Law & Order: SVU Hits 600 Episodes: The Numbers Behind TV's Longest-Running Live-Action Drama

Dun dun. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit reaches its 600th episode on 12 November 2026. That's 600 hours of Olivia Benson being more tired, more right and more patient than anyone else in New York.

How we got here

Dick Wolf created SVU for NBC as the first spin-off of the original Law & Order. It premiered on 20 September 1999. Its detectives investigate and prosecute sex crimes, and some episodes are loosely based on real cases that made the news.

The show reached its 500th episode during season 23, which premiered in September 2021. As of 14 May 2026 it had aired 594 original episodes. NBC renewed it for a 28th season in April 2026, and that's the season where it reaches 600.

The records

• Longest-running live-action primetime series on US TV. SVU took the title when season 21 premiered in September 2019.
• More episodes than the original Law & Order. It passed its parent show a while ago.
• Third all-time for episodes among American primetime scripted series, behind The Simpsons and Gunsmoke.
• The last live-action primetime show from the 1990s still in continuous production. South Park, which is animated, is the only other scripted 90s show never to have gone out of production.

The Olivia Benson factor

Mariska Hargitay has played Olivia Benson since episode one, rising from Detective to Captain. In autumn 2021 she began her 23rd season in the role, which made Benson the longest-running regular character in US primetime live-action scripted TV. She took the record from her own co-star: Richard Belzer's John Munch, who had played the character across Homicide: Life on the Street and SVU.

Hargitay is also the only regular cast member of any Law & Order series to win an Emmy. She won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2006.

Behind the scenes

The show has received 108 award nominations and won 59 awards. Christopher Meloni starred as Elliot Stabler for the first 12 seasons, until he left in 2011. In May 2025, Michele Fazekas took over as showrunner, the first woman to run SVU, and she is expected to return for season 28.

FAQ

When is SVU's 600th episode? 12 November 2026, on NBC.

When did SVU start? 20 September 1999.

Is Mariska Hargitay still in it? Yes. Olivia Benson has been there since the first episode.

Which shows have more episodes? Among American primetime scripted series, only The Simpsons and Gunsmoke.