NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

I make a point of limiting how much network television programming I watch. However, there is one program that I make sure never to miss, and that is NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Law & Order: SVU is a television drama set in New York City that focuses on the cases and situations investigated by New York City's police department division referred to as the Special Victim's Unit. This unit's sole purpose is to investigate sex crimes and crimes against women, children, and the elderly. The greater majority of episodes focus on sexually based offenses, such as rape, molestation, and other sexual perversions.

The starring cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is as follows:

Elliot Stabler - Detective (Christopher Meloni)
Olivia Benson - Detective (Mariska Hargitay)
Don Cragen - Unit Captain (Dann Florek)
John Munch - Detective (Richard Belzer)
Odafin Tutuola - Detective (Ice-T)
Casey Novak - Assistant District Attorney (Diane Neal)
George Huang - Forensic Psychiatrist/Criminal Profiler (B.D. Wong)
Melinda Warner - Medical Examiner (Tamara Tunie)

While the primary focus is on Elliot and Olivia's investigations as partners, there have been a number of episodes where Munch and Tutuola received the full spotlight, or where the 4 mix and match to investigate crimes and take down the perpetrator.

For me, watching Law & Order: SVU would be interesting enough just for the sake of watching an investigation play out and see what happens in court. It is only an added bonus to see the drama that goes on between Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson. Despite the fact that Elliot and his wife have recently experienced a separation and now appear to be getting back together, there has always been a palatable sense of chemistry between Elliot and Olivia. I often find myself rooting for Elliot's marriage to fall apart so that he and Olivia can finally relieve the tensions of their professional relationship.

The acting skills of each of the different characters is excellent. The producers of the show obviously place a great deal of focus on the believability of the feelings and emotions that the cast exhibits in each episode. If a situation in the episode is particularly heartbreaking, maddening, or hilarious, the audience knows it. The cast is some of the best in the business, as far as I'm concerned.

Another interesting draw to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is that the crimes taking place in the episodes are based upon actual real-life events. Sometimes, the plots of the episodes are so bizarre that it is difficult to believe that they actually happened. It is certainly more real than any of these popular "reality" shows that most people rave about.

Unfortunately, this season only has one episode remaining, but die-hard Law & Order: SVU viewers can catch re-runs on NBC and USA. Full season DVDs are also available for purchase.