"Geekiest thing I've ever seen"

Long time readers may be wondering why I've been silent on the subject of "Law & Order" for so long. My most recent dispatch on the subject was in 2001, when Elisabeth Rohm (insert umlaut) joined the cast as ADA Serena Southerlyn. (I had appropriated correspondent Bruce Holt's characterization of her as a "block of wood." My opinion has not softened much.)

I've been meaning to chime in on the recent addition of Dennis Farina as Det. Joe Fontana but the death this week of Jerry Orbach, the actor Farina replaced, means that will have to wait a bit longer.

I was reading one of the many obituaries of Orbach this morning when a comment set off alarm bells. "Orbach joined 'Law & Order' in 1995, its third season," wrote the wire reporter. Wait, thought I. Didn't he join in L&O in it's fourth season, replacing Paul Sorvino after his two-year stint?

I quickly consulted my own Law & Order Cast Timeline (copy available on request; "That may be the geekiest thing I've ever seen," someone told me recently). Sure enough, my records showed Orbach joining in season four.

But wait. Season four was Orbach's first full season. But how was Sorvino's character Det. Phil Cerreta disposed of? I remembered only that Sorvino quit L&O to play the lead in a doomed CBS cop drama, but not when he was written out. Could Orbach have been a mid-season replacement?

The internet to the rescue: Sure enough, Sorvino's character was offed in episode 51, a third of the way into season three. Orbach joined the cast the following week, bowing in November 1992.

So I'm partially vindicated: Orbach did join in the third season, but in 1992 not 1995 as Knight Ridder reported.

R.I.P., Lenny. Happy New Year, everyone. No hoops tomorrow.