Peacock is your streaming home for all things Law & Order.
The Law & Order universe is an institution.
Premiering in 1990 with the flagship Law & Order series, the Dick Wolf franchise has completely changed the landscape of television. Procedurals existed before Law & Order, of course, but this franchise turned the genre into a phenomenon. Want proof of that? Look no further than to all the Law & Order iterations that have come after the mothership series.
After Law & Order has come Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, followed by Criminal Intent, Trial by Jury, Los Angeles, True Crime, Organized Organized Crime, U.K., and Toronto: Criminal Intent. Several of these spin-offs are available to watch on Peacock now. If you’re looking to watch Law & Order in chronological order on Peacock, we’ve listed the order of shows to go by, below. (Availability is always subject to change!)
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If you’ve already done a chronological watch, we’ve also included some episode suggestions for when you want a specific vibe — like when Benson and Stabler got (almost) steamy on SVU. Come on, who doesn’t want to re-live that?
Below, read more about the Law & Order universe shows you can watch in chronological order on Peacock:
Law & Order
- Premiere date: September 1990
- Season count: 25
- Episode total: 544
- Where to stream: Peacock
- If you’re watching for:
- Sam Waterston’s first appearance: Season 5, Episode 1 (“Second Opinion”)
- While Waterston is nowadays a Law & Order icon, he first made his way to the NBC procedural in Season 5 of Law & Order, instantly creating a stir as then-Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy. After being tapped for a case involving ethically murky treatments for breast cancer, McCoy established himself as a cool-headed and determined addition to the 27th Precinct who’d one day become the Manhattan District Attorney.
- Sam Waterston’s final appearance: Season 23, Episode 5 (“Last Dance”)
- After a multi-decade run and countless courtroom showdowns, Waterston took a bow as the indomitable D.A. McCoy in Season 23 of Law & Order. McCoy steps into the courtroom after a woman’s murder in Central Park reveals two potential perpetrators: a tech billionaire and a street vendor. With political tensions swirling over the D.A. office, McCoy puts his entire career on the line to ensure justice is properly served.
- Sam Waterston’s first appearance: Season 5, Episode 1 (“Second Opinion”)
RELATED: How Stabler Proved He’s Always There for Benson in Law & Order’s 2026 Crossover
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Premiere date: September 1999
- Season count: 27
- Episode total: 594
- Where to stream: Peacock
- If you’re watching for:
- Ice T’s first appearance: Season 2, Episode 1 (“Wrong Is Right”)
- Shocking, we know, but Ice T is not a Day 1 star like his SVU bestie Mariska Hargitay. Ice T’s iconic Fin Tutuola actually first rolled up to the Precinct in the Season 2 premiere, when he first crossed paths with Benson, Stabler, and the rest of the elite squad. After the squad is called in for a brutal sexual assault, Fin wastes no time weighing in on the high-stakes case.
- Benson and Stabler’s steamiest moment: Season 24, Episode 12 (“Blood Out”)
- After literal decades of will-they-won’t-they tension between former SVU partners Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni), you better believe fans freaked out when the partners nearly kissed in Season 24. After a gang-related case leads Benson’s safety to be compromised, she calls Stabler to watch her son while on the case, arriving home late and having a heated heart-to-heart with her former partner. After tenderly discussing their storied connection, Stabler unsuccessfully went in for a kiss as Benson turned away at the last moment.
- Benson’s most gripping storyline: Season 15, Episode 1 (“Surrender Benson”)
- While Benson is an expert at tossing criminals behind bars, one of the few villains to target the SVU icon was serial killer and rapist William Lewis (Pablo Schneider). “Surrender Benson” flips the script after Lewis kidnaps Benson and holds her captive in a remote cabin as the SVU launches a frenzied hunt before their time runs out. No one likes seeing Benson in trouble, and few storylines can compare to the goosebumps that William Lewis delivered during his chilling SVU reign.
- Ice T’s first appearance: Season 2, Episode 1 (“Wrong Is Right”)
RELATED: Ice T Had a Hilarious Reaction to Hearing One of His “Most Iconic” SVU Lines
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
- Premiere date: September 2001
- Season count: 10
- Episode total: 195
- Where to stream: Peacock
- If you’re watching for:
- Vincent D’Onofrio‘s last appearance: Season 10, Episode 8 (“To the Boy in the Blue Knit Cap”)
- The series finale is an emotional send-off to powerhouse Criminal Intent partners Detectives Bobby Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Detective Alex Eames (Kathryn Erbe), making it a must-watch. As the detectives investigate a case involving dead identical twins, they uncover a scandalous affair that sparked disastrous consequences.
- Courtney B. Vance’s first appearance: Season 1, Episode 1 (“One”)
- Vance delivered a grand-slam performance as Criminal Intent Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver for five action-packed seasons of the hit Law & Order spin-off, soon becoming an icon of the franchise. From the show’s series premiere, Carver steals the show as the squad’s legal expert while assisting them on a homicide and heist case with three victims.
- Vincent D’Onofrio‘s last appearance: Season 10, Episode 8 (“To the Boy in the Blue Knit Cap”)
RELATED: Mariska Hargitay Hinted at a Benson & Stabler Reunion on SVU: “I Hope…”
Law & Order: Organized Crime
- Premiere date: April 1, 2021
- Season count: 5
- Episode total: 75
- Where to stream: Peacock
- If you’re watching for:
- Benson’s first appearance on Organized Crime: Season 1, Episode 1 (“What Happens in Puglia”)
- Organized Crime‘s series premiere welcomes back the mythic Detective Elliot Stabler after he returns to New York to take on the city’s most powerful organized crime syndicates, only for his entire world to be turned upside down with the tragic murder of his wife. Devastated by the loss, Stabler struggles to rebuild his life, relying on those he trusts most to move forward and get to the bottom of the criminals responsible.
- A truly heartwarming Benson-Stabler storyline: Season 1, Episode 4 (“The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of”)
- After struggling with the death of his wife, a Stabler family intervention was held. Needing adequate support to confront their father, Stabler’s children reached out to his former partner Benson for backup. Stabler was blindsided by the intervention, leading to an iconic moment in which he blurted out “I love you” while making eye contact with Benson, only to snap out of it and reiterate the sentiment to the entire room. It was a tense, weighted moment that had Bensler fans raving.
- Benson’s first appearance on Organized Crime: Season 1, Episode 1 (“What Happens in Puglia”)
RELATED: Mariska Hargitay Named Her Dream SVU Guest Stars: “They Both Start with J…”
What new Law & Order seasons are on NBC now?
Law & Order Thursdays return this fall to NBC with Law & Order Season 26 and Law & Order: SVU Season 28 premiering October 8, 2026. Mark your calendars now. Episodes stream next day on Peacock.