Law & Order

Season 17

Fame

1. Ed Green's first episode as senior detective.
2. Dennis Farina's exit from the series at the end of the previous season is explained with the mention that Fontana retired.
3. Nina Cassady is the series' first, and only, female detective co-lead.
4. Jesse L. Martin and Wayne Wilcox (J-train) appeared in Rent. Jesse L. Martin took time off this show to do Rent.

Avatar

Home Sweet

1. Jenna Wechsler was murdered on September 14, 2006.

Fear America

Public Service Homicide

1. The "Hard Focus" show is obviously based on Dateline's "To Catch a Predator".

Profiteer

In Vino Veritas

1. Inspired by the drunken driving stops of actor Mel Gibson and U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-Rhode Island).
2. "In vino veritas" is Latin for "in wine, truth", and loosely means that one under the influence of alcohol is more likely to speak their hidden feelings and desires.

Release

1. Cheryl Perkins committed suicide on October 24, 2004.

Deadlock

1. This episode is based on the Wendy's Massacre case where five people were killed during a robbery at a New York City Wendy's. One of the killers was sentenced to death but New York State's highest court overturned the death penalty in New York in 2004 which commuted the killer's sentence to life in prison.

Corner Office

Remains of the Day

Charity Case

Talking Points

1. A year before this episode aired, Louis Cancelmi, who portrays the character of murder suspect and defendant Malcolm Yates, married Elisabeth Waterston- Sam Waterston's daughter.

Church

1. The rule that McCoy and Rubirosa mention about churches losing their tax-exempt status if they become political organizations is section 501(c) of the United States Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)), specifically, 501(c)(3).

Melting Pot

1. The murder in this episode is based on the murder of Adrienne Shelly by the illegal Ecuadorian construction worker named Diego Pillco on November 1, 2006. Shelly previously played Wendy Alston in Law & Order: High & Low (2000).
2. Adrienne Shelly, on whose murder the episode is based, appeared in the season ten episode "Law & Order: High & Low (2000)".

Murder Book

Good Faith

1. Jack McCoy tells Jacob Reese that he broke the Fifth Commandment when he committed murder. In most religions, the commandment against murder is the sixth, except in Roman Catholicism. McCoy has been described by Executive Producer Dick Wolf as a lapsed Catholic, and in this scene he shows his roots.
2. This is the last of 13 appearances by defense attorney Danielle Melnick, portrayed by Tovah Feldshuh, in the original Law and Order series. The character also appeared in the series finale of Law and Order:Criminal Intent.

Bling

1. The name Roxy Black is derived from the real-life rapper Foxy Brown.

Fallout

1. Only episode that Jack McCoy's daughter appears.
2. Hall of Fame tennis pro Billie Jean King appears as an arraignment judge.

Captive

Over Here

The Family Hour

1. The casting problems come to the fore with this episode. We see a bearded Jeremy Sisto as barrister Clint Glover. In the very next episode, with some major casting changes, we see Sisto playing Detective Cyrus Lupo.
2. This is the last episode in which Fred Dalton Thompson appears. The actor left the series to pursue the Republican nomination for the 2008 Presidential Election.
3. The crime novel "Two-Lane Blacktop" by Lance Drury does not exist.