
| Status | Returning Series |
| Genre | Crime, Drama, Mystery |
| Created by | Dick Wolf |
| Starring | Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T and Kelli Giddish |
| Seasons | 28 seasons, 598 episodes |
| Episode length | about 44 min |
| Time to watch it all | about 439 hours |
| Rated | TV-14 |
| Scores | TMDB users 8.0/10 |
Where to watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is streaming on Hulu ($18.99 a month) in the US. It is also on Fubo and Peacock ($16.99 a month). At ten hours a week, all of the series takes about 11 months of Peacock, or $186.89 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 12 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
What kind of watch this is
SVU is a 1999 crime drama that turns the procedural into a long-term study of trauma. Dick Wolf’s squad investigates sexual violence and abuse in New York, treating each case as a wound that needs careful stitching rather than a simple puzzle to solve. With 598 episodes running 44 minutes each, you are looking at 439 hours of screen time. That is a massive commitment, but it is the price of watching a team refuse to look away.
What the critics said
Critics generally approved, though the scores suggest a comfortable middle ground rather than universal acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes averages 88%, while Metacritic lands on 66 based on 25 reviews. Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club noted in 2014 that the show’s quality improved significantly, choosing risky energy over predictability. Daniel D'Addario later argued it redefined the police drama by giving voice to sexual assault survivors. Variety ranked it No. 56 on its list of the 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2023.
How it did with audiences
On TMDB, users rate it 8 out of 10. A 2016 New York Times study found its Facebook fan base skewed rural and Southern, yet stayed firmly on the eastern side of the map. Albany, N.Y. led the list, while Colorado and Utah trailed. It was a geographic anomaly, a show that traveled well in spirit but not in likes.
What came next for the cast
Mariska Hargitay arrived from ER and Leaving Las Vegas, then stayed on SVU long enough to define the genre before jumping to Organized Crime. Ice-T came from New Jack City and Johnny Mnemonic, his voice already known, and drifted into 3000 Miles to Graceland. Dann Florek had been in The Flintstones and Angel Heart, a range that mostly vanished after the show, leaving only Crater in the distant future. The credits list what followed. They do not explain why.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Sources
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q218567 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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