Lennie Briscoe Leaves Law & Order

Leonard W. Briscoe

Last night's season finale of Law & Order featured the final appearance of Jerry Orbach as eternally wisecracking Detective Lennie Briscoe. In a divergence from the usual L&O practice of not dwelling on the police-or-law characters, attention was drawn to how Briscoe was leaving the precinct, Green's reaction, opening the door for working with the D.A.'s office, and Briscoe packing up his desk. As a result, Gothamist feels the cases were a little rushed (a couple loose ends and, Elizabeth Rohm, even though your hair is looking fabulous these days, could you be any more shrill?), if fun for the Strangers on a Train reference. And Lennie's pithy one-liner to the woman having an affair with the delivery guy - "Guess he was delivering more than just packages, huh?" - was a great last shot.

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And, yes, Gothamist got a little teary when Lennie packed up his boxes and left the squadroom. It was a nice moment from Orbach, Jesse L. Martin, and S. Epatha Merkerson - not too sappy, but we're sure there were tears when the cameras stopped rolling. We're getting Lennie Briscoe t-shirts in honor of him.

And The Ledger, the Law & Order blog, has a great write-up of the episode, complete with screengrabs and links to posts about the last episodes of other characters. And Gothamist on all things Lennie Briscoe and Jerry Orbach, plus our visit to the set of Law & Order and pictures from filming the season finale at Riverside Park.

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Comments (10) [rss]

Jesus! I was thinking the same thing about ER's hair -- it looked AMAZING but she is still SO nasal and shrill... Also, though I love SW I feel like he's got a Foghorn Leghorn thing going on sometimes with his voice.

I would dare Jen to wear that Briscoe t-shirt to the next bloggers meet, but I only have $5 to wager. (See Gothamist on Livin' Large in the City - I'm saving up for an omlette)

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hey, jen: know of any plans by NBC to re-air the season finale for those who missed it and don't have Tivo?

Wondering how to e-mail Jerry Orbach. I have some personal information I would like to write him about. Please let me know how to get the note to him.

Do you know what Jerry Orbach will be doing since he has now left such a great show that he made so wonderful..

My TV's been broken for a couple of months. Now I'm sad.

What I'm really looking forward to would be for Orbach to reprise his role in "Chicago" on Broadway. Think it might happen?

James Cagney was never a gangster, nor was Jerry Orbach every really just a TV actor. They were in fact, song and dance men from the broadway stage. Cagney could sing and dance faster than a speeding bullet and Orbach could belt our "Try to Remember" and "42nd Street" better than any other "TV" actors on planet Earth.

Earl Dean Mitchell, Ph.D., CTC, MCC

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Why doesn't anybody ask and answer the question :
Why is Jerry Orbach leaving Law and Order?

Just wondering.

Stan

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Why doesn't anybody ask and answer the question :
Why is Jerry Orbach leaving Law and Order?

Just wondering.

Stan

It's a pity Orbach is leaving. He gave the show such a distinctive flavor. BTW, anyone knows Rohm's email, wanted to send her an email. Thanks
Frank

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