Law & Order

Trivia: Before his transfer to the NYPD, Joe Fontana (played by Dennis Farina) worked as a detective in Chicago. Before becoming an actor, Farina served in the Chicago police department, both as a police officer and a detective. Farina also played a Chicago police officer on the short-lived 1980s TV series Crime Story.

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Trivia: Both Jerry Orbach (Det. Lennie Briscoe) and S. Epatha Merkerson (Lt. Van Buren) played guest roles before joining the cast. Orbach played a lawyer in the episode "The Wages of Love" in season two, and Merkerson played the mother of a victim in "Mushrooms" in the first season.

Lummie

Trivia: Steven Hill is often credited as an original cast member, even though he did not appear in the pilot.

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Trivia: Lt. Van Buren is the longest-running African American character in an American television drama, and appeared in more episodes of L&O than any other character.

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Trivia: The scene change cards show the date and the day of the week, but the day of the week is always one off from what it should be. For example, if October 5 of a particular year was a Thursday, the scene change card will say it was a Friday. This is true throughout Law & Order, but in Law & Order SVU, the date and day of the week are in sync.

Show generally

Factual error: Detective Nina Cassady (who was introduced towards the end of Season 17) frequently wears casual tops that show far too much cleavage for a police officer on duty. If she showed up for duty dressed like that she would be sent home to change.

More mistakes in Law & Order

Det. Lennie Briscoe: Boy, I'd hate for somebody to trace me by what I read.
Det. Rey Curtis: You read, Lennie?

More quotes from Law & Order

Answer: He believed that she had become too empathetic towards the defendant they had been prosecuting, and that her actions were driven by her emotions instead of facts. While empathy is a good quality in general, a certain degree of detachment is required in order for a prosecutor to do one's job effectively.

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