Law & Order

Season 2

Confession

1. Based on the Oreste Fulminante case. In 1982, the 11-year-old stepdaughter of Oreste Fulminante was murdered in Arizona. Later, Fulminante was incarcerated for an unrelated miscellaneous charge. While in prison, Fulminante met Anthony Sarivola, his cellmate who was also a confidential informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sarivola offered Fulminante protection from "tough treatment" in prison in exchange for a confession to the murder of Fulminante's stepdaughter. Fulminante argued that the confession was invalid because it was coerced and he would have said anything to protect his own life. The confession was allowed in the first trial, but considered inadmissible in the appeal because of the confession was allegedly coerced.
2. 'Carolyn McCormick' (Dr. Olivet) is listed in the opening credits as Carloyn McCormick.
3. Paul Sorvino joins the cast as Phil Cerreta in this episode.
4. Karen Shallo, the actress who played Marie Greevey, later appeared in Season 6, Episode 10, "Remand," as Mrs. Santoro, a witness to a 30-year-old crime.
5. Sgt. Max Greevey (George Dzundza), Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy), and ADA Alexandra Borgia (Annie Parisse) are the only regular characters who were killed off. All the others either resigned, were fired or were transferred from their respective positions.

The Wages of Love

1. Jerry Orbach, who joined the cast as Detective Lenny Briscoe in season 3, appears here playing a lawyer named Frank Lehrman.
2. Jerry Orbach tried out for the characters of Detective Sergeants Maxwell Greevey and Philp Ceretta but was passed over in favor of George Dzundza and Paul Sorvino, respectively. After playing the role of Frank Lehrman in this episode, Orbach replaced Sorvino after Sorvino decided he didn't care for the New York climate as he feared it would affect his singing voice. Orbach's gruff demeanor was so popular with the producers they decided to replace Chris Noth's similar style (which they considered a lack of variety in characterizations) and have the younger character be more of a contrast to make Briscoe be more prominent.
3. Based on the Betty Broderick case. Five years after a very acrimonious divorce in the late 1980s, Broderick, a mother of four, purchased a revolver and broke into her ex-husband, Dan's home with a key that she had stolen from her elder daughter, Kim Broderick. She shot him and his second wife, Linda Kolkena, in their bed whilst they slept. In the years leading up to their deaths, Dan and Linda had felt so threatened by Betty they had even hired guards to protect themselves. Betty was convicted on 11 December 1991 of two counts of second-degree murder, and later sentenced to 32-years-to-life in prison, with her first possible parole date in March of 2010.

Aria

1. This is the first of 13 appearances of defense attorney Danielle Melnick, portrayed by Tovah Feldshuh. This character also appeared briefly in the series finale of Law and Order:Criminal Intent titled "To the Boy in the Blue Knit Cap"
2. The actresses Maura Tierney and Lisa Nicole Carson go on to play Abby Lockhart and Carla Reese on ER.

Asylum

God Bless the Child

1. Based on the Alex Dale Morris case. Morris was 4 years old in February 1989 when he began complaining of fever and congestion. The child was anointed with holy oil and the members of his church's Oregon congregation prayed for Alex for 46 days. Even though a police officer, acting on an anonymous tip, had stopped by the check on the boy, everyone kept insisting he was fine. Alex died on April 15, 1989, of a lung infection that could have been easily cured by antibiotics.
2. TV debut of Michelle Trachtenberg

Misconception

1. Actress Molly Price, who portrays Amy Newhouse, also appeared in 2 episodes of Sex in the City which starred Chris Noth who portrays Detective Mike Logan in this episode.

In Memory Of

1. Based on the George Franklin case. During an hypnosis session in the early 1990s, Franklin's daughter, Eileen Franklin-Lipsker, claimed to have recovered repressed memories that her father had murdered her best friend Susan Nason. Franklin was initially convicted of first degree murder, but once the court learned that Eileen was hypnotized prior to recovering this memory, also that Eileen's recollections matched erroneous newspaper accounts rather than the true series of events, Franklin's conviction was overturned.

