History Trivia / LALaw

** Either way it was decided, Rosalind Shays' death was ''highly'' unusual at the time, as most TV character deaths before [[TheNineties the mid-'90s]] (when Series/NYPDBlue, yet ''another'' groundbreaking Creator/StevenBochco series, premiered), occured either during a season finale, or between seasons. Shays death in the ''middle'' of a '''''regular''''' episode (which was neither a season premier ''nor'' a season closer), shocked the viewers, and remains one of the most memorable moments of American drama from [[TheEighties late '80s]] and early '90s.

** Either way it was decided, Rosalind Shays' death was ''highly'' unusual at the time, as most TV character deaths before [[TheNineties the mid-'90s]] (when Series/NYPDBlue, yet ''another'' groundbreaking Creator/StevenBochco series, premiered), occured either during a season finale, or between seasons. Shays death in the ''middle'' of a '''''regular''''' episode (which was neither a season premier ''nor'' a season closer), shocked the viewers, and remains one of the most memorable moments of American drama from [[TheEighties late '80s]] and early '90s]].

** Either way it was decided, Rosalind Shays' death was ''highly'' unusual at the time, as most TV character deaths before [[TheNineties the mid-'90s]] (when Series/NYPDBlue premiered), occured either during a season finale, or between seasons. Shays death in the ''middle'' of a '''''regular''''' episode (which was neither a season premier ''nor'' a season closer), shocked the viewers, and remains one of the most memorable moments of American drama from [[TheEighties late '80s]] and early '90s]].

** Either way it was decided, Rosalind Shays' death was highly unusual at the time, as most TV character deaths before [[TheNineties the mid-'90s]] (when Series/NYPDBlue premiered), occured either during a season finale, or between seasons. Shays death in the ''middle'' of a '''''regular''''' episode (which was neither a season premier ''nor'' a season closer), shocked the viewers, and remains one of the most memorable moments of American drama from [[TheEighties late '80s]] and early '90s]].

* ActorLeavesCharacterDies: Creator/DianaMuldaur's departure resulted in her character Rosalind Shays walking into an open elevator shaft. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv3ifsSVl5k Muldaur didn't even know her character was being killed off before reading the script.]] It should be noted that this was not because of dislike of Muldaur, but rather because the writers hated the character, who was very harsh and bitchy, and they thought the character was ruining the show. Alternatively, however, then executive producer Creator/DavidEKelley claimed in an "Emmy TV Legends" interview that he actually loved the character very much, and actually had Rosalind killed off because he was leaving the series, and he didn't want her to get mishandled in the hands of another writer.

** Married actors Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry played Stuart Markowitz and Ann Kelsey, respectively.
** Arnie Becker's mother Gladys Becker is portrayed by Corbin Bernsen's mother Jeanne Cooper.
** Douglas Brackman's wife Sheila is portrayed by Creator/AlanRachins' wife Joanna Frank, who also happens to be co-creator Steven Bochco's real-life sister.
** Creator/SheilaKelley (Gwen Taylor)'s husband Creator/RichardSchiff portrayed a dog pound operator in a 1992 episode. Amusingly, both Schiff and Creator/JohnSpencer, who played Tommy Mullaney, would later co-star together in ''Series/TheWestWing''.
* ShoutOut: Creator/StevenBochco got to refer to [[Series/TheBoldOnes one of his previous series]] by calling a season 2 episode "The Bald Ones".

* ActorLeavesCharacterDies: Creator/DianaMuldaur's departure resulted in her character Rosalind Shays walking into an open elevator shaft. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv3ifsSVl5k Muldaur didn't even know her character was being killed off before reading the script.]] It should be noted that this was not because of dislike of Muldaur, but rather because the writers hated the character, who was very harsh and bitchy, and they thought the character was ruining the show. Alternatively, however, then executive producer Creator/DavidEKelley claimed in an "Emmy TV Legends" interview that he actually loved the character very much, and actually had Rosalind killed off because he was actually leaving the series, and he didn't want her to get mishandled in the hands of another writer.

** Douglas Brackman's wife Sheila is portrayed by Alan Rachins' wife Joanna Frank, who also happens to be co-creator Steven Bochco's real-life sister.
** Sheila Kelly (Gwen Taylor)'s husband Creator/RichardSchiff portrayed a dog pound operator in a 1992 episode. Amusingly, both Schiff and Creator/JohnSpencer, who played Tommy Mullaney, would later co-star together in ''Series/TheWestWing''.

* McLeaned: Creator/DianaMuldaur's departure resulted in her character Rosalind Shays walking into an open elevator shaft. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv3ifsSVl5k Muldaur didn't even know her character was being killed off before reading the script.]] It should be noted that this was not because of dislike of Muldaur, but rather because the writers hated the character, who was very harsh and bitchy, and they thought the character was ruining the show. Alternatively, however, then executive producer Creator/DavidEKelley claimed in an "Emmy TV Legends" interview that he actually loved the character very much, and actually had Rosalind killed off because he was actually leaving the series, and he didn't want her to get mishandled in the hands of another writer.

** Sheila Kelly (Gwen Taylor)'s husband Creator/RichardSchiff portrayed a dog pound operator in a 1992 episode. Amusingly, both Schiff and Creator/JohnSpencer, who played Tommy Mullaney, would later co-star together in ''Series/TheWestWing''.

** Sheila Kelly (Gwen Taylor)'s husband Richard Schiff portrayed a dog pound operator in a 1992 episode. Amusingly, both Schiff and John Spencer, who played Tommy Mullaney, would later co-star together in ''Series/TheWestWing''.

* RealLifeRelative: Married actors Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry played Stuart Markowitz and Ann Kelsey, respectively.

** Douglas Brackman's wife Sheila is portrayed by Alan Rachins' wife Joanna Frank.

** Sheila Kelly (Gwen Taylor)'s husband Richard Schiff portrayed a dog pound operator in a 1992 episode.

** Douglas Brackman's wife Sheila is portrayed by Alan Rachins' wife Joanna Frank.

* RealLifeRelative: Married actors Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry played Stuart Markowitz and Ann Kelsey, respectively.