Law & Order

Season 1

Prescription for Death

1. Based on the Libby Zion case. Zion was an 18-year-old woman who died six hours after being admitted to New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center with a high fever. A grand jury determined that the long hours of often unsupervised interns and residents contributed to her death. Although her father, an attorney and writer for the New York Times, claimed inadequate care resulted in his daughter's death but the hospital was cleared of criminal charges. An appeals court exonerated the doctors, the subsequent investigation led New York State to form the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on Emergency Services, more commonly known as the Bell Commission. This committee developed a series of regulations that addressed several patient care issues, including restraint usage, medication systems, and resident work hours. One aspect of these regulations is commonly referred to in the medical community as "the Libby Zion Law" and "the Libby Law," setting limits to working hours for medical "post graduates" (commonly referred to as interns and residents).
2. In DA Stone's office, there is a small version of the Irish Brigades Flag on the bulletin board.
3. The manner in which the young doctor (played by Rocky Carroll) says "he was drunk" when referring to the chief surgeon, has the exact same cadence and tone as Denzel Washington's character in the film "Flight" when his character finally admits that "I was drunk". Both line readings suggest a palpable subtext of both guilt and shame that the respective characters feel as they get a horrible secret off their chest.

Subterranean Homeboy Blues

1. Based on the Bernhard Goetz (aka the 'subway vigilante') case. On December 22, 1984., Goetz shot four young black men - Barry Allen, Troy Canty, Darrell Cabey (all 19) and James Ramseur (18) - in a Manhattan subway. Goetz surrendered to police nine days after the shooting and was eventually charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and several firearms offenses. Goetz claimed that the 4 young men had threatened and tried to rob him. A jury later found him not guilty of all charges except for one count of carrying an unlicensed firearm, for which he served eight months of a one-year sentence. In 1996, one of the shot men, Darrell Cabey, who had been left paraplegic and brain damaged as a result of his injuries, went to civil court (with a black/Latino jury) and won a judgment of $43 million against Goetz,
2. The song that is playing on the radio as the man is walking past the cop on the subway is "Comin' Through" by Ice-T. Ice-T would go on to become a cast member on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" a decade later.
3. The title of this episode, Subterranean Homeboy Blues, is a play on words from a well-known Bob Dylan song, "Subterranean Homesick Blues".
4. Cynthia Nixon's first appearance for the "Law & Order" franchise. She would make appearances for all three major shows, each time playing a completely different character.

The Reaper's Helper

1. Based on the Dr. Jack Kevorkian case. Dr. Kevorkian became famous in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a supporter of assisted suicide and he became most noted for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via euthanasia; he claims to have assisted at least 130 patients to that end. He famously said that "dying is not a crime." Between 1999 and 2007, Kevorkian served eight years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder. His trial was a lengthy one, because of several acquittals and a mistrial. He was released on June 1, 2007, on parole due to good behavior. He died on June 3, 2011.

Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die

1. Based on the case of Robert Chambers, whom was christened the "Preppie Killer" by the press after he strangled 18-year-old Jennifer Levin to death in Central Park in 1986. When questioned by police, Chambers told several different stories about his encounter with Levin, including that he accidentally killed her after she "forced" and "overpowered" him into rough sex, all of which were proven false by the investigators. He eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and served 15 years before being released in February 2003. On August 11, 2008, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced that Chambers had pleaded guilty to selling drugs and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. His earliest date of possible release is 2025.
2. The character of Ned Loomis (Thomas Calabro), accused of strangling Paige Bartlett, is based on "Preppie Killer" Robert Chambers, who strangled Jennifer Levin in 1986 in New York City. The handsome Loomis came from a prominent family, went to prep schools and Ivy League universities, and had no criminal history. Chambers, though he was painted as privileged by the press, came from a much different background. He was handsome but attended prep schools on scholarship and had a long history of anti-social behavior and run-ins with the law.
3. Detective Logan overhears Ned Loomis yelling, "Why couldn't she just leave me alone?" to his lawyer. This was also based on Robert Chambers, who said the same thing to his father after his own arrest.