Out of Control

1. Based on an actual rape case at St. John's University in Collegeville, Jamaica, New York. Three lacrosse players at St. John's University stood trial for sexual assault against a then 21-year-old student from the Queens campus. Over a year later, on July 23, 1991, all three players were acquitted of the charges, causing an even bigger stir in the community. For legal reasons no one involved in that case could be named.

Renunciation

1. Based on the Pamela Smart case. In 1990, Pamela Wojas Smart manipulated her 15-year-old lover William "Billy" Flynn into murdering her 24-year-old husband, Gregory Smart, promising him they would have a future together. Along with his friends Patrick Randall and Vince Lattime Jr., Billy shot Gregory Smart execution-style and then made the scene look like a botched robbery. All three boys turned State's witness against Pamela, who was so poised she was dubbed "Ice Princess" by the media. Smart is now serving a life sentence for accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and witness tampering in New Hampshire.

Heaven

1. Based on the The Happy Land Social Club Fire caused by Cuban refugee Julio González. On March 25, 1990, Julio Gonzalez poured a gallon of gasoline at the only exit to an illegal social club, which resulted in the deaths of 87 people in the Bronx. The few who survived jumped through the flames, one of whom was the intended victim of the crime - Gonzalez' girlfriend, Lydia Feliciano.
2. The exceptionally poignant ending of this episode featured several of New York City's Hispanic non-union non-actors, who kindly consented to be filmed briefly for "reactions from people around the room". Employment of this directorial technique differed from the usual show format, which usually provided a reaction shot from a main character. Few TV shows so cleverly illuminated the triumphs and tragedies of life in a major city; crime affects us all at some point. Dick Wolf's Law & Order pointed a spotlight on the differening sides to each story, and how conflicting and complex it must be to work within the legal system. The show gave humanity to the inhuman, provoked thoughtful conversation, and provided recognition for the forgotten victims of crime.
3. Three actors in show would reunite in Goodfellows.. Paulie , Frenchie and sonney

His Hour Upon the Stage

1. Based on the Roy Radin murder case. Radin was a theatrical producer best known for reviving the old Vaudevillian shows. On Friday, May 13, 1983, Roy Radin stepped into a limousine rented by Karen Jacobs-Greenberger with the intention of going to a restaurant and discussing the business arrangement further. About a month later, his body was discovered in a California canyon. He had been repeatedly shot in the head and a stick of dynamite had been set off in his mouth. The story behind Radin's death was a labyrinthine tangle mostly involving drugs. Greenberger turned out to be a woman of many names and interests. Although producer Robert Evans was initially suspected of the crime, Greenberger was eventually convicted.
2. The title is taken from the line, "That struts and frets his hour upon the stage" from William Shakespeare's "Macbeth."

Star Struck

1. Based on three high-profile stalking cases involving actresses: Rebecca Schaeffer, who was stalked and then shot dead by Robert Bardo, who obtained her address through DMV records, prompting the passage of anti-stalking laws in California. Schaeffer was best known for her role in the sitcom My Sister Sam (1986).Theresa Saldana, the stalking victim of Arthur Richard Jackson, a 46 year old drifter from Aberdeen, Scotland. Jackson stabbed her in the torso 10 times, with a 5 1/2 inch knife, near the front of her home in broad daylight, almost killing her. Saldana recovered after 4 hours of surgery, and a 4-month hospital stay. It was later revealed that he had hired a private investigator to obtain her mother's phone number.Andrea Evans, who dropped out of public view for nearly a decade. Years later she revealed that she had left to escape a persistent stalker who became too familiar with her schedule and kept showing up at the set, and had later gone as far as breaking into the ABC studios in New York City, intent on killing her.
2. Last in-person acting role for Werner Klemperer.
3. Title drop: The newspaper Captain Cragen is reading while the credits are displayed has the episode title "Star Struck" as a headline.
4. This episode represents a nifty bit of casting references to WWII-themed shows. First, Blanche Baker and Michael Moriarty appeared in the miniseries Holocaust (1978). Moriarty played a Nazi officer, and Baker played a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz, condemned to death in the gas chambers. Werner Klemperer was perhaps most famous for his portrayal of Colonel Klink in Hogan's Heroes (1965). In addition, although Klink was a German officer, Klemperer himself was a Jew, as were three of his fellow actors in HH who were also featured prominently as German officers. Baker, Moriarty, and Klemperer all won Emmys for their respective portrayals in Holocaust and Hogan's Heroes.

