Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 1
The debut season of the SVU spin-off.
It centers on a fictional NYPD unit handling sex crimes. The show aired Monday nights at 9pm Eastern, then shifted to Fridays at 10pm after episode nine. Showrunner Robert Palm left after the season, finding the content too disturbing. Critics praised the season for its gripping stories and strong characters.
Quick Facts
- Season number
- 1
- Starring
- Christopher Meloni
- Mariska Hargitay
- Richard Belzer
- Dann Florek
- Michelle Hurd
- Episodes
- 22
- Network
- NBC
- First aired
- 20 September 1999
- Last aired
- 19 May 2000
Facts from the source article.
Production
The killer, Robert Emmet Chambers, tried to sexualize his victim in court. This same case had already inspired a season one episode of the original Law & Order titled "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die." Dick Wolf wanted to dig deeper into those themes with a show focused entirely on sex crimes. He brought in Ted Kotcheff and Robert Palm as executive producers, along with franchise director Jean de Segonzac. Palm, who had been an executive producer on the original series, is credited with coining the term "mothership" to describe the first show, a nickname fans later adopted. Because Manhattan lacked available studio space, filming took place in North Bergen, New Jersey. The production team was instructed to treat the area as if it were Manhattan. While writers worked mainly in Los Angeles, the SVU writers' room included more women than the original show, aiming for a "strong woman's perspective." Writer Dawn DeNoon later noted that many staff writers were let go during the first season because their scripts weren't good enough. Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay landed the lead roles of Detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson after auditioning together. Hargitay moved from Los Angeles to New York on short notice, but she was already planning the move to pursue a Broadway career. Dann Florek returned as Captain Don Cragen, a role he had played for the first three seasons of the original Law & Order and later reprised in the TV movie Exiled: A Law & Order Movie. He joined SVU on the condition that he wouldn't have to audition. Richard Belzer brought his character Detective John Munch over from Homicide: Life on the Street. According to Belzer, the casting happened because "Dick Wolf and Tom Fontana got drunk at a party." Halfway through the season, Belzer reprised Munch in Homicide: The Movie, which briefly shows the character working a case in New York within his SVU context. At Belzer's request, Munch was partnered with Brian Cassidy, played by Dean Winters. Winters had to leave the show mid-season due to his contract with the HBO series Oz.
Cast
The first season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit had more crossover episodes with the original Law & Order than any other season. Angie Harmon appeared as Assistant District Attorney Abbie Carmichael, a character from the parent show, in six episodes. In the third episode, Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe and his new partner Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green worked together. The crossover episode "Entitled" brought in nearly the entire cast of the original series. Another link to the original show was Detective Ken Briscoe, Lennie Briscoe's nephew, played by Chris Orbach, Jerry Orbach's son. Chris Orbach later said he had mixed feelings about the role, believing he "only got the gig because of [his] old man." Years afterward, he admitted to friends that he was very nervous on set about living up to his father and felt out of his depth. The opening episode introduced family members for both lead detectives. Isabel Gillies played Kathy Stabler, Elliot Stabler's wife. Gillies continued in the role as a guest star or recurring actress for the next 11 years. She recalled being in the middle of buying a wedding dress when she got the call to join SVU. Elizabeth Ashley was cast as Serena Benson, Olivia's mother. Serena Benson never appeared on the show again but was mentioned in later episodes. Her backstory as a rape victim who never saw justice, with Olivia's biological father as the attacker, became important in many subsequent stories. Some early details about Detective Benson's personal life emerged in "Stalked." In that episode, Bruce Kirkpatrick played a rapist who tries to intimidate the detectives after learning he is under investigation. The episode "The Third Guy," which dealt with mental illness, featured Denis O'Hare as an intellectually disabled rapist whose case sparks differing opinions within the SVU unit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who stars in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 1?
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 1 stars Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Richard Belzer, Dann Florek and Michelle Hurd.
How many episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 1 are there?
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 1 has 22 episodes.
More in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Seasons
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