Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural, legal, crime drama television series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced. In the style of the original Law & Order, episodes are often "ripped from the headlines" or loosely based on real occurrences that have received media attention. Created and produced by Dick Wolf, the series premiered on NBC on September 20, 1999, as the first spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama, Law & Order. The show started its 16th season on September 24, 2014, and has aired 362 original episodes as of April 8, 2015. It is the current longest running scripted non-animated U.S. primetime TV ... more on Wikipedia