Criminal Minds—324 episodes. Supernatural—327 episodes. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation—337 episodes. Law & Order—456 episodes. Getting the gist yet? Network television shows do not reach 500 episodes. It just doesn’t happen. Okay, there are a few exceptions with Lassie, Gunsmoke, and we’re not counting daytime soap operas. But the point still stands. Law & Order: SVU reaching its 500th episode tonight on NBC is an unbelievable feat.
Even more impressive is the fact that SVU is technically a spinoff. As a result, a handful of the countless guest stars who appeared on the long-running procedural took to Twitter and offered the cast and crew congratulations on the historic milestone.
The official Twitter account of Wolf Entertainment cut together some of the well-wishing videos ahead of Thursday night’s episode.
Celebrating #SVU500 with a few familiar faces…@BrookeShields, @schreiber_pablo, and @petergallagher!
— Wolf Entertainment (@WolfEnt) October 21, 2021
Catch the 500th episode of @lawandordertv tonight at 9/8c on @nbc! pic.twitter.com/Ty3PBiplOZ
Congratulations All Around
“I want to say a big congratulations to the cast and crew of SVU on your historic 500th episode!” said Brooke Shields. Fans of Law & Order: SVU will have no problem recognizing Shields from her five-episode arc on the hit series from 2017-2018. She famously played Sheila Porter, the biological grandma to Olivia Benson’s adopted son Noah.
“I want to send a huge congratulations to the whole cast and crew on reaching 500 episodes,” Pablo Schreiber said, shaking his head in disbelief. Years before becoming a household name for Orange Is the New Black, Schreiber appeared as William Lewis on SVU. From 2013 to 2014, he appeared in eight episodes as the horrifying serial killer.
“Congratulations on your 500th episode. I was so glad I could ride along with you on a few of those,” said Peter Gallagher. Gallagher easily had the longest stint of SVU of the three. He played former Deputy Chief of the Special Victims Unit, William Dodds.
Former ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Star Chris Meloni Hilariously Congratulates Mariska Hargitay and Company
Besides Mariska Hargitay, there is one person who is entirely synonymous with Law & Order: SVU. He famously left the franchise in 2011, but rest assured, he’s back and better than ever on Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Elliot Stabler actor Chris Meloni is merely celebrating Organized Crime’s 14th episode in the show’s back-to-back airing on NBC tonight. But the 500th SVU landmark episode belongs to him as well. The man has appeared in more than 275 episodes of the long-running show. And he has undoubtedly contributed to its success.
“Marsha, hey, I heard you’re turning 500 today or something,” said Meloni. “Wow, that’s a lot of candles. Happy birthday… anniversary, whatever it is, Congrats.”