Happily Ever After

1. Based on the Charles "Chuck" Stuart case. In 1989, Stuart and his pregnant wife Carol were both shot. Carol Stuart died after her son, Christopher Stewart, was delivered two months early by cesarean section. The infant suffered seizures due to oxygen deprivation and died 17 days later after his father authorized discontinuing life support. The police suspected Willie Bennett (which led to inflamed racial hatred in Boston), but the case fell apart when Charles committed suicide less than three months after the murder on January 4, 1990 by jumping from the Tobin Bridge. His younger brother, Matthew, was able to clear Bennett by making a confession of his own and identified Charles Stuart as the killer.
2. The medical examiner testifies that the shooter of Alan Ralston would have to be no taller than 5'6". In reality Bob Gunton and Roxanne Hart both stand well above this at 6'2" and 5'8", respectively.

Everybody's Favorite Bagman

1. This is actually the series' pilot. It was produced in 1988 for CBS, which passed on the show. After NBC picked it up, the network decided to air the pilot after the premiere episode, in which the detectives are meeting ADA Robinette for the first time and Roy Thinnes appears as the DA before he was replaced by Steven Hill.
2. Steven Zirnkilton, who speaks the introductory lines of the series' opening credit sequences for its entire 20-year run, appeared on-screen only once, in this pilot. He plays a detective and has two lines of dialogue: "Look at that. Do you believe these guys?"
3. The last of the original cast members, Steven Hill (who plays District Attorney Adam Schiff), left at the end of the 1999-2000 season. However, since Hill was not in the pilot episode he may not, by some, be considered to be part of the original cast. The role of the District Attorney in that episode was played by Roy Thinnes.
4. Loosely based on the 1986 New York Parking Violations Bureau corruption scandal. It was alleged that Queens borough president, Donald Manes (who had served from 1971 until 1986), had used political appointments and favors as the source of large kickback schemes involving personal bureaucratic fiefdoms such as the NYC Parking Violations Bureau, Zoning franchises and cable TV franchises were being investigated, and some of Manes' appointees and associates were indicted or forced to resign. Manes committed suicide inside his residence, days away from being indicted when his crimes came to light and Stanley Friedman, Michael Lazar and Lester Shafran received convictions for racketeering.
5. As this episode was originally shot for CBS in 1988, several of the main actors look noticeably different than in the rest of the episodes for season 1, which began filming in 1990. Both Chris Noth (Mike Logan) and George Dzundza (Greevy) look younger and thinner, while Dann Florek has more hair and less gray.
6. Actor Trey Wilson, who played Eddie Cosmatos, died in January 1989, nearly two years before this episode aired.
7. Actress Marcia Jean Kurtz, who plays a city councilman's wife, is one of the first of many "Law & Order" guests stars who appear later as a completely different character. Kurtz also portrayed Carla Lowenstein in "Indifference," the ninth episode of the first season.
8. The last guest starring role for actor Trey Wilson.

By Hooker, by Crook

1. In keeping with the Law & Order (1990) system of having actors appear prior to becoming regular characters, Courtney B. Vance plays an uncredited assistant to the Mayor. He would return 5 years later in 1995 as another character in Law & Order: Rage (1995) and then 11 years later as prosecutor Ron Carver in Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001).
2. Based on the Sydney Biddle Barrows case. Better known as the 'Mayflower Madam', Sydney Biddle Barrows was a modern American madam. After her escort service was exposed and disbanded, she gained worldwide notoriety, in part because she was part of the upper-class Biddle family of Philadelphia and is a Mayflower descendant. In October 1984, her escort service was shut down and she was charged with promoting prostitution by the New York City District Attorney's Office. After she pled guilty, she published a best-selling autobiography, Mayflower Madam (1987), which later became a television movie of the same name starring 'Candice Bergen'_.
3. To this day, Michael Moriarty (Ben Stone) and Richard Brooks (Paul Robinette) remain in the show's opening credits. They can be seen at the top of the stairs in the shot of the courthouse against the "ORDER" title. This shot is taken from the end of the first season episode "By Hooker, By Crook" and has been in the show's opening credits since the pilot episode (although was shortened by about half a second in 1994). Furthermore, George Dzundza (Max Greevey) remained in the opening credits until the end of 1993, despite leaving after the first season. In their original version, which ran from 1990-1993, the show's opening credits were twice as long as they are today and featured a shot of the two detectives' unmarked patrol car speeding towards the camera (after the trademark "big four" shot of the two detectives and prosecutors walking together). Dzundza is sitting in the passenger seat. This shot is also interesting in that the detective's car, a 1988 Dodge Diplomat, was only used in seasons one and two of the show and was switched to a 1992 Ford Crown Victoria in season three, yet the shot of both the departed Dzundza and Diplomat remained.

