Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (also known as Law & Order: SVU, SVU: Special Victims Unit or simply SVU) is an American police procedural TV series about the Special Victims Unit in a fictional version of the 16th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. The show debuted on September 20, 1999 as a spin-off of the crime drama Law & Order and follows the same opening style of its parent. SVU is currently the highest-rated series of the Law & Order franchise, and is one of NBC's top rated shows. The franchise also includes four other series dramas: the original Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Trial By Jury and Law & Order: UK.

Production

Technical information

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been shot on film in the 16:9 aspect ratio since at least 2003 (the year first-run episodes also began airing in HDTV). Since 2006, all new episodes of the multiple Law & Order series have aired in 16:9. Recently USA Network began airing reruns going all the way back to "Payback" in wide-screen (16:9) format.