Shows like law and order special victims unit

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit(often abbreviated toLaw & Order: SVUor justSVU) is an American crime drama television series created by Dick Wolf for NBC. It stars Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson, the lead detective of the Special Victims Unit located in a fictionalized version of the New York City Police Department. Christopher Meloni played the other lead detective, Elliot Stabler, until departing from the series after 12 seasons.Law & Order: Special Victims Unitfollows the style of the originalLaw & Orderin that episodes are often "ripped from the headlines" or loosely based on real crimes that have received media attention.

The show premiered on September 20, 1999 as the second series in Wolf's successfulLaw & Orderfranchise. After the premiere of the 21st season in September 2019, the series became the longest-running US live action series on television.