NBC announced today that it picked up Law & Order: SVU for a 21st season. That makes it the longest-running primetime live-action series in television history. Beating the record that Gunsmoke held since 1975. This is the second record that Gunsmoke lost this year, The Simpsons took the title of most episodes produced by a scripted show away. Poor Gunsmoke, their records are going up in, well, gunsmoke.
But this is not about the Western, it is about the Special Victims Unit of the New York City Police Department, an elite squad of detectives who investigate crimes of sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence.
One of those detectives is Lt. Oliva Benson and she is the longest-running female character in a primetime live-action series. Which is hard to believe because Mariska Hargitay has not aged a day since the show debuted in 1999. What is her secret?
Congrats to all involved. Celebrate it like you just turned 21 all over again. Which means ending the night worshiping the porcelain Gd.
