Law & Order: SVU Renewed for Season 21 at NBC, Will Become Longest-Running Live-Action Series in History
Headline-ripping Law & Order: SVU is now tearing apart the record books. NBC has renewed the venerable Dick Wolf procedural for Season 21, a move that will make it the longest-running primetime live-action series in television history. Mariska Hargitay & Co. will breeze past current title holders OG Law & Order and Gunsmoke, which ran for 20 seasons apiece.
“I’m deeply proud to be a part of this groundbreaking show, and humbled to make television history today,” Hargitay said in a statement. “The longevity and continued success of SVU is a testament not only to the show’s powerful storytelling and ability to connect with viewers, but to its necessity. We have told important stories for 20 years, and we will continue to tell them.” (Her co-star Philip Winchester, however, has announced he won’t return next season as assistant district attorney Peter Stone.)
SVU is currently averaging 4.3 million total viewers and a 0.9 demo rating as NBC’s Thursday night closer, down sharply from its 19th season (which aired on Wednesdays, not leading out of sitcoms) but off just two tenths from what time slot predecessor Chicago Fire did last season. Among NBC’s 11 current dramas, it ranks No. 8 in both measures.
“As SVU moves into its third decade, Mariska has become an iconic figure as a star, advocate and crusader for women,” enthused Wolf. “She is an enduring champion of the movement to end sexual violence, and dozens of episodes have dealt with the very same issues that have shifted into the spotlight in this country in the past two years. Mariska is a delight as No. 1 on the call sheet and, to me, a true friend.”
TVLine’s 2019 Renewal Scorecard has been updated to reflect SVU‘s record-setting pickup.
Wish it was Law and Order that got to make history, but if it had to be another show SVU is the second best choice.
It is truly apropos because you can see the cultural shift we have gone through since 1999 and how many different topics this show has been able to cover and angles to come at subjects from in that time.
Here’s to hoping the new season brings a new DA.
Don’t like current DA…bring back Barba…(the last DA) or the lady DA
@Gina- Well, you got your wish. Winchester just tweeted he won’t be back for S21
Everyone that is not a women, becomes whipped. Benson’s continuous badgering insistence on prosecution with flimsy or insufficient evidence make all the male DA look like milquetoast
Well deserved! Hope it keeps going for years!!
Now they need to put all the seasons on Netflix. It only as Season 15 forward. Would be great to have 1-14 on there.
They’re all on Hulu
There is no Hulu for most of the world.
Amazon Prime has most of the seasons
The original L&O should have broke Gunsmoke’s record of 20 seasons. I was shocked when NBC cancelled it in favor of L&O LA.
But happy for SVU!
Does Doctor Who not count as prime time? Or is this only American shows? Doctor Who ran for 26 seasons in the original run, and has an additional 11 in the current run.
I think most people consider it as two different shows. The original Doctor Who that ran for 26 series and the movie in 1996 and the current incarnation.
But the original 26 season run would still outnumber SVU’s 21 seasons.
Actually most seeing the new as a continuation of the other not two different shows! Doctor Who has been on for more then 50 seasons now, so it out does all of them!
But, usually Americans/media and viewers usually only count American shows! So I think that is why they are saying SVU is the longest running live action TV series now!
I was just thinking of Doctor Who as well! My guess is that they’re only referencing American shows when bestowing this title. If not, they still have a few more seasons to go just to match the original run of Doctor Who! :)
I don’t think the classic Doctor Who series was considered primetime (or whatever the UK equivalent is). It aired around late afternoon/early evening since it was intended to be more of a family-oriented series.
Its not American
They need to have a proper closure for Elliot Stabler. Its been like 9 years since he left but he is still visible on the endless reruns on USA and elsewhere so its not like he is unknown to current viewers.
I imagine the show would welcome him back for a run, but Chris Meloni has to want to come back for it, and so far it doesn’t look like he’s all that interested in it.
The stapler character became irritating as crap! I’m hoping this next season will keep him away. But I wouldn’t mind seeing characters from the original loan in order or lawn and order criminal intent or Lon order trial by jury stop by. That would be a fun tribute to the entire franchise.
This is a truly awful show, and I’m not sure why more people don’t see it.
I guess enough people see it to get it renewed for another season.
