Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (often abbreviated to Law & Order: SVU or just SVU) is an American police procedural, legal, crime drama television series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced. In the style of the original Law & Order, episodes are often "ripped from the headlines" or loosely based on real crimes that have received media attention. Created and produced by Dick Wolf, the series premiered on NBC on September 20, 1999, as the first spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama, Law & Order. The show started its 17th season on September 23, 2015, and has aired 379 original episodes as of February 3, 2016. It is the current longest running scripted non-animated U.S. primetime TV series since the cancellation of the original Law & Order in 2010 and is the fifth-longest running scripted U.S. primetime TV series on a major broadcast network.