Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Quality is the foundation that "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is based upon. With compelling storylines, great performances and a first-rate cast; "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" radiates from the screen each hour it is on every night. Dick Wolf has combined quality writing with quality casting in the second of three series' in the "Law & Order" franchise.

Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, Ice-T, Dann Florek, B.D. Wong and Richard Belzer all share one thing in common: they star in one of finest series on television.

Mariska, Chris, Ice-T, Dann, B. D. and Stephanie March are a well-rounded cast that bring great depth to their characters and compliment each other very well. Furthermore, the cast portray their characters so well that I have to remind myself that they are actors not detectives.

Quality writing and outstanding performances set "Law And Order: SVU" apart from the other dramas on television. Each episode is riveting, written with intelligence, and character driven. It is a privilege to watch "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

The writers' ability to draw viewers in and make them care about the involving storylines and characters help to make "Law & Order: SVU" one of the finest legal series on television.

I love the SVU series. I'm watching every episode from the beginning. It helps me so much to think about something other than my cancer pain. So thank you for saving me from that!

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is one of the best and most underrated shows on TV. It stars Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler, a tough-as-nails detective who makes his hatred of pedophiles and child molesters well known many times throughout the show. He has another side, a vicious side, that Criminal Intent's Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) lacks. I'm very pleased that he's been nominated for an Emmy. Mariska Hargitay won an Emmy for her performance as Olivia Benson, another fantastic detective. Benson has more edge than CI's Alex Eames (Kathrine Erbe), but is revered for her ability to communicate to troubled witnesses and gouge confessions out of suspects. Her life is put in danger at least twice a season, yet she continues to be strong. Next is the sarcastic detective Jon Munch, played by the excellent comedian Richard Belzer. Munch may seem annoying at times, but his ability to relate to witnesses is excellent, and he plays the "good cop, bad cop" role very well. The final detective is Finn Tutuola, played by former rapper Ice-T. Ice-T plays the character reasonably well, but I think we'd all like to see a meaner side of him. He was very good in the episodes entitled "Rage," and "Rooftop". They are led by Don Cragen, played by Dann Florek, and Cragen is as good a captain as any, as Florek reprises his role he held on "Law & Order" for a few years. Adam Beach recently joined the show, bringing something new to the table in youth and his almost 'surfer dude' approach to detective work. The ADA now is Casey Novak, played by Diane Neal, who could be better, but she gets the job done. She's been better of late, and the contrast between her and her predecessor is really helpful to the show. Her predecessor, Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March) was great also. The team is also aided by an FBI psychiatrist, George Huang (BD Wong), who aids them in finding out the true horrors of a person, witness or suspect. His best performance was in the episode called "Coerced." The members of this unit investigate sexually based crimes (rape, rape-homicide) and child based crimes (school shootings, child abuse, child molestation). The show has had extraordinary guest stars, from evil (Johnny Messner, Reg Flowers, Asio Highsmith, Jeff Kober) to touching (Leland Orser, Jerry Lewis) to lost (Brittany Snow) to famous and legendary actors (Jerry Lewis, Dean Cain, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Henry Winkler, Robin Williams, Matthew Modine, Alfred Molina, Cynthia Nixon, John Ritter). This is a truly great show that not only shows the line of work in this graphic department, but shows the emotional stress a detective goes through. 10/10

I have never one been that big of a fan of the original Law & Order. I would watch it for time to time and it was an alright show but never really had anything jump out at me to make it one of my can't miss shows. Then this show came on. I watched this show when it premiered back in 1999 and was impressed from the get go. Sure it followed the basic premise of it's original cousin but was much more loose on it's format and execution. Some episodes hardly ever involve the court room at all where the original week in week out follows a distinct pattern. First half hour is the law then the next is the order. This show although does sometimes follow the same pattern like i mentioned it is much more loose in how it executes it. Mariska Hartigay is excellent as her portrayal of Det. Olivia Benson. The whole cast as a whole is magnificent. Now I know a lot of people will disagree with me that this show is in no way better than the original but for me it is. It has given me something that the original never did.

I used to love this show, and still enjoy most of the earlier episodes. I've become tired of the political themes though. I watch to see a crime show, not have agendas shoved down my throat. I'm not even conservative and I find it annoying. After seeing the previews for next week's episode, I probably won't watch it. If all the episodes this season are like this, I'll likely just stop watching altogether.