It’s the “SpongeBob Effect” where people refuse to admit the show has gone downhill or has always sucked
That’s why these shows haven’t died yet
So true and well said!
And it surpasses the mothership!! So happy. I still love this show!
One of the best programs ever on television. Great cast. Fascinating stories. Congrats SVU.
I can’t imagine living in a world out Law& Order SVU. Reruns and all.
I am very happy that Law and Order: SVU is coming back for the 21st year. I have been watching it since it started from the very beginning. If I am not able to watch it on Thursday, my husband tapes it for me. I hope it continues on for years to come.
What decade do you live in the “90”s. Nobody tapes a show anymore. Its all on DEMAND.
Calm down, clearly she’s referring to recording it on a DVR.
I absolutely love this show and if I’m not able to watch it we record it as well! I’ll be so sad if they ever stop making the series! Love love love love this show! Did I mention that I love this show
Yes you mentioned that you love this show. Me too.
Hmmmm https://twitter.com/philipwinchestr/status/1111683442545029120?s=19
Well that sucks. I always believed there was a conspiracy somewhere to get one of the Law and Order shows to pass Gunsmoke and now they’ve done it. SUCKS!!
It only passes Gunsmoke in terms of the number of seasons. SVU is still far behind if you go by episode count.
Also if you count the Gunsmoke radio show, Gunsmoke still has more season. SVU just beats Gunsmoke for TV seasons.
So true!!
This truly is a great show! Hope it is renewed for many more years to come. Great cast however, I do miss DA Barba.
I’m thrilled! This is one of my all-time favorite shows, and you can be sure I will keep watching it!
Philip Winchester announced in his Twitter account that he will not be part of the 21st season.
Did NBC intentionally cancel ‘Law & Order’ so that it wouldn’t break the ‘Gunsmoke’ record?
Not sure why NBC would want to do CBS a favor.
They cancelled it because their little Jay Leno experiment (his prime time variety show, followed by their firing Conan and giving Leno Tonight Show) tanked their schedules ratings that season. With Law and Order at 20 years, with actors that have been there for years needing new contracts that would be very expensive, and with Dick Wolf pitching a Los Angeles spin-off, NBC canceled the Mothership and greenlit L&O:LA as it was cheaper and they hoped it would deliver big. Of course, Los Angeles didn’t capture that Mothership audience, it failed in the ratings to the point where they pulled it, put it on hiatus, and tried to shake it up by killing Skeet Ulrich and moving Alfred Molina from alternating prosecutor role (shared job with Terrance Howard) to the detective role vacated by Ulrich, wrote off Regina Hall and Megan Boone, prosecutors that also worked with Molina and Howard during their alternating episodes, and brought in Alana de la Garza to try and bait people who were still mad about L&O’s cancellation to come back. It still failed.
Just about the only good thing about L&O’s cancellation and Los Angeles’ failure was that they were probably the catalysts necessary for the Chicago franchise to be born.
Does “Television History” only include the US. The Scottish cop series Taggart ran 27 series from 1983 to 2010. Remarkably, Mark McManus, who played Taggart, died in 1994.
Yep, and Silent Witness just finished season 22, Casualty’s on 33.
You’re reading an American website, so yes, they mean in American television history. 🇺🇸👍😊
Come back and talk to me after SVU passes Gunsmoke’s episode count of 635. Now that’s a landmark.
So True!!
How is this show, let alone the SVU still around? Going back before Chris Meloni left the show to its current format, with all that has happened to the unit ie: all the issues that Stabler had to when Benson was kidnapped & tortured and everything else that happened to the unit, in the real world, this unit would have been disbanded or at the very least all the detectives would have been reassigned to different units.
Congrats to them all, especially Mariska who is the soul of the show. She does so much for victims and is a true role model both on and off screen.
It is a travesty that this show lasted longer than the mothership. Law and Order the original is a truly amazing show.
Enough about Mariska!!! Does she have to be the heroine all the time? Everything revolves about her. Twenty years….she needs to retire with a good pension.
Nothing comes close to Law and Order
So True!!
We are still “SUV”, as we call it , fans in my house. We never miss an episode. Not every episode is great, but the majority have been well written and well acted. Keep it going guys.