Law & Order (season 3)

Law & Order (season 3)
Season 3 U.S. DVD Cover
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	22
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 23, 1992 – May 19, 1993
Season chronology

The third season of Law & Order aired on NBC between September 23, 1992, and May 19, 1993. This season marked the introduction of Jerry Orbach as Lennie Briscoe, who replaced Paul Sorvino after "Prince of Darkness." At the end of the season, both Dann Florek and Richard Brooks both departed the main cast.

Cast

Season 3 began with an unchanged cast. However, during the third and sixth episode, Carolyn McCormick was credited in the opening theme and starting with the ninth episode, she is credited for the rest of the season. This made her the first woman to be part of the cast in the series. A third of the way through, Lennie Briscoe (played by Jerry Orbach) replaced Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino) in the role of senior detective. This was the first mid-season replacement of a major character in Law & Order's history; the next would not occur until season 15. This was also the final season to feature Dann Florek as Capt. Don Cragen, and Richard Brooks as Paul Robinette. Both men would later return in guest roles, with Capt. Cragen eventually joining the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

• Paul Sorvino as Sgt. Phil Cerreta
• Jerry Orbach as Det. Lennie Briscoe
• Chris Noth as Det. Mike Logan
• Dann Florek as Capt. Don Cragen
• Michael Moriarty as E.A.D.A. Ben Stone
• Richard Brooks as A.D.A. Paul Robinette
• Steven Hill as D.A. Adam Schiff
• Carolyn McCormick as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet

