Law and Order - The Third Year (1992-1993 Season)
Law & Order's third year marked a transitional one for the top-rated drama. In 1992, Jerry Orbach (Prince of the City) joined the cast. His Det. Lenny Briscoe would turn out to be one of its most enduring characters. After Sgt. Phil Ceretta (Paul Sorvino) is shot by a gun dealer in episode eight ("Prince of Darkness"), Briscoe teams up with Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth) in the next ("Point of View"). It wasn't meant to be a permanent change (Ceretta was injured, not killed), but the two would continue to beat the streets until Logan's departure in 1995 (Orbach, meanwhile, would remain part of theLaw & Orderuniverse until his passing in 2004).The line-up was otherwise the same: Capt. Donald Craven (Dann Florek), ADA Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks), ADA Benjamin Stone (Michael Moriarty), and DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill). In the following season, however, Craven will be replaced by Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), the show's first regular female character (not counting Carolyn McCormick, who was billed as a featured player). The third season would also be Robinette's last; he will be replaced by Claire Kinkaid (Jill Hennessy) in the fourth. Meanwhile, Florek would go on to joinLaw & Order: Special Victims Unitin 1999 (while Noth would joinLaw & Order: Criminal Intentin 2005).DuringLaw & Order's third season, a number of soon-to-be-famous TV actors would put in appearances. They include Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under), Claire Danes (My So-Called Life), Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives), Edie Falco and Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos), Adam Arkin (Chicago Hope), Michael Badalucco and Camryn Manheim (The Practice), Ron Rifkin (Alias), and Julianna Margulies (E.R.). The Emmy for Best Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, however, was reserved for Broadway dynamo Elaine Stritch in "Point of View."--Kathleen C. Fennessy