Jerry Orbach tried out for the characters of Detective Sergeants Maxwell Greevey and Philp Ceretta but was passed over in favor of
George Dzundza and
Paul Sorvino, respectively. After playing the role of Frank Lehrman in this episode, Orbach replaced Sorvino after Sorvino decided he didn't care for the New York climate as he feared it would affect his singing voice. Orbach's gruff demeanor was so popular with the producers they decided to replace
Chris Noth's similar style (which they considered a lack of variety in characterizations) and have the younger character be more of a contrast to make Briscoe be more prominent.
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