Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, an American police procedural television series, premiered on September 20, 1999 on NBC. Created by Dick Wolf, it is the first spin - off of Law & Order and follows the detectives of a fictionalized version of the New York City Police Department 's Special Victims Unit, which investigates sexually based offenses. SVU originally aired on Monday nights at 9pm / 8c EST, but it was moved to Friday nights at 10pm / 9c after the ninth episode. Showrunner Robert Palm felt too disturbed by the subject matter and left after the season 's conclusion.
when did the first episode of law and order svu air
September 20, 1999