It Doesn’t Take a Detective to Ace Our ‘Law & Order’ Quiz

Law & Order and its various spin-offs have played host to countless celebrity guest stars, including Bradley Cooper, Sarah Paulson and Idris Elba, as well as Robin Williams, Martin Short, Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, John Stamos, Angela Lansbury, Henry Winkler, Pedro Pascal, Jennifer Garner, Claire Danes, Allison Janney, Whoopi Goldberg, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart, just to name a few.

For 24 seasons running, Hargitay’s character, detective Olivia Benson, has investigated sex crimes on Law & Order: SVU. But Hargitay doesn’t just play an advocate for sexual assault victims on TV. She once trained as a rape crisis counselor, and in 2004 she established the Joyful Heart Foundation, a nonprofit that supports survivors of sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence.

For the first 12 seasons of Law & Order: SVU, actor Christopher Meloni played detective Elliot Stabler. In May 2011, however, he decided to leave over a contract dispute. Ten years later, in 2021, he reprised his role as Stabler in the spin-off Law & Order: Organized Crime, in which Stabler returns to the New York police department as a member of its organized crime control bureau.

The late actor Fred Thompson joined the show as district attorney Arthur Branch in 2002 and played him on 116 episodes spanning five seasons from 2002 until 2007. Prior to joining the Law & Order family, however, Thompson was a U.S. senator from Tennessee, serving from 1994 until 2003 — which means he made his first appearance on the show while still holding elected office. He left the show in 2007 to launch an unsuccessful presidential bid.

In 2017, Ice-T celebrated 18 seasons playing detective Odafin Tutuola, making Tutuola the longest-running Black character in prime time. The previous record holder was fellow Law & Order alumnus S. Epatha Merkerson, who portrayed lieutenant Anita Van Buren on the original Law & Order for 17 years. But Ice-T wasn’t done breaking records: In 2022, he marked 24 seasons on SVU, making him the longest-running male actor on TV.