Law & Order

Season 8

Thrill

Denial

1. Based on the case of Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson. On November 12, 1996, Grossberg, then an 18-year-old at the University of Delaware, gave birth to a baby boy in a room at the Comfort Inn in Newark, Delaware. She had hid her pregnancy from everyone but Peterson. Peterson, then an 18-year-old student at Gettysburg College, and Grossberg's longtime boyfriend delivered the child. Conflicting stories have made the subsequent events a mystery to anyone except the couple, but Peterson and Grossberg claim they believed the infant to be stillborn, wrapped him in a garbage bag, and disposed of him in a dumpster. The bloody sheets were discovered by a cleaning woman, who immediately contacted police. After returning to school, Grossberg began to have severe seizures as a result of not having expelled the placenta. She was taken to a hospital, and it was clear to the doctors that she had just given birth. Not long after, police officials and the hospital put the two incidents together. K-9 Police dogs found the body in the dumpster.
2. This is J.K. Simmons first appearance as Dr. Emil Skoda.

Navy Blues

1. The murder victim's name is Robert J. Stroud. In real life Robert F. Stroud was the "Birdman of Alcatraz". A convicted murderer serving a life sentence, He became a world famous ornithologist while in prison. "Birdman of Alcatraz " was a 1962 movie starring Burt Lancaster.

Harvest

Nullification

1. One of two episodes where Denis O'Hare plays a defendant who represents himself in court. The other time was in the sixth season episode Law & Order: Pro Se (1996)

Baby, It's You

1. The storyline of this episode is concluded in Homicide: Life on the Street: Baby, It's You (1997). Jerry Orbach (Detective Lennie Briscoe), Sam Waterston (EADA Jack McCoy), Benjamin Bratt (Detective Rey Curtis) and Carey Lowell (ADA Jamie Ross) all play their Law & Order (1990) characters in that episode whereas Richard Belzer (Detective John Munch), Yaphet Kotto (Lt. Al Giardello), Jon Seda (Detective Paul Falsone) and Zeljko Ivanek (ASA Ed Danvers) all play their Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) characters in this episode.In Law & Order (1990) syndication, the continuation episode is never seen, instead skipping to Law & Order: Blood (1997). In syndication, there is no on-screen information such as to be continued. It ends with McCoy mentioning prosecuting Janaway and Skoda telling McCoy about child sexual predators. There is an extended black screen prior to Dick Wolf's producer credit being displayed that in the original airing indicated a continuation. In the L&O 8th Season DVD set, "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993) {Baby, It's You (#6.5)} is included as a bonus feature for continuity.
2. This episode features a Bond girl and a Bond villain: Carey Lowell (Jamie Ross) played Pam Bouvier in Licence to Kill (1989) while Yaphet Kotto (Al Giardello) played Dr. Kananga (Mr. Big) in Live and Let Die (1973).
3. This episode takes place in October 1997.

Blood

1. Adam Schiff's quote "Back then they had lynch mobs and bull-whips; now they use toilet plungers" likely refers to the beating and forced sodomy with a broom handle of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima by Brooklyn NYPD officers. The case made national news that summer, a few months before this episode first aired.

Shadow

1. Kate Mara's first TV role.
2. Jack says, 'We thought we were looking for a crooked d.a.' It should be a crooked a.d.a. . Adam Schiff is the DA.

Burned

Ritual

Under the Influence

Expert

Castoff

1. During the trial, Eddie Chandler lists The A-Team (1983) as one of the 'violent action shows' he grew up watching. "The A-Team" was notorious for having massive gunfire, multiple explosions and numerous car and aircraft crashes, but nobody ever died. Despite being a #1 show in America during the 80's, the show came under fire by parental and political groups alike for being too violent, and was even frowned upon by their own network, NBC. Reportedly, Robert Keeshan blamed the show for America's drug problem. By vast comparison, in the Netherlands in the 1980s, the show was widely loved because 'there was no violence'.

Grief

Faccia a Faccia

1. The title, "Faccia a faccia", is Italian for "Face to face".

Divorce

Carrier

1. Heather Burns (who guest starred in this episode) co-starred in Miss Congeniality with Benjamin Bratt (who played Det. Rey Curtis.)

Stalker

Disappeared

Burden

1. Leslie Hendrix was pregnant while filming this episode.

Bad Girl

1. This episode is most likely inspired by Karla Faye Tucker, a Texas woman who was executed in 1998 despite pleas on her behalf because she had converted to Christianity and become a model inmate. Karla, along with her accomplice murdered several people with a hammer and pickaxe.
2. The episode's murder suspect is played by Isabel Gillies, who later had a recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) as Elliot Stabler's wife Kathy.

Damaged

1. This is the episode where detective Lennie Briscoe daughter is killed at the end of the episode
2. Judge Wright set aside the verdict in this episode just as he did in the episode entitled gunshow.

Tabloid

1. This episode was co-written by actor Alec Baldwin, who based the episode in part on his own experiences with tabloid journalism.
2. The victim, whose face is never seen, is named Maggie Abbott. That was also the name of Tom Hanks' dead wife, Maggie Abbott (Baldwin) in "Sleepless in Seattle," the role played by actress Carrey Lowell, who plays Jamie Ross, the assistant to ADA Jack McCoy.
3. Ironically, Alec Baldwin later played a journalist in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) episode "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Criminal Stories (2014)".

Monster

1. Lennie's daughter Cathy Briscoe was born on June 23, 1971 and was murdered on March 4, 1998. Per IMDb, the actress who played her, Jennifer Estlin, was actually born on November 21, 1964.
2. This was Carey Lowell's last episode as a regular cast member. She would later guest star in two episodes as the same character (Jamie Ross).