Law & Order

Season 3

Skin Deep

1. Claire Danes (Tracy Brandt) and Paul Sorvino (Det. Cerreta) appeared together in the movie Romeo + Juliet (1996). Danes played Juliet and Sorvino played the role of her father.
2. While questioning an ad executive, an exasperated Logan tells him to "Fly me!" In the 1960's, Braniff Airlines' highly successful (and suggestive) "Fly Me" advertising campaign was the brainchild of young ad man Dick Wolf...who later created Law & Order.

Conspiracy

1. In this episode, Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino) and Mike Logan (Chris Noth) investigate the assassination of the leader of the African-American Congress. In Law & Order: Entrapment (1997), Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Ray Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) investigate the attempted murder of the new AAC leader, and Lennie notes that Logan investigated the former leader's murder. Joe Morton portrayed Roland Books in the first episode, Ron Cephas Jones portrays him in the second, while other actors reprise their roles.
2. The "jury in Los Angeles" that Tate refers to at the very beginning of the episode is from the infamous trial in which four white L.A. police officers were acquitted of beating Rodney King. The verdict was handed down five months before this episode first aired and resulted in citywide riots that left more than 50 people dead.
3. Based on two separate assassinations involving the Black civil rights movement: Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little), was assassinated on February 21, 1965, at the age of 39. He was about to address his followers in New York when 3 gunman (Thomas Hagan, Norman Butler and Thomas Johnson) rushed the stage and fired at him. Hagan was beaten by the crowd, whilst Butler and Johnson were eventually found by the police. All three were convicted of murder in March 1966 and sentenced to life in prison.Martin Luther King, died on April 4, 1968 by James Earl Ray. King was 39 and left behind a widow and four children. Ray was a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, he was eventually arrested on June 8, 1968, in London at Heathrow Airport and extradited to the United States, to be charged with the crime. On March 10, 1969, he entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary. He later made many attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and be tried by a jury, but was unsuccessful; he died in prison on April 23, 1998, at the age of 70.

Forgiveness

1. Based on the case of Yale student Richard Herrin, who murdered his ex-girlfriend and was supported by the Catholic Church after confessing to his Parish priest after the killing.
2. Based on the Bonnie Garland murder case. In the early morning hours of July 7, 1977, Yale graduate student Richard Herrin bludgeoned Yale college senior Bonnie Garland to death with a hammer as she lay sleeping in her parent's Scarsdale, New York, home. Herrin was arrested. A group led by members of the clergy of Yale's Catholic Church campaigned to have Herrin released on bail. They raised bail money and wrote letters attesting to Herrin's "good character" to the trial judge. Impressed by the campaign, the judge released Herrin into the care of the Christian Brothers in Albany. The tactics used by Herrin's lawyer, Jack T. Litman, have become known as 'blame the victim' defense. Richard Herrin was convicted of manslaughter, rather than first degree murder. He served 17 years in prison, and was released on January 12, 1995.

The Corporate Veil

Wedded Bliss

Helpless

Self Defense

1. The brand of the camera Mr. Costas installed in his shop was called Tracon. In the episode entitled Trust, that was the name of the drug blamed for Jamie Maser's behavior in the shooting death of his friend.

Prince of Darkness

1. According to this episode the events of the show take place in the 33rd Precinct. However, future episodes "moved" the show to the 27th Precinct where it is today.
2. Last episode with Paul Sorvino.

Point of View

1. First appearance of Jerry Orbach as Det. Lennie Briscoe, a role he'd play through the end of season 14.
2. This episode marks the final appearance of Paul Sorvino as Philp Cerreta. Paul Sorvino left the show because he feared the cold New York locations were damaging his voice. Sorvino is a tenor as well as an actor. And because Sorvino wanted to devote more time to his music.

