Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Special Victims Unit of the New York Police Department, is the elite squad of detectives who investigate sexually based crimes.

"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories."

Created Dick Wolf, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is now in its tenth season. And is a spin off of the successful Law & Order franchise, which has been joined recently by Law & Order: UK.

The show follows the lives and cases of two officers of the NYPD Special Victims Unit which deals with swxually based offenses, Detective Elliot Stabler played by Christopher Meloni, a seasoned veteran of the unit who has seen it all, and his partner, Detective Olivia Benson played by Mariska Hargitay, whose difficult past -she was a rape victim - is the reason she joined the unit. Meloni is recognized as one of the most versatile actors today, making his name as the dangerous and sly convict Chris Keller on HBO's critically praised series Oz. He moved to the right side of the law however, when he joined  "Law & Order: SVU" and he was nominated for his first Emmy Award in 2006 for his role.

Dann Florek plays Captain Donald Cragen, and as happens often in Law & Order he first played the part in the first three seasons of "Law &Order" 1990-1993, he oversees the unit with his tough but supportive approach to the team's complex cases.

The cast is supported by Detective John Munch, a part Richard Belzer, originally played in "Homicide:Life on the Street" and who has transferred in from Baltimore's homicide unit, and Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola  played by the ground breaking rapper Ice-T, who adds his unique sense of humor and charisma to the show.

The shows cast is rounded out by the skill and talent of Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak (Diane Neal) Forensic psychiatrist, George Huang (B.D. Wong),  and Medical Examiner Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie).

Like all Law & Order shows SVU has enjoyed performances from some great guest stars over the years, in fact over 440 of them. Here are just a few of their names, Mary Stuart Masterson, Luke Perry, Ludacris, Eric Stoltz, Sandra Bernhard, George Segal, Teri Garr, Judd Hirsch, Jacqueline Bisset, Amy Irving, Bill Pulman, Lou Diamond Phillips, Angela Lansbury, Scot Adsit, Susan Saint James, Hayden Panattiere and Hilary Duff.