Ice-T reveals why he had to ditch his catchphrase on Law and Order: SVU

LAW & Order: SVU covers the most heinous of crime stories — but there’s one thing the writers won’t go near.

Law & Order: SVU has just launched Season 18. Source: Channel 10.

ACROSS 17 seasons, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit has never held back in its gritty coverage of the most serious issues.

The popular series, starring Mariska Hargitay, is loosely based on heinous true sexual crimes — but there’s one thing the writers staunchly refuse to go near these days.

Rapper Ice-T, who’s played straight-talking detective Fin Tutuola on the show since 2000, was once famous for regularly dropping the phrase “that’s messed up”.

Until a growing number of viewers started using it as a cue in their drinking games.

“You know what — I haven’t said ‘that’s messed up’ in about eight years,” Ice-T explained to news.com.au.

Ice-T (pictured with Mariska Hargitay) as Detective Fin Tutuola.

“After that drinking game got made, the writers got a hold of that and they stopped ... So you’re not gonna get that drunk unless you watch old episodes.”

However, the 58-year-old star did offer a cheeky alternative.

“There’s a better one — drink whenever someone says ‘call a bus’. [Co-star Kelli Giddish] was yelling it in an episode the other day,” he said.

“I told them, I ain’t yelling ‘call a bus’ anymore. I’m like, do people know what a bus is? It’s an ambulance. Why don’t we just say, ‘call an ambulance’? And they’re like, ‘well it’s cop lingo’. But I think that’s fun.”

On the whole, the actor clearly knows he’s on a good wicket with the long-running series — despite his initial reluctance to sign on.

“I wasn’t trying to do this show because at the time I was running a record label and they said, ‘it’s only four episodes,’ and I was like, ‘OK cool’ ... But at the end of the four episodes, they were like, ‘we would like to keep you on’,” Ice-T explained.

“In the entertainment business there’s very few things that have anything remotely that mimics security. But I gotta pay the bills.”

And the father-of-three is very happy where he is.

“Being on a TV show you get 23 episodes, that’s 23 pay cheques over a year — it’s a great gig if you can get one,” he said.

“It’s a nice work environment and it’s the number one television franchise out there. Where am I gonna go?”

Ice with former co-star Christopher Meloni.

After playing Fin for so long, it’s little wonder the star’s real-life personality has heavily bled through to his character — particularly his sense of humour.

“After you’re on a show for a long time, the writers get your voice,” Ice-T explained.

“When I first came on the show they used to try to write slang and I was like, ‘let me do the slang’. I ended up taking a lot of it out.

“Fortunately, my punchlines aren’t corny — they’re written well.”

In fact, his only issue with the job is its impact on the public perception of him.

“The only thing that’s a little overbearing is that a lot of people kind of write us [the cast] off as holier than thou, which we’re not,” he admitted.

“Mariska [Hargitay] and I are capable of mistakes, capable of being human, but these characters aren’t. So people try to hold me to the same level as Fin and I’m like, ‘Ice-T makes bad jokes and talks sh*t!’”

Law & Order: SVU season 18 airs 9pm Thursdays on Channel Ten.