‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 16: See a fun promo with Mariska Hargitay, ‘Chicago PD’

We have to give NBC’s promo department a little bit of credit for what we’ve got below: It may not be fully canon to “Law & Order: SVU” or any of the shows mentioned, but this is a good way to make your entire lineup look like an event.

Not only that, but the network has found an interesting way to play off of “Woman Crush Wednesdays,” which is a very big thing on Twitter. (With that being said, we imagine in the late 1990s that someone would be very confused by this concept.)

Anyway, this promo features Mariska Hargitay, Debra Messing from the upcoming “The Mysteries of Laura,” and Sophia Bush from “Chicago PD” as the three exchange some lighthearted banter before picking up some serious firepower. Clearly, NBC is well aware of the fact that they have something rare here: Three consecutive shows on the night that share a similar subject matter, and all happen to feature female leads in one way or another. We know that Lindsay is not the only “Chicago PD” lead, but she is definitely one of them.

In some ways, this marketing strategy is similar to what ABC is doing with their own Thursday-night lineup, which features three shows in “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” and the newcomer “How To Get Away with Murder” that also star women and share executive producer Shonda Rhimes. Overall, we do feel like it’s best to implement new shows in your promotional materials in ways like this. It doesn’t feel like anything is being jammed down your throats, and at the same time, it makes someone like Messing look like part of the family.

Photo: NBC