Severance

1. Based on the CBS Murders case. In 1982 Irwin Margolies hired Donald Nash to kill Margaret Barbera and Jenny Soo Chin, who were cooperating with a Federal investigation into Margolie's $5.7 million-dollar fraud. On January 5th 1982, Nash succeed with killing Chin, whose body never found. On April 12 Nash would go on to kill Barbera but was later forced to kill Leo Kuranuki, Robert Schulze and Edward Benford, three CBS technicians who the police believe were coming to the Barbera's aid. Barbera's body was found in Manhattan the next morning. Nash was convicted of four counts of second-degree murder and a single count of conspiracy and was sentenced to 100 years in prison. Margolies was sentenced to 50 years for ordering the murders.

Blood Is Thicker...

Trust

Vengeance

1. Based on the Albert DeSalvo case. DeSalvo was a criminal in Boston, Massachusetts, who confessed to being the "Boston Strangler", the murderer of thirteen women in the Boston area from 1962 to 1964. The M.O. of the Boston Strangler was to talk this way into victims apartments by pretending to be a maintenance man. The crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo based on his confession, though DeSalvo was not imprisoned for these murders, however, but for a series of rapes. His murder confession has been disputed and debate continues as to which crimes DeSalvo had actually committed. In July 2013, a DNA match between seminal fluid found at the scene of the rape and murder of Mary Sullivan and DNA obtained from DeSalvo's nephew linked DeSalvo to that crime and excluded 99.9 percent of the remaining population. Authorities exhumed DeSalvo's remains later that month and confirmed the DNA match.details revealed in court during a separate case, and DNA evidence linking him to the last murder victim. In the original investigation, parties investigating the crimes have suggested that the murders (sometimes referred to as "the silk stocking murders") were committed by more than one person.

Sisters of Mercy

1. Loosely based on the Covenant House scandal of 1990.
2. William H Macy and Kate Burton also guest starred in the Spenser For Hire episodes "If You Knew Sammy" in Season 2 and "Play It Again Sammy" in Season 3 along with Sal Viscuso.

Cradle to Grave

1. Serena, the teen babysitter, was played by Chandra Wilson. She went on to play Dr Miranda Bailey as a member of the celebrated ensemble cast of Grey's Anatomy.

The Fertile Fields

1. First episode to feature Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers.
2. Based on the Crown Heights Riot of 1991. The Crown Heights Riot was a three-four day riot that occurred in August of 1991 in the Crown Heights neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The riots began on August 19, 1991 after a prominent Hasidic Rabbi called Rabbi Schneerson, who was returning from a regular visit to his father-in-law's grave, was crossing through an intersection when it was hit by another car and veered out of control, striking and killing 7-year-old Guyanese youth Gavin Cato. There were numerous acts of violence were committed against Jewish citizens in the area. One historian described the riot as "the most serious anti-Semitic incident in American history".

Intolerance

1. Based on the Wanda Holloway case. Wanda Holloway was a Texas mom who asked her brother-in-law to hire a hit man to kill the mother of a girl who was competing with her daughter for a spot on the same Texas cheerleading squad. The Judge found her guilty and sentenced her to ten years in prison. She was released on March 1, 1997, after serving six months of her sentence.

Silence

The Working Stiff