1999 · NBC · Crime, Drama
How long does it take to watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit?
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit runs about 425 hours so far: 594 episodes aired, across 27 seasons.
Updated October 2, 2026
- Episodes
- 594
- Seasons
- 27
- Per episode
- 43 min
- Status
- Airing now
In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.
Season by season
| Season | Length | Hours | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 16.0h | 22 eps | |
| Season 2 | 15.4h | 21 eps | |
| Season 3 | 16.6h | 23 eps | |
| Season 4 | 17.9h | 25 eps | |
| Season 5 | 17.9h | 25 eps | |
| Season 6 | 16.6h | 23 eps | |
| Season 7 | 15.7h | 22 eps | |
| Season 8 | 15.7h | 22 eps | |
| Season 9 | 13.4h | 19 eps | |
| Season 10 | 15.5h | 22 eps | |
| Season 11 | 16.9h | 24 eps | |
| Season 12 | 16.8h | 24 eps | |
| Season 13 | 16.7h | 23 eps | |
| Season 14 | 17.2h | 24 eps | |
| Season 15 | 17.2h | 24 eps | |
| Season 16 | 16.5h | 23 eps | |
| Season 17 | 16.5h | 23 eps | |
| Season 18 | 15.1h | 21 eps | |
| Season 19 | 17.2h | 24 eps | |
| Season 20 | 17.2h | 24 eps | |
| Season 21 | 14.3h | 20 eps | |
| Season 22 | 11.5h | 16 eps | |
| Season 23 | 15.8h | 22 eps | |
| Season 24 | 15.1h | 22 eps | |
| Season 25 | 9.3h | 13 eps | |
| Season 26 | 15.5h | 22 eps | |
| Season 27 | 15.1h | 21 eps |
Longest: season 5, 17.9 hours. Shortest: season 25, 9.3 hours.
At your pace
- 1 episode a night
- 594 nights, about 20 months
- 3 episodes a night
- 198 nights, about 7 months
- Weekend binges, 8 hours a day
- 27 weekends
- Straight through, no sleep
- 17 days, 16 hours
Counts aired regular-season episodes only; specials are excluded. Runtimes come from TMDB, so totals can differ from other sources.
How it holds up
- Best-rated season
- Season 22 8.9
- Lowest-rated season
- Season 13 7.2
Season scores are vote-weighted averages of TMDB episode ratings.
The details
- Status
- Airing now. Next up: season 28, episode 1.
- Network
- NBC
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- First aired
- 1999
Track Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on tely
Mark episodes as you go and tely keeps your place, so you always know what is next.
