Law & Order: Special Victims Unit continues to shatter TV records as it stretches into its 26th season on the air, but will the procedural return for season 27? Launched in 1999 as a spinoff of Dick Wolf’s wildly successful Law & Order, SVU follows the detectives of the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit, a division that specializes in investigating sexually-based offenses throughout the city. Managing to outlive the flagship Law & Order series (which was canceled in 2010 but has since been revived), SVU continues to set the record as the longest-running live-action scripted series in TV history.
Anchoring the series since its inception in the 1990s, Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson is the heart and soul of SVU, even though Benson’s team has changed drastically over the years. Despite these changes, SVU continues to pull in big viewership numbers, and shows no signs of slowing down as it begins to creep close to its groundbreaking 30th season. Though SVU is a spinoff, it has become something of a flagship series for the entire franchise, and the continued popularity of Special Victims Unit not only guarantees season 27, but helps spur on additional seasons of the other spinoffs.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 27 Is Not Confirmed
Law & Order: SVU is on solid ground, but that’s not to say the entire franchise is so certain
With the return of Law & Order: SVU season 26 still so new, NBC has yet to renew SVU season 27, and there’s no telling when the decision will actually come down. Earlier in 2024, NBC opted to renew all three Law & Order series for additional seasons all at once, and it’s more than likely that the network will repeat that trick during the 2024-2025 fall season. Fortunately for fans of the long-running procedural, there’s almost no chance that NBC would pull the plug so suddenly on one of its crown jewels.
Law & Order: SVU is on solid ground, but that’s not to say the entire franchise is so certain. While the original Law & Order seems to be stable enough to earn another outing, Law & Order: Organized Crime is anything but guaranteed. The Stabler-centric spinoff isn’t going to be part of the fall slate in 2024, and it was pulled off network TV and made into a Peacock exclusive for its fifth season. While this will likely have no effect on SVU, the faltering of Organized Crime does prove that the Law & Order franchise is potentially vulnerable.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 27 Cast Details
One question mark is the return of Kelli Giddish as Sergeant Amanda Rollins, and the actor has continued to drop back in after departing the show following season 24
Though changes in the cast are an almost constant phenomenon in Law & Order: SVU’s long history, the cast of season 27 will likely remain consistent. Until more information comes out to the contrary, it can be assumed that Mariska Hargitay will return as Captain Olvia Benson, a role she’s played since the show began in 1999. Joining Hargitay will be long-time co-star Ice-T as Sergeant “Fin” Tutuola, alongside Peter Scanavino as Assistant District Attorney Dominick Carisi, Jr.
Junior Detective Joe Velasco (played by Octavio Pisano) is also expected back, as is Kevin Kane as Detective Terry Bruno. The newest member of Benson’s team is played by Juliana Aidén Martinez, and it’s expected that she’ll return to reprise her role as Junior Detective Kate Silva. One question mark is the return of Kelli Giddish as Sergeant Amanda Rollins, and the actor has continued to drop back in after departing the show following season 24. She was upgraded to a recurring guest star for season 26, and that could continue into season 27 as well.
