The once vast reach of the Law & Order TV universe is finally starting to stretch beyond Special Victims Unit once again.
NBC has ordered a brand new Law & Order to launch directly out of SVU in its 20th season that will be solely devoted to investigating and solving hate crimes in New York City,.
Law & Order: Hate Crimes has been given an initial 13-episode order based off a concept from franchise creator Dick Wolf and ex-Special Victims Unit showrunner Warren Leight.
(Dick Wolf)
Hate Crimes will have the ability to often crossover with SVU because its main Task Force works under the real-life Special Victims Unit, and the two often share resources and even personnel.
Series co-creator Dick Wolf announced on Tuesday: "As with all of my crime shows, I want to depict what's really going on in our cities and shine a light on the wide-ranging victims and show that justice can prevail.
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"Twenty years ago when SVU began, very few people felt comfortable coming forward and reporting these crimes, but when you bring the stories into people's living rooms — with characters as empathetic as Olivia Benson — a real dialogue can begin. That's what I hope we can do with this new show in a world where hate crimes have reached an egregious level."
The characters of Law & Order: Hate Crimes will be introduced in a Special Victims Unit episode, before the spin-off officially launches next year.
This will be the seventh NBC series to carry the Law & Order banner, following the cancellations of Criminal Intent, Los Angeles and the original Law & Order in recent years. Wolf's Chicago-based procedurals are also set in the Law & Order universe.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
