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SVU season 21 premiere preview: I’m Going To Make You A Star

By Brittany Frederick

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT -- Season: 21 -- Pictured: Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins, Peter Scanavino as Detective Sonny Carisi, Ice T as Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola, Mariska Hargitay as Lieutenant Olivia Benson -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)
LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT -- Season: 21 -- Pictured: Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins, Peter Scanavino as Detective Sonny Carisi, Ice T as Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola, Mariska Hargitay as Lieutenant Olivia Benson -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC) /
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Law and Order SVU premieres its 21st season this week, so what should fans expect? Look ahead in our SVU season 21, episode 1 preview.

The Law & Order: SVU season premiere is tonight, and it’s a momentous one for the Dick Wolf show. The 21st season makes it the longest-running drama in TV history, as you might have seen in NBC‘s promotional material.

But just like season 20, the season has to be about more than the milestone. It still has to be a good show, and there have been a lot of changes behind the scenes that are going to shake things up for the Special Victims Unit.

Showrunner Michael Chernuchin has exited the show after one season; the former Chicago Justice showrunner has moved over to work with Rick Eid on Wolf’s CBS series FBI.

Chernuchin had actually replaced Eid as the showrunner of Special Victims Unit, so that makes for an interesting team-up.

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But replacing them on the NBC show is a very familiar name: Warren Leight. Leight is a veteran of both the Law & Order franchise and SVU itself, and he’s running the show for a second time. If any producer can create a massive milestone season, it’s him.

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The other notable change is that the series is without a regular Assistant District Attorney for the first time in several seasons. Philip Winchester did not return for season 21, with his character Peter Stone being written out at the end of last season.

The show didn’t cast a replacement over the summer, so what does that mean for this season? Will there just not be an ADA in the main cast? Could the show introduce one later? Or could a guest or recurring character fill that spot only when needed?

Special Victims Unit has been without an ADA before; the initial seasons didn’t have a lawyer as a series regular. So the show can function without that character, and the lack of casting news does give the impression that’s the route Leight is going this year. It would be interesting if that’s true, since the show’s initial claim to fame was that it broke from the traditional Law & Order format by being focused solely on the police.

Whatever happens in that respect, given that this is the 21st season and everything that comes with it, expect the writers to swing for the fences. They’re doing so right off the bat with an opener clearly modeled after Harvey Weinstein, and by casting Deadwood icon Ian McShane to play him. What other high-profile cases and big names will they have this season?

Keep an eye on SVU season 21, because it’s going to be important in more ways than simply the show’s longevity.

Next. SVU and FBI may cross over this season. dark

For the latest SVU season 21 spoilers and news, plus more on all of Dick Wolf’s other series, follow the Dick Wolf category at One Chicago Center.

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