Summary

• Law & Order: SVU season 25 has been delayed until 2024 due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, though the release date is now confirmed.
• The main cast, including Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T, will be returning for season 25.
• There will be some cast departures, including Molly Burnett, and the absence of Law & Order: Organized Crime from the lineup will limit crossover events and potential developments in the romantic relationship between Benson and Stabler.

Continuing its run after more than 20 years on the air, Law & Order: SVU season 25 is on the way to NBC. The spinoff of Law & Order follows the Manhattan Special Victims Unit of the New York Police Department as they investigate sex crimes under commanding officer Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). The series renewal came as no surprise, with Law & Order: SVU being one of the most popular procedural shows currently on TV, continuing to pull in a massive audience over two decades after the season 1 premiere in 1999.

Season 25 of Law & Order: SVU is set to continue the show's streak as the longest-running American primetime drama in history. Law & Order: SVU season 25 will continue the show's trajectory, maintaining the core cast while still upholding some controversial cast departures from the previous season. The landmark 25th season will feature new plot and relationship developments but will be grounded by the familiar consistency that has made Law & Order: SVU a staple of the primetime line-up for almost a quarter of a century.

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Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Latest News

As the release date for the landmark 25th season looms ever-nearer, the latest news finds a trailer for NBC's Law & Order slate released in January 2024. Sharing the one-minute tease with the two other Law & Order series, a particularly tough case from SVU season 25 is shown which tests Benson's resolve. Though it doesn't give away much, the trailer is effective at hyping up the entire Law & Order Thursday lineup for NBC.

Law & Order: SVU Is Renewed For Season 25

Law & Order: SVU season 25 received its official confirmation through the Law & Order Instagram page on April 10, 2023. The simultaneously announced the renewal of Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime in a post displaying several behind-the-scenes photos from the recent crossover event. Season 25 of SVU will see the continuation of a record broken by Mariska Hargitay and co-star Ice-T, who plays Sergeant Fin Tutuola. As of November 2022, the two are both separate record-holders for longest-running female and male actors in a primetime TV drama (via NBC).

Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Release Date

The Law & Order: SVU season 25 premiere has been set for January 18, 2024, on NBC. When it was first renewed it was expected that Law & Order: SVU would return as part of the network's Fall 2023 programming schedule. However, due to production halting during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, all of NBC's Law & Order shows, as well as other Dick Wolf content like the One Chicago block, were pushed back until the following year.

The WGA strike was resolved on September 27th, 2023, and the SAG/AFTRA strike was resolved on November 9th, 2023.

Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Cast

As with previous seasons, audiences can expect a familiar returning cast led by Mariska Hargitay, who has starred as Olivia Benson since the show began in 1999, and Ice-T, who recently told the Tonight Show “I’m gonna stay on until the wheels fall off.” Molly Burnett will not be returning as Detective Grace Muncy in Law & Order: SVU season 25, but Kelli Giddish will reprise her long-time role as Amanda Rollins for one episode after her controversial exit in season 24.

Other main cast expected to reappear include:

Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Story Details

So far, little is known about what Law & Order: SVU season 25 stories the show will tackle. However, one anticipated story development will likely not be happening any time soon, as NBC’s updated schedule reveals. Law & Order: Organized Crime, the spinoff led by Christopher Meloni’s Detective Elliot Stabler, will be moving out of the “three-prong” line-up (the arrangement that sees it air after other Law & Order shows on Thursday nights) until at least midseason; such a change means fewer opportunities for crossovers, and thus fewer opportunities for the development of Stabler and Benson’s potential romantic relationship.

Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Trailer

Sharing a trailer with the other two Law & Order series returning in January 2024, a teaser for Law & Order: SVU offers fans their first real glimpse at the new season. Highlighting a particularly tough case, the teaser shows the SVU team under fire after they seemingly fail to secure a potential victim from harm. While it doesn't offer much in of reveals, the trailer is still an effective way to hype up the landmark 25th season.