Diagnosis: Murder season 3

Diagnosis: Murder
Season 3
No. of episodes	18
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	December 8, 1995 (1995-12-08) – May 3, 1996 (1996-05-03)
Season chronology
← Previous Season 2 Next → Season 4
List of episodes

Diagnosis: Murder 's third season originally aired Fridays at 9:00-10:00