Free Republic

Dick Law & Order: SVU is making television history this season with its record-setting 21st season, making it TV’s longest-running primetime live-action series. And Dick Wolf;s venerable crime drama starring Mariska Hargitay is nowhere near done. NBC has given Law & Order: SVU a new three-year renewal for Seasons 22, 23 and 24, expanding the gap over the previous record mark of 20 seasons set by mothership series Law & Order (1990-2010) and Gunsmoke (1955-75). The massive renewal is part of a mega new deal for Wolf has signed with Law & Order: SVU studio Universal Television, that also includes...

Congress Hears Dramatic Rape Kit TestimonyOutraged Congressman Offers to Pay for Rape Kit Testing Following CBS Investigation By Armen Keteyian WASHINGTON, May 20, 2010 (CBS) Last fall, CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reported rapists nationwide are getting away with their crimes, because tens of thousands of rape kits are going untested. The issue reached Capitol Hill Thursday, and the outrage was loud and clear. The star of the hearing turned out to be the central figure in our rape kit investigation, Valerie Neumann. Neumann testified how her 21st birthday ended in rape. One nightmare was followed by another....

A breath of fresh air is hard to come by in the Special Victims Unit. Mariska Hargitay is on the mend after suffering a pneumothorax—aka a partially collapsed lung—but will not miss out on any episodes of Law & Order: SVU this season, according to the Emmy-winning actress' rep. It's unclear if some sort of trauma prompted the injury or if Hargitay suffered a spontaneous pneumothorax, which can occur if more air pressure builds up in a person's chest cavity than is present in the lungs. Hargitay's rep said, however, that the 44-year-old wife and mom was not injured on...