Consultation

1. In a nod to real life, the flirtation between Chris Noth and Beverly Johnson was not difficult, as the two were in a long-term relationship at the time that would end in 1995.
2. Wendell Pierce and Seth Gilliam also starred together in The Wire

Extended Family

1. Based on the Faye Yager case. Yager, for at least a decade starting in the mid 1980's, facilitated non-custodial parents in kidnapping their own children and then hiding that parent & the children in another country. She seems to have been very successful at this and she claims to have helped 7,000 spouses. However the missing children's community who have followed her cases have established that the number of women that she has actually helped are more likely to be in the hundreds. They also found that there was no conclusive evidence that the mother or child's lives were in jeopardy and it is indeed Faye Yager and members of her group that construct false allegations against the left behind parent.
2. During the hearing about the accusation video tape the judge references the Claus Von Bulow case. In that case, the judge allowed evidence that was obtained by a third party with a vested interest (namely a black bag with syringes and insulin that was found by a private detective hired by the son of Von Bulow's wife, his supposed victim, who wanted Von Bulow incarcerated). This decision was highly controversial and has lead many to question whether Von Bulow did in fact kill his wife.

Right to Counsel

1. Thomas Hill's final performance.

Night & Fog

1. Based on the John Demjanjuk (a.k.a. "Ivan the Terrible") case. John Demjanjuk (born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demianiuk; was a retired Ukrainian-American auto worker, a former soldier in the Soviet Red Army, and a POW during the Second World War. John Demjanjuk was accused being Ivan the Terrible, the nickname given to a notorious guard Ivan Marchenko, at the Treblinka extermination camp during the Holocaust. The moniker alluded to Ivan IV, also known as Ivan the Terrible, the infamous Tsar of Russia. Iin 2011 he was accused of war crimes as a different guard named Ivan Demjanjuk who served at the Sobibor extermination camp. Already in 1944 a cruel guard named "Ivan", sharing the distinct duties and the extremely violent behavior with a guard named "Nicholas", is mentioned in survivor literature (Rok w Treblince by Jankiel Wiernik, translated into English as A Year in Treblinka in 1945); however, very little is known about Ivan Marchenko.
2. The title of 'Night and Fog' refers to the Nazi decree of Night and Fog (Nacht und Nebel) issued in December 1941 authorizing the Gestapo to arrest political opponents to the Nazi regime. It also allowed the shooting of sabateurs and commandos without trial.

Promises to Keep

1. First of three series appearances of Lindsay Crouse. She would return in Season 10 in Law & Order: DNR (1999), where her character who was a judge died, and then finally in Season 16 in Law & Order: Red Ball (2005) where she again played a judge. She also played a different judge seven times in Seasons 11 and 12 in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).

Mother Love

1. First appearance of Edie Falco, who portrayed defense attorney Sally Bell in four "Law & Order" episodes from 1993 to 1998 until being cast on The Sopranos (1999).

Jurisdiction

1. French title: Question de juridiction.

Conduct Unbecoming

1. Based on the Tailhook '91 scandal case. In September 1991, the 35th annual symposium in Las Vegas featured a two-day debrief on Navy and Marine Corps aviation in Operation Desert Storm. It was the largest such meeting yet held, with some 4,000 attendees: active, reserve, and retired personnel. According to a Department of Defense report, 83 women and 7 men stated that they had been victims of assault and sexual harassment during the meeting. A series of official investigations was conducted, but all were widely criticized, involving official cover-ups by senior Navy and civilian officials and denial of due process to hundreds of individuals, most of whom were not accused of any wrongdoing.
2. Cast includes Chris Noth and Julianna Margulies who would appear together in The Good Wife years later.

Animal Instinct

Virus

1. Dana Elcar, who played Robert Cook, really was blind. He started losing his sight due to Glaucoma when he was playing the part of Peter Thornton on the TV series MacGyver (1985).
2. Lennie Briscoe was born on January 2, 1940.

Securitate

Manhood

1. Notable for a standout guest performance by a young Sam Rockwell.

Benevolence

1. This was both Dann Florek and Richard Brooks's final appearance as regular cast members. They were let go after the season because the network decided a female presence was needed on the show in order to attract more women viewers. Florek's character was later brought back for the spin-off Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Brooks revived his character as a defense attorney in several later episodes.
2. Both Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks) and Jamie Ross (Carey Lowell) played Assistant District Attorneys and, after leaving the show, returned and played defense attorneys.