William N. Fordes Movies

An explosion in a rent-controlled tenement building results in a single fatality. It is later revealed that the victim, identified as Jeffrey Haden, had his neck broken and was tied up before the explosion. Things take an even more disturbing turn when "Jeffrey Haden" turns out to be an alias for Juseff Haddad who, despite his minimum-wage job, was able to maintain a bank account totalling 89,000 dollars. Dianne Wiest makes her last series appearance as Interim D.A. Nora Lewin in this, the final episode of Law & Order's 12th season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A tourist's video recorder captures the image of three men loading a stolen plasma TV into an SUV. The light-fingered trio find themselves murder suspects when a dead woman turns up in the apartment that they apparently robbed. As the trial progresses, ADA Serena Southerlyn (Elisabeth Rohm) cannot shake the feeling that the circumstantial evidence is not sufficient to send three dumbfounded people to their deaths. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A body fished out of the East River turns out to be that of Karen Hall, a criminal investigator with the State Attorney General's office. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Greene (Jesse L. Martin) launch their investigation by questioning Hall's boss Conroy (Nestor Serrano), who theorizes that Karen was kidnapped and killed while on a case. Things change dramatically when the facts surrounding Conroy's tempestuous private life (and his hold over three different women) come to light. Writer Fran Lebowitz makes the first of several cameo appearances as Arraignment Judge Goldberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Best-selling mystery writer P.K. Todd (Ruthie Henshall) is shot in her apartment. Not long afterward, Todd's accountant dies. Could all this have been the result of a love triangle? And how do those two FBI agents figure into the story? To quote the original ad copy for this episode, "You WON'T BELIEVE how this one ends." Tom Berenger makes a guest appearance as Dean Tyler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season ten of Law & Order had ended on a cliffhanger of sorts, with an international trial involving the son of a prominent diplomat casting serious doubt upon the reelection of DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill). In the first episode of the series' 11th season, it was learned that Schiff had, indeed, left office -- not due to a lack of voter turnout, but because he had been appointed by the U.S. government to supervise an upcoming Holocaust memorial in Holland. Until Schiff's replacement could be elected, it was necessary to appoint an interim DA, former law school ethics professor Nora Lewin -- played by Oscar-winning actress Dianne Wiest, whose character's predetermined "temporary" status reflected Wiest's reluctance to tie herself down to a long-running weekly series. Seemingly softer and less curmudgeonly than Schiff, Lewin nonetheless possessed what Executive Producer Dick Wolf described as a "steely reserve," which surfaced whenever it was necessary to the story. Otherwise, the cast members from season ten were carried over into season 11, though it was fairly common knowledge that actress Angie Harmon, cast as ADA Abbie Carmichael, would be departing the series to seek out different projects once her contract was up. Harmon's predecessor, Carey Lowell, made another return appearance as former ADA Jamie Ross, again acting as a defense attorney in opposition to her former colleagues. In addition, acerbic writer Fran Lebowitz made the first of several cameo appearances as Arraignment Judge Goldberg. Among the hot-button issues touched upon during the series' 11th season were the potential dangers of prison budget cutbacks, TV "reality" shows, the loopholes inherent in Israel's "Law of Return" for Jewish citizens, the gay adoption controversy, and, perhaps inevitably, the hotly contested 2000 presidential election. One episode, "Sunday in the Park With Jorge," was attacked by a number of ethnic special-interest groups because it depicted a Central Park "wilding" incident during an Hispanic Pride Festival. Although producer Wolf would not categorically apologize for the story's content, citing the real-life incident on which it was based, he agreed to remove the offending episode from Law & Order's syndicated rerun package. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The detectives scour the streets for clues after the murder of a schizophrenic woman. Their search results in the arrest of a homeless man who likewise has severe mental problems. The suspect's defense hinges upon his right to refuse his antidepressant medication -- which, according to attorney Danielle Melnick (Tovah Feldshuh), will render her client mentally incompetent and thus unable to stand trial for murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 200th episode of Law & Order is set in motion when a professor of philosophy is pushed in front of a subway train. Investigating the murder, detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) must deal with a wily suspect (Jay O. Sanders) who changed his identity and place of residence after a bitter divorce and child-custody battle. Can the key to the mystery be found with the suspect's ex-wife, or with the children he "appropriated" before taking flight? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The detectives and the lawyers tackle the mystery of a female patient found beaten to death in a hospital lounge. Ingredients vital to the solution are a glib "gentleman" specializing in wooing wealthy women and the effects of Alzheimer's disease on the sufferer's family. The supporting cast of this episode features such reliable veteran players as Glynnis O'Connor and Kathryn Hays. