Page 30 - AT

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Tuesday 8 OcTOber 2019
TV producer Dick Wolf making history with 'Law & Order: SVU'

NEW YORK (AP) — That fa- Dick Wolf nine years ago
miliar "cha-CHUNG" sound with the original "Law & Or-
effect from the opening der."
credits of "Law & Order: His hope now? Twenty-five
Special Victims Unit" this seasons, of course. "You
Thursday will signal the de- keep pushing the goal
but of a new season and posts back because you
something else — TV his- don't get dealt these hands
tory. very often, obviously," Wolf
The show's 21st season told The Associated Press.
launch makes it the longest "It's a continuous thrill to be
running prime-time live-ac- able to do it."
tion series in U.S. TV history The Mariska Hargitay-led
and will finally fulfill a goal "SVU" now pulls ahead of
that eluded show creator "Gunsmoke" and the origi-

This image released by NBC shows Ice T as Sergeant Odafin "Fin" Tutuola, left, and Mariska Hargi-
tay as Lieutenant Olivia Benson in a scene from "Law & Order: SVU."
Associated Press

nal "Law & Order," which can you go from the best blooded, but I usually see
are tied with 20. ("Gun- show on television to a recasting as not a disaster
smoke" still has more total cartoon?' I said, 'Well, it's a but an opportunity. Knock
number of episodes, while new era,'" he said. "The sto- wood, most of the time, it's
"The Simpsons," an animat- ries weren't ripped from the worked out that way," said
ed prime-time series, ex- headline but ripped from Wolf. "If you get the right
ceeds them both.) the zeitgeist." person in there, it works for
The new record is a feather Since then, he's created years. If you get the wrong
in the cap for a towering a staggering amount of person, in there, they're
figure in TV history, who last TV. Some didn't last — like usually gone after a sea-
year alone produced five "Mann & Machine," featur- son."
shows that attracted 50 mil- ing a robot cop — but he The achievement by "SVU"
lion viewers. More than 150 struck gold with "Law & Or- is even more remarkable
billion minutes were viewed der," which sparked spinoffs since it survived its season
of "SVU" alone, shown on such as "SVU," ''Criminal In- 13 transition from a two-
NBC, USA, ION and Hulu. tent," ''Trial by Jury" and ver- hander — with Hargitay
When everyone's talking sions set in the United King- partnered with actor Chris-
about streaming, he's still a dom and Los Angeles. topher Meloni — into a star
network guy. Wolf has also created the vehicle for Hargitay.
"The brilliance of Dick Wolf so-called TV three-stack — "When Chris left the show,
is that he still does appreci- filling Wednesday nights on everybody thought it was
ate and value the power NBC with back-to-back-to- the end of the show. Most
of broadcast television," back hours of "Chicago" people thought the year
said George Cheeks, co- dramas, featuring police, after would be the last year.
chairman of NBC Entertain- doctors and firefighters. "It's Mariska more than stepped
ment. "He sees the digital a mini-binge," Wolf said. "I up," said Wolf. "She is the
experience as an exten- think it's a repeatable for- spark plug, the leader, the
sion of the way to tell sto- mula." (His output also in- face of the show."
ries but launching them on cludes the procedural "FBI" Some didn't think a TV show
a broadcast network is the on CBS and its upcoming that deals with sex crimes
anchor that allows other spinoff "Most Wanted.") would have enough mate-
platforms and other ways Wolf has triumphed with rial to last this long but rap-
for people to experience both actor churn and deep per and actor Ice-T, who
this content." stability. "Law & Order" was has been with the show for
Wolf was a New York ad a six-person ensemble that 20 years, said it taps into
man who left the business employed 29 actors during something that fans need.
in 1976 and moved to Los its 20 years, none of whom "Sexual abuse is out of
Angeles to write scripts. lasted the entire run. On control and it always has
He joined the writing team the other hand, Hargitay been," he said. "A lot of
of the revered "Hill Street has been on "SVU" since people have actually been
Blues" and then raised eye- the start, making her Lt. through this. I think it's part
brows when he jumped to Olivia Benson the longest- show, part therapy. Maybe
the moody, unpredictable running prime-time drama they didn't get justice in
"Miami Vice." character of all-time. their life, but they look for
"A lot of people said, 'How "I hate to sound cold- justice on the TV show."q