Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has just wrapped up its 23rd season on NBC, meaning that the long-running and -popular procedural show has been on the air for more than 22 years. The show began its first season run in September 1999. This is no small feat, as TV dramas are lucky if they even approach that number.
Still, television has over the years produced a number of drama series which have lasted at least 7 years on broadcast or cable TV and which are still airing new episodes in 2022. Which series have stood the test of time to today?
Chicago Med (2015)
The third installment in Dick Wolf's Chicago series, Grey's Anatomy had built up over what was then ten years on the air. However, it managed to avoid being a clone of the show, and has its own voice.
The fact that Chicago Med exists in the same universe as the other Chicago shows is to its benefit, because it allows the crime-investigation genre to enter into the show at times, which shakes up its formula for the better. Grey's Anatomy, and other shows like it, don't have this refreshing element to fall back on. The crossovers, of course, also help it reach more types of viewers than just med-drama fans.
The Flash (2014)
The first Arrowverse becoming a reality, one that would eventually lead to some of the biggest crossovers in TV history like "Elseworlds" and "Crisis on Infinite Earths."
Some of the best Arrowverse episodes ever come from The Flash, like its adaptation of Professor Zoom and its exploration of other worlds, which allowed for the DC Extended Universe's version of the Flash to cameo across the show's version. While brief, this appearance excited fans and showed that The Flash could still deliver on its universe-hopping, DC-fan-servicing aims.
Chicago PD (2014)
Chicago PD's main characters vary in likability, but function together as a unit; their contrasting personalities and viewpoints, like in all dramas, only add to the appeal of viewing.
Hank Voight in particular is a character whose likability has never been paramount to the character, but as the real world changes, the series has had to consider his role in the justice system, just as Wolf's sister series Law & Order: SVU tackled the same questions. Shows don't have to pander to audiences, but if they don't change with the times, they'll be left behind. So far, PD has stayed popular.
The Blacklist (2013)
Although Ultron proved an underwhelming villain in 2015's The Blacklist as Raymond "Red" Reddington.
Reddington's chemistry and unique relationship with Elizabeth Keen in the first 8 seasons of the show, culminating in a reveal right out of Empire Strikes Back, was what the show lived on. The villains of each week also managed to be often memorable through either their unique attributes or the actors who played them. Every new "Blacklist" member is a chance for a thrilling, espionage-like adventure.
Chicago Fire (2012)
In the nearly ten years that it's been on the air, Chicago Fire's had some pretty emotional scenes that have kept this first entry in the Chicago series on air, and in the minds of viewers, for that entire decade.
Iron Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chicago Fire proved worthy even to be the start of a universe, with three spinoffs following. It's also nice that the less-focused-on heroes in firefighting can get a show that dramatizes their experiences so well.
Blue Bloods (2010)
Crime shows and police procedurals tend to last longer than other types of shows because of their episodic format, and Blue Bloods benefits from this strength, as well. Although there is an overall development of the main Reagan family and their friends, in nearly every episode the case is a new one to solve.
Still, episodic shows are dependent on the constants for each episode: the main cast. It's the Reagan family, with star turns by Donnie Wahlberg and Magnum P.I.'s Tom Selleck in particular that lend the show the grounding and gravitas, respectively, that it needed to stand out in its saturated genre of the police procedural.
NCIS: Los Angeles (2009)
It's difficult to imagine that navy-based crimes are common enough to focus an entire show around the premise, but the NCIS: Los Angeles is special.
What began as the first NCIS spinoff developed into a show with its own devoted fanbase thanks to its two leads, G and Sam, as well as Linda Hunt's Hetty, who remained on the show for 12 seasons and acted not only as the person in charge, but also as the wise mentor figure that many other shows like it lack. Well, except the original NCIS, that is, which had Gibbs.
Grey's Anatomy (2005)
When a bunch of attractive doctors and nurses all work in the stressful atmosphere of a hospital, the result is Grey's Anatomy, a show filled with both interpersonal drama as well as the high stakes of providing medical help to patients.
Like police procedurals, medical dramas tend to last long due to the episodic, almost soap-opera nature of their plotlines, and in this respect, Grey's Anatomy isn't different. What's kept it on the air so long is the fact that while it's kept three cast for its entire run, it isn't afraid to add or remove even long-running cast to change up its dynamic, as it did with Patrick Dempsey's Derek Shepherd.
NCIS (2003)
A spinoff itself of JAG, NCIS has not only outlived its parent series by a long shot, but it's also become much more central to TV pop culture than JAG ever was. Led by Gibbs (until 2021), the show follows a team of investigators who specialize in naval crimes.
NCIS basically wrote the formula of certain character archetypes that later CBS shows (especially Criminal Minds) would follow, like the wise but stern mentor figure, the quirky and lovable computer nerd, and the younger recruit who's lovingly teased by the more seasoned member of the team. It made the characters feel like a family, which only deepened the longer they were together on the air.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)
Special Victims Unit is Law & Order's original-run length.
Although Elliot Stabler's departure after the 12th season was a blow to the SVU squad and audiences, it ultimately benefitted the show because it forced SVU to evolve and fully embrace ongoing dramatic arcs. It also allowed Benson to come even more into her own and become the focus of the show now that she wasn't sharing the star status with Stabler. The show would never have lasted without her as its anchor.