Episodes

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code
45	1	"Skin Deep"	Daniel Sackheim	Robert Nathan & Gordon Rayfield	September 23, 1992	68009
After photographer Julian Decker is found murdered in his studio, Logan and Cerreta discover that Decker's real business was prostitution and acting as a pimp for models who aren't getting the work they needed. Their investigation leads to Angela Brandt, one of Decker's models who found more money working for Decker in other ways, but they also discover that Decker was romantically involved with Angela's teenage daughter. Stone realizes that something strange is going on when the case gets weaker against Angela, but all of a sudden she wants to cut a deal.
46	2	"Conspiracy"	Ed Sherin	Michael S. Chernuchin & René Balcer	September 30, 1992	68006
After Marcus Tate, the respected leader of a controversial African-American rights movement, is assassinated at a rally, Logan and Cerreta attempt to get information on the crime but are stonewalled by many of Tate's followers, who aren't interested in talking to white police officers. Photographs lead them to Mitchell Kolbin, a white man who had followed Tate religiously but who seemed to lose some of his wonderment when Tate began an affair with his wife.
47	3	"Forgiveness"	Bill D'Elia	Teleplay by: Ed Zuckerman Story by: Robert Nathan & Ed Zuckerman	October 7, 1992	68005
After Beth Milgram is found beaten to death in an alleyway after her going away party, Logan and Cerreta initially turn their suspicion to the girl's father after her fiancé, Tommy Beltran, claims that he had hit her after Beth told him they were engaged, but it isn't long before their primary suspect becomes Beltran himself. Stone has the unpleasant task of facing the renowned Cyrus Weaver, who is determined to prove that Tommy Beltran is not guilty of murdering Beth Milgram because he was a poor young man from a Mexican family who could not restrain his rage when his upper-class girlfriend broke up with him.
48	4	"The Corporate Veil"	Don Scardino	Michael S. Chernuchin & Joe Morgenstern	October 14, 1992	68007
A teenager's fatal heart attack is traced to fraud and greed on the part of the manufacturer of his pacemaker and their supplier.
49	5	"Wedded Bliss"	Vern Gillum	Robert Nathan & Edward Pomerantz	October 21, 1992	68004
The discovery of a young woman's body in the river leads to an investigation of illegal sweatshops and the enslavement of young immigrants.
50	6	"Helpless"	James Frawley	Michael S. Chernuchin & Christine Roum	November 4, 1992	68011
Dr. Olivet accuses her gynecologist of rape, but Stone finds his case in trouble when he discovers that Olivet tape-recorded the crime.
51	7	"Self-Defense"	Ed Sherin	René Balcer & Hall Powell	November 11, 1992	68008
Cerreta and Stone find themselves on opposite sides of the fence when a storeowner kills two robbers and then claims self-defense as a justification.
52	8	"Prince of Darkness"	Gilbert Shilton	Robert Nathan & William N. Fordes	November 18, 1992	68003
Cerreta poses as a weapons dealer to help Stone build a case against a Colombian hit man, but the deal takes an unexpected turn, resulting in bloodshed.
53	9	"Point of View"	Gilbert Moses	Walon Green & René Balcer	November 25, 1992	68012
Logan has trouble dealing with Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), who has been brought in while Cerreta recovers from surgery during their investigation of the murder of Tommy Duff, a small-time hood. Their investigation leads them to a woman who claims Duff raped her, and when her attorney, an old friend of Stone's from law school, calls Olivet to the stand to testify in Mary Kostrinski's defense, Schiff forces Stone to use Olivet's recent rape to discredit her testimony. Logan is upset to learn that Cerreta has accepted another position within the department and will not be returning. The first appearance of Jerry Orbach as Det. Lennie Briscoe and the last appearance of Paul Sorvino as Sgt. Phil Cerreta.
54	10	"Consultation"	James Hayman	Matt Kiene & Joseph Reinkemeyer	December 9, 1992	68014
An engineer and a tribal chief become the chief suspects in the death of a Nigerian woman who died while smuggling heroin internally. This episode was later remade as Law & Order: UK season 2 episode titled "Love and Loss".
55	11	"Extended Family"	Charles Correll	Teleplay by: Wendell Rawls & Robert Nathan Story by: Wendell Rawls	January 6, 1993	68015
When Janet Silver kidnaps her daughter from the mall, Logan and Briscoe are sent in to investigate and learn that she committed the crime with the assistance of a children's help organization after going to them with fears that the little girl's father was sexually abusing her.
56	12	"Right to Counsel"	James Frawley	Michael S. Chernuchin & Barry M. Schkolnick	January 13, 1993	68019
After Stone accepts a plea bargain from the much younger and poorer lover of a wealthy older woman found murdered in her apartment, he begins to have doubts that he has sent the right man to prison, especially as he learns more about the attorney who handled the woman's estate.
57	13	"Night and Fog"	Ed Sherin	Michael S. Chernuchin & René Balcer	February 3, 1993	68018
The confession of an elderly man that he assisted his wife in committing suicide doesn't fully satisfy Stone when rumors surface that the man was once a Nazi collaborator.
58	14	"Promises to Keep"	Ed Sherin	Teleplay by: Robert Nathan & Joshua Stern Story by: William N. Fordes & Douglas Stark	February 10, 1993	68022
The investigation into the murder of a young physician leads to the discovery of an unorthodox and illegal relationship between her fiancé and his psychiatrist. This episode was later remade as Law & Order: UK season 4 episode titled "ID".
59	15	"Mother Love"	Daniel Sackheim	Teleplay by: Robert Nathan Story by: Walon Green & Robert Nathan	February 24, 1993	68024
The absence of a murder weapon complicates the investigation into the murder of a drug addict who stole from her family to support her habit.
60	16	"Jurisdiction"	Bruce Seth Green	Walon Green & René Balcer	March 3, 1993	68017
Stone battles the Brooklyn D.A.'s office over prosecutorial jurisdiction in the case of a mentally handicapped man who confesses to the stabbing deaths of two women.
61	17	"Conduct Unbecoming"	Arthur W. Forney	Teleplay by: Michael S. Chernuchin & René Balcer Story by: Walon Green & Peter S. Greenberg	March 10, 1993	68023
Stone and the police battle the closed ranks of the Navy to investigate the death of a female Naval officer during a party in a Manhattan hotel. Based on the 1991 Tailhook scandal[1]
62	18	"Animal Instinct"	Ed Sherin	Michael S. Chernuchin & Sibyl Gardner	March 17, 1993	68021
The initial investigation into the death of a research scientist leads to an animal-rights group until evidence surfaces that her husband's affair with a coworker may point to a possible motive for the murder. When the husband is acquitted, the investigation turns to the individual who provided evidence of the affair.
63	19	"Virus"	Steven Robman	Michael S. Chernuchin & René Balcer	April 21, 1993	68010
While investigating several deaths at a diabetes clinic, Briscoe and Logan discover that teenage computer hackers may have tampered with the clinic's medical database.
64	20	"Securitate"	James Hayman	Matt Kiene & Joe Reinkemeyer	May 5, 1993	68026
When a Romanian immigrant kills, his lawyer announces he will plead his client "not guilty due to cultural insanity" claiming the man had been conditioned to violence in his homeland.
65	21	"Manhood"	Ed Sherin	Teleplay by: Robert Nathan Story by: Walon Green & Robert Nathan	May 12, 1993	68025
The statement of a drug dealer who survived a shoot-out that killed a cop leads Logan and Briscoe to suspect that the cop died because he was gay and his fellow officers were reluctant to back him up. This episode was later remade as the Law & Order: UK season 2 episode titled "Samaritan".
66	22	"Benevolence"	Ed Sherin	Teleplay by: René Balcer & Douglas Palau Story by: Douglas Palau	May 19, 1993	68028
Logan and Briscoe begin their investigation into the death of a hearing-impaired young woman by questioning her two most recent boyfriends. Last appearances of Dann Florek as Capt. Don Cragen and Richard Brooks as ADA Paul Robinette as series regulars.

Notes and references

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2013-07-15.

• Eric Bogosian, who guest starred as a defense attorney in the episodes "Conspiracy" and "Night and Fog", would later have a starring role in the Law & Order spin-off, Criminal Intent.

External links

• Law & Order at TV.com
• Episode guide from NBC.com