Poison Ivy

1. Based on the Edmund Perry case. Perry was a 17 year old Harlem resident and graduate from Phillips Exeter who was shot to death by undercover New York plainclothes police officer, Lee Van Houten, on June 12, 1985. Van Houten maintained that Perry and another black youth, later identified as Edmund's brother Jonah, attempted to mug him and that he shot in self-defense. The case briefly generated a firestorm of protest in New York City when it was revealed that Perry was an honor student and was enrolled to attend Stanford on scholarship; however, witnesses backed up Van Houten's claim that Perry and Jonah had attempted to mug the officer and the shooting was ruled as justified. Jonah was then arrested and charged as an accomplice for the mugging, but was found not guilty at trial.

Indifference

1. Based on the Joel Steinberg/Hedda Nussbaum case. Steinburg, a disbarred New York criminal defense attorney, attracted international media attention when he was accused of murder and convicted of manslaughter in the November 1, 1987, death of a six-year-old girl, Elizabeth ("Lisa"), whom he and his live-in partner Hedda Nussbaum had illegally adopted. Steinberg had reportedly been hired by a single mother to locate a suitable adoptive family for Lisa, but instead took the child home and raised her with Nussbaum, never filing formal adoption papers and therefore never being scrutinized as adoptive parents.
2. This is the only episode of the series in which a long disclaimer was read aloud, pointing out the actual conclusion of the real case, that of Joel and Lisa Steinberg.
3. This episode takes place from February 22 to June 29, 1990.
4. This episode is revisited in season 15, episode 11 'Fixed'.

Prisoner of Love

Out of the Half-Light

Life Choice

1. Creator Dick Wolf has stated that this is his favorite Law & Order episode.

A Death in the Family

1. Based on the Larry Davis case. Larry Davis was a New Yorker who, in 1986, shot at 6 police officers who were carrying out a raid. Davis later claimed the officers were out to murder him because of his knowledge of corrupt cops but the officers claimed they were only there to question Davis about the killing of four (suspected) drug dealers. Davis managed to escape and a manhunt was on for him; he took hostages and only surrendered himself to the police when the news media showed up and he was promised not to be harmed.

The Violence of Summer

1. First credited appearance for Philip Seymour Hoffman in TV or film.
2. This episode breaks with the shows normal format. The police investigation is shown after the prosecution. Normally it's the other way around.
3. When no one in the neighborhood wants to tell about hearing a rape being committed Sgt. Greavey tells Logan that 'we're living in the post-Kitty Genovese era.' Kitty Genovese was murdered in March 1964 outside her apartment in Kew Gardens of New York City and no one came to help neither did anyone call the police while she was being stabbed to death. When the police combed the neighborhood later 38 people admitted hearing her cries for help. This behavior has become known as the bystander effect or 'Genovese syndrome. '

The Torrents of Greed: Part 1

1. The title of this 2-part episode is taken from Chapter 18, verse 251 of the Buddhist scripture The Dhammapada: "There is no fire like passion. There is no shark like hatred. There is no snare like folly. There is no torrent like greed."
2. The mob boss and his crimes in this episode shares similarities with the John Gotti crime syndicate case. Gotti and five of his brothers all joined the Mafia at early ages and Gotti soon became boss of the well known Gambino crime family, one of the Five Families in New York City. He became widely known for his outspoken personality and flamboyant style that eventually caused his downfall. In 1992, Gotti was convicted of racketeering, thirteen murders, obstruction of justice, truck hijacking, conspiracy to commit murder, illegal gambling, extortion, tax evasion, loansharking, and other crimes and was sentenced to life in prison, where he died ten years later.