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carey Lowell makes a return appearance as former A.D.A. Jamie Ross, now in private practice as a defense attorney. Jamie's reunion with her former partner Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) and boss Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) is hardly a festive occasion: She is representing a previous client who claims to have new evidence concerning a death-row prisoner. If what her client says is true, Jamie is in the unenviable position of going head to head with her ex-colleagues in a tense courtroom battle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With the eighth-season departure of series regular Carey Lowell as ADA Jamie Ross, Angie Harmon joined the cast of Law & Order at the beginning of its ninth season. Harmon, of course, played Ross' replacement, ADA Abbie Carmichael, who, if anything, was even more zealous in her pursuit of justice than her new partner Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston). Having racked up a 95 percent conviction rate while working in Special Narcotics, Carmichael tackled her new job with a zeal and ferocity that shocked even the ruthless McCoy -- to say nothing of her sanguine boss, DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill). There were no ninth-season changes amongst the series' detectives, with Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) continuing to track down clues and collar perps under the supervision of Lt. Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson). However, actor Bratt was anxious to pursue other professional vistas, and thus it was arranged to write Rey Curtis out of the series during the final episode, explaining that he had requested a desk job so that he could devote more time to his wife, who was suffering from multiple sclerosis. But before his character's departure, Bratt managed to persuade his then-girlfriend, cinema superstar Julia Roberts, to appear in a guest role in the episode "Empire." The result was one of Roberts' finest performances, which earned the actress an Emmy. Of the many headline-inspired episodes in season nine, one was a standout: "Sideshow," the series' third and final crossover with the NBC crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street. Clearly inspired by the ongoing efforts to impeach President Bill Clinton, the episode featured a somewhat sinister independent counsel named William Dell, who, as played by George Hearn, bore a striking resemblance to the much-maligned Kenneth Starr. Law & Order closed its ninth season with a powerful two-parter involving the Russian mafia. On this occasion, Carolyn McCormick made a return visit to the series as former police psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Olivet, a recurring character who had been more or less supplanted during the previous two seasons by J.K. Simmons as Dr. Emil Skoda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fans of Law & Order -- and there were many, many more than there had been in previous years -- were somewhat surprised that the series entered its eighth season with no changes in the regular cast. detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) were still upholding the "Law" at the behest of their NYPD boss Lt. Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), while ADAs McCoy (Sam Waterston) and Ross (Carey Lowell) continued to maintain "Order" on behalf of their superior, DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill). In other carryovers from past seasons, the series staged its second crossover with the NBC crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street with the episode "Baby, It's You;" as before, selected Homicide cast members appeared on Law & Order, and vice versa. Also keeping in the tradition of its past, the series took home its third Emmy award for Outstanding Cinematography. In addition, the series continued tackling issues that were very much in the news. For example, the episode "Castoff" addressed the culpability of TV violence in fomenting real-life violence. Much more so than in previous seasons, the series boasted a number of narrative throughlines that enhanced its sense of reality and continuity. McCoy's questionable tactics in prosecuting a drunk driver in "Under the Influence" came back to haunt him in the season finale. Likewise, in that same episode, Cliff Gorman was introduced as a politically ambitious judge named Gary Feldman, who hoped to win the DA's office from Schiff in the upcoming election. Feldman received unexpected support in the form of powerful (and paranoiac) millionaire Carl Anderton (Robert Vaughn), who would not forget being "betrayed" by Schiff in the episode "Burned." Both Feldman and Anderton would converge upon the DA in the aforementioned series finale, which also boasted a subplot involving ADA Jamie Ross. To accommodate the fact that actress Carey Lowell planned to leave the series, Ross decided to retire to private practice so that she could devote her spare time to her second husband -- and to an ongoing child-custody battle with husband number one. And in more glimpses of the characters' private lives, Jennifer Bill appeared in a brace of episodes as Cathy Briscoe, the troubled, estranged daughter of detective Lennie Briscoe. The brevity of Bill's contribution to Law & Order was due to a devastating plot twist which threatened to push Briscoe over the edge and back into the bottle he'd successfully abandoned years earlier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A janitor is found murdered in a college science laboratory. The prime suspect is a student employee (Mark Bateman) with a troubled past. In a spectacular, suspenseful, and emotional climax, the D.A.'s office goes after a college scientist (John Bedford Lloyd) indulging in experimental drug research -- a prosecution which hinges upon a suppressed medical report. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide