Creator: Dick Wolf
Years: 1999–Present
Ah, what the heck. They’re basically the same show with different actors. I rank this one higher as I find cases on sex crimes a little more compelling than murders, as often the victims are still alive. Also, Mariska Hargitay. She’s fantastic. Funny thing, though. I don’t particularly like Chris Merloni. But Hargitay was better when she had him to play off of. Now that she’s in charge, eh. I haven’t watched this regularly, or at all really, in about five years.
The other reason I like this version a tad more than the original is that the cast seemed to work together better. Richard Belzer and Ice-T make a delightful cop duo. Dann Florek is better in this show than he is in Farmer’s Insurance commercials. And both of the primary ADA’s, Stephanie March and Diane Neal, are solid.
Death By Troggles 
(that’s J.K. Simmons in the Farmer’s commercials.)
(no wonder he’s better in SVU)
You lost me at “I don’t really like Chris Meloni.” Dude is engaging in everything he’s in. I only ever saw one episode of this and it’s only because Amanda Seyfried was in it, but he was good in that one.
I’ve only seen him in a couple things, and this is the only one where he’s a lead. But man if you had only watched his character in this show you might see what I see. His character arc is angry, angry, smug, angry, smug, angry, smug, angry, smug, angry. I assumed the writers/directors didn’t know what else to do with him. Maybe it’s their fault.