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Summary
- Law & Order: SVU has been renewed for a 26th season..
- Familiar faces like Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T will likely return for season 26, and they have played pivotal roles in the series all along.
- The story of season 26 will continue with serialized elements and feature ripped-from-the-headlines stories.
Dick Wolf's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been one of the hallmark series on NBC for a quarter of a century, and procedural will return for season 26. Debuting in 1999 as a spinoff to Wolf's wildly popular Law & Order, SVU follows the dedicated detectives of the titular Special Victims Unit who specialize in cases involving sex crimes. Perhaps the most successful spinoff of all time, SVU has managed to outlive its predecessor and has taken its place as the flagship series of Wolf's entire TV universe.
Though critical reaction to SVU has seen peaks and valleys over its two and a half decades on the air, its popularity and viewership have rarely wavered. What makes the series so special is its ripped-from-the-headlines stories that help recontextualize some of the biggest news pieces of the time. Though SVU and the rest of Dick Wolf's TV universe were delayed due to the Hollywood strikes of 2023, the wait only helped to make their returns even more anticipated. With that in mind, there is no reason to think that Law & Order: SVU is stopping at the end of season 25.
How John Stamos' Law & Order SVU Role Changed His Life
John Stamos appears in an episode of Law and Order: SVU and his short but memorable performance is important to the actor for another reason.Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Is Confirmed
Law & Order SVU has officially been renewed for a 26th season, with the announcement coming just before the end of the 25th. The announcement did not include any details of episode count or release window, but it is likely that after a shortened season due to strikes, the series will return to pre-strike norms. This means the 26th season will most likely have 20+ episodes, and run from Fall to Spring. Law & Order was also announced as renewed at the same time, however, Law & Order Organized Crime was not included, which suggests that the fate of this spin-off is uncertain.
Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Cast
In its 25 seasons on the air thus far, Law & Order: SVU has seen a lot of change in its peripheral characters, but the main core has remained largely intact throughout. That said, SVU season 26 will most likely feature a lot of familiar faces if it is renewed, with Mariska Hargitay leading the charge as Olivia Benson. Joining her will probably be long-time co-star Ice-T as Fin Tutuola, since the rapper-turned-actor has made it clear on numerous occasions that he has no plans on ever leaving SVU.
Long-time SVU star Kelli Giddish left her role as Amanda Rollins after season 24 in controversial fashion, but her brief cameo in season 25 does open the door for a more permanent return. The same goes for Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler who departed the franchise only to be given his own spinoff, Law & Order: Organized Crime. Though he probably won't come back to SVU permanently, crossovers are nearly guaranteed.
The rest of the cast of season 26 is expected to include:
|
Actor |
Law & Order: SVU Role |
|
Peter Scanavino |
Dominik Carisi |
|
Octavio Pisano |
Joe Velasco |
|
Kevin Kane |
Terry Bruno |
|
Jasmine Batchelor |
Tonie Churlish |
|
Demore Barnes |
Christian Barland |
Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Story
The story of Law & Order: SVU season 26 will largely depend on what happens throughout season 25. The procedural has moved in a more serialized direction in recent seasons, and it's highly likely that a few new threads introduced in the current season will continue on in season 26, though it's impossible to predict them at this juncture. However, season 26 is expected to contain more signature Law & Order ripped-from-the-headlines stories that test the resolve of the SVU team, and will almost certainly have a few crossovers with Dick Wolf's other NBC shows.
Law and Order: SVU
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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU) is a procedural crime drama series created by Dick Wolf that follows cases handled by a fictional New York Police Department's 16th precinct that centers around sexually-based crimes. The Show follows a rotating group of detectives that will tackle some of the most heinous crimes while trying to help the victims - and themselves - adjust to the new normal as the darkness in the world reveals itself with each new case.
- Cast
- Christopher Meloni , Mariska Hargitay , Richard Belzer , Dann Florek , Michelle Hurd , Stephanie March , Ice-T , BD Wong , Diane Neal , Tamara Tunie
- Release Date
- September 20, 1999
- Seasons
- 25
- Network
- NBC
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Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Further News & Info
Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Guest Star Confirms Return 14 Years After One-Off Role
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Law and Order: SVU
- Release Date:
- 1999-09-20
- Cast:
- Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Richard Belzer, Dann Florek, Michelle Hurd, Stephanie March, Ice-T, BD Wong, Diane Neal, Tamara Tunie
- Genres:
- Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
- Rating:
- TV-14
- Seasons:
- 25
- Story By:
- Dick Wolf
- Writers:
- Dick Wolf
- Network:
- NBC
- Franchise(s):
- Law and Order
- Showrunner:
- Robert Palm, David J. Burke, Neal Baer, Warren Leight, Rick Eid, Michael S. Chernuchin, David Graziano
- Creator(s):
- Dick Wolf
- Streaming Service(s):
- Hulu, Peacock
