The third season of Law & Order aired on NBC between September 23, 1992, and May 19, 1993 which remained unchanged. This season marked the introduction of Jerry Orbach as Lennie Briscoe, who replaced Paul Sorvino after "Prince of Darkness." A year prior, Orbach had guest starred as a defense attorney in at least one season two episode: “Wages of Love”. At the end of the season, both Dann Florek and Richard Brooks departed the main cast.

Cast and characters

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 Florek eventually joining the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Main cast

Recurring cast

Notable guest stars

In addition to above, Law & Order season 3's notable guest stars included: Alberta Watson, Murphy Guyer, Claire Danes, Maeve McGuire, John Rothman, David Bailey, Gina Torres, Yul Vazquez, Lauren Ambrose, Billy Van, Joe Morton, Michael Jace, Jephté Guillaume, Michael Genet, Kirk Taylor, Laurence Luckinbill, Luis Antonio Ramos, Richard Holmes, Chris Bauer, Suzanne Cryer, Mara Hobel, Sarah Litzsinger, Boris McGiver, Bruce Norris, Robert Milli, Elizabeth Hubbard, Michael Lombard, Harriet Sansom Harris, Wendy Barrie-Wilson, Justine Miceli, John Ortiz, Patti D'Arbanville, John Pankow, Bill Raymond, José Zúñiga, Lisa Vidal, Walter Bobbie, Leslie Lyles, Bill Fiore, Vincent Pastore, Glenn Taranto, Paul Hecht, Felicity Huffman, Tracey Ellis, Howard Witt, Michele Pawk, Adam Lefevre, Mark Shannon, Ethan Phillips, Janet Ward, Adam Arkin, Marissa Chibás, Ron Rifkin, Robert Hirschfeld, Jon Manfrellotti, Wai Ching Ho, Paul Schulze, Lou Martini Jr., Rosanna DeSoto, Saundra Santiago, Mark Margolis, Shawn Elliott, Jaime Sánchez, Lonny Price, Lizan Mitchell, Carlos Sanz, Gary Perez, Catherine Gardner, Lisa Eichhorn, Gary Basaraba, Caroline Aaron, Alan North, Cara Duff-MacCormick, Peter McRobbie, Tony Lip, Roscoe Lee Browne, Andrew Robinson, Wendell Pierce, Keith Szarabajka, Talia Balsam, Seth Gilliam, Beatrice Winde, Afemo Omilami, Beverly Johnson, Paul Eckstein, Reggie Montgomery, Charles Malik Whitfield, Liz Larsen, Denise Burse, Kwaku Sintim-Misa, Barry Primus, Michael McGuire, Brian Markinson, Anna Holbrook, Joyce Van Patten, Matthew Sussman, Madeline Zima, Olga Merediz, Carol Woods, Mary Mara, Richard Cox, Darrell Larson, Alice Hirson, Thomas Hill, Ted Sorel, Donna Murphy, Floyd Vivino, Nehemiah Persoff, Reizl Bozyk, Chip Zien, Diane Venora, Danny Maseng, Bahni Turpin, Beryl Bernay, Paul Schulze, Lindsay Crouse, Fritz Weaver, Gail Strickland, Jenny O'Hara, Fred Weller, Robert Sedgwick, Mary Alice, Kelly Neal, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, Douglas Turner Ward, Fatima Faloye, Frances Foster, Carl Cofield, Matt Malloy, Dan Hedaya, Paul McCrane, Michael Badalucco, Leslie Ayvazian, Tibor Feldman, Paul D'Amato, Amy Ryan, James Colby, Len Cariou, Boyd Gaines, George Coe, Michael Dolan, Julianna Margulies, Dick Latessa, Richard Hamilton, Joe Chrest, Barbara Blackburn, Mark Hildreth, Frances Fisher, Lawrence Pressman, Charles Brown, Allan Arbus, Peter Maloney, Mary Joy, Martina Deignan, Stephen Elliott, Dana Elcar, Paul Calderón, Stivi Paskoski, Beth Fowler, Harold Perrineau, John Dossett, Jim Fyfe, Lynne Marta, Jim Moody, James A. Baffico, Morgan Weisser, David Margulies, Richard E. Council, Alan King, Jorja Fox, Charles Hallahan, Sam Rockwell, Robert Moresco, Dan Grimaldi, Kevin Hagen, Sofia Landon Geier, Peter Kass, Patrick Kerr, Meredith Scott Lynn, Camryn Manheim and Leon Russom.

Episodes