The Torrents of Greed: Part 2

1. This episode, along with Law & Order: Black Tie (1993), are the only episodes that do not have the following statement appearing at the beginning of each episode: "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories."
2. The mob boss and his crimes in this episode shares similarities with the John Gotti crime syndicate case. Gotti and five of his brothers all joined the Mafia at early ages and Gotti soon became boss of the well known Gambino crime family, one of the Five Families in New York City. He became widely known for his outspoken personality and flamboyant style that eventually caused his downfall. In 1992, Gotti was convicted of racketeering, thirteen murders, obstruction of justice, truck hijacking, conspiracy to commit murder, illegal gambling, extortion, tax evasion, loansharking, and other crimes and was sentenced to life in prison, where he died ten years later.

Mushrooms

1. Actress S. Epatha Merkerson appears as Denise Winters, the mother of the shooting victims. She would later join the cast as a long-time regular, playing police lieutenant Anita Van Buren.
2. This episode was inspired by real-life cases of young children hit by stray bullets, which was fairly common at that time in many larger U.S. cities, such as New York and Los Angeles.

The Secret Sharers

1. J.D. Cannon's final screen appearance.
2. J.D. Cannon (Chet Burton) and Stephen Elliott died only one day apart: on May 20, 2005 and May 21, 2005 respectively.
3. J.D. Cannon, plays a Texas lawyer that uses western theatrics. He tells Stone that in 27 years of practicing law he has never lost a criminal case. 27 years earlier Cannon played Assistant District Attorney Ashley on The Defenders (1961). In another reversal of roles, Cannon was well known for playing New York Chief of Detectives Peter Clifford, who had to put up with the western antics of New Mexico Marshal Sam McCloud on McCloud (1970).

The Serpent's Tooth

1. The title is based upon a quote from William Shakespeare's play "King Lear" (Act I, Scene IV): "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!"
2. Based on the Menendez brothers case. In August 20, 1989, the two brothers murdered their parents then went to the movies to give themselves an alibi. Lyle and Erik Menendez were later convicted in a highly publicized trial for the shotgun murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez which The brothers claimed they were driven to by a lifetime of abuse from their parents, including sexual abuse from their father. Despite the excellent defense for Erik by Leslie Abramson and a competent defense for Lyle by his attorney, the past criminal records of the brothers stood in contrast to their "escape from parental abuse" theory. Under the terms of the sentences for their multiple crimes, the brothers are expected to spend the remainder of their lives in prison.

The Troubles

1. Based on the Joe Doherty case. Doherty, a former volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), escaped during his 1981 trial for killing a member of the Special Air Service (SAS) in 1980. He was arrested in the United States in 1983, and became a cause celebrity while fighting an ultimately unsuccessful nine-year legal battle against extradition and deportation, with a street corner in New York City being named after him.
2. Kevin J. O'Connor, who plays McCarter, later appeared in The Mummy (1999). That movie, like this episode, features a character named O'Connell who is generally addressed by surname only.

Sonata for Solo Organ

1. This is the first episode that did not involve a homicide.
2. This episode was inspired by the "Kidney Thief" urban legend, that tells the story of someone who wakes up in a bathtub of ice with only one kidney.
3. First of 10 Law & Order appearances for actress Jennifer Van Dyck, who plays Joanna Woodleigh. She went on to appear on five other episodes of the series through 2006, plus three on Law & Order: SVU (2004, 2007 and 2015) and one on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2005).

The Blue Wall

1. This is the first, and only time, Captain Cragen's wife, Marge is seen.
2. Based on the Joe Sanchez Case. Sanchez was an honest NYPD officer who discovered corruption and was framed in 1983 by corrupt cops. He was charged in relation to a 1982 drug bust. Sanchez however was later proven innocent. This incident is also regarded as "The Blue Code of Silence".
3. This episode begins in the courtroom, and not with the police investigation.
4. This episode marks the final appearance of George Dzundza.
5. This is one of only a handful episodes in which the DA (Adam Schiff) shares a scene with a police officer (Captain Donald Cragen).