Television history is being rewritten by Law & Order: SVU. The long-running procedural already made history heading into its 21st season, making it TV’s longest-running primetime live-action series. This simply wasn’t enough for the Dick Wolf drama because NBC has handed down a massive three season renewal to the series that carry it into season 24.
This will expand the gap over the previous record mark of 20 seasons set by mothership series Law & Order (1990-2010) and Gunsmoke (1955-75). The massive renewal is part of a mega new deal for Wolf that he signed with Law & Order: SVU studio Universal Television.
The milestones also continue for its star Mariska Hargitay. Her character of Lt. Benson became the longest-running character in a primetime live-action series, surpassing Gunsmoke‘s James Arness and Milburn Stone as well as Kelsey Grammer’s Frasier Crane. The actress typically signs her deals with SVU year by year so a new deal for these next three seasons hasn’t been signed just yet but I’m sure Hargitay will be sticking around.
Despite being on for 21 seasons, SVU continues to hold its own in a ratings climate that the series has seem to adapted to over its entire run. For the 2018-19 season Law & Order: SVU scored as television’s #1 most-watched series with more than 150 billion minutes viewed across NBC, USA and Ion. For the 2019-20 season to date, SVU is #1 in its Thursday 10-11 p.m. timeslot versus regular ABC and CBS competition in adults 18-49 and total viewers. In Live+ Nielsens, SVU is averaging a 1.5 rating in 18-49 and 6.5 million viewers overall and with the addition of digital and linear delayed viewing to date, the show’s season premiere episode has climbed to a 3.9 in 18-49 and 11.1 million viewers overall.
