<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Next → Season 2 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes </Td> </Tr> <P> 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 . </P> <P> Inspiration for the series came from a 1986 murder in Central Park committed by Robert Emmet Chambers whose strategy in court was to sexualize the victim . The season one episode of Law & Order, "Kiss the Girls and Make them Die" is based on this case . Dick Wolf wanted to continue exploring similar themes in a dedicated legal drama and hired Ted Kotcheff and Robert Palm as executive producers of the new series, as well as Jean de Segonzac, the franchise director for Law & Order . Robert Palm was previously an executive producer on Law & Order and was the first person to use the term "mothership" to distinguish the original from its spin - offs . This phrase has become popular with fans of the franchise . </P>

When did the first episode of law and order svu air