‘Law & Order: SVU’ Season 19 & 20 Are Unlikely To Hit Netflix
NBC’s long-standing crime drama Law & Order: SVU– which centers around sex crime victims – started airing episodes from its 20th season a few months ago. As many Netflix subscribers know, Law & Order: SUV has been a staple in the streaming giant’s library as a go-to when you wanted a crime drama to binge through.
Unfortunately, Netflix never added Season 19 to the streaming library. To make things worse, the streaming giant has also started to pull older seasons from the library. Currently, there are only four seasons remaining in the U.S. library, including seasons 15, 16, 17, and 18.
According to What’s On Netflix, it doesn’t look good for fans of the crime drama that were hoping to see Seasons 19 and 20. Law & Order: SUV isn’t the only crime drama series that appears to slowly be fading out of the streaming library. Season 13 of Criminal Minds, for example, has yet to be added to the streaming library despite Season 14 being well underway.
As any long-term Netflix subscriber knows, it is pretty typical for the streaming giant to add a previous season of a series as the following season starts airing on television. This is with the exception of a few networks – such as the CW – which the streaming giant has a specific release time agreement and contract with.
Why Wasn’t Season 19 of Law & Order: SUV Added?
As What’s On Netflix clarifies, there isn’t any official reasoning as to why Season 19 was never added to the library. In fact, the fan site expected the crime drama to hit the library in the summer of 2018. Unfortunately, that never happened.
The unofficial and assumed reasoning regarding why Netflix didn’t add SUV to the library is because the contract with NBC ended and the network decided not to renew.
This unconfirmed reasoning is also likely why all 20 seasons of the series – including 19 and 20 (as the episodes air) are now available on Hulu. When the contract with Netflix ended, the network likely shifted to a deal with Hulu instead.
It is common for Hulu to pick up deals with networks after contracts with Netflix close. HGTV shows, for example, were once housed on Netflix. When the contract ended and they were removed, it wasn’t long before they started popping up on Hulu instead.
"How does the #SVU opening narration go again?" pic.twitter.com/E2Ohq1Q3kh
— ??? & ????? (@lawandordertv) December 10, 2018
What’s On Netflix speculates the remaining seasons of Law & Order: SUV will be removed from the Netflix streaming library in the near future. So, those with an interest in watching what’s left of the series on Netflix shouldn’t waste time doing so.
As mentioned previously, all episodes of Law and Order: SUV are available for Hulu subscribers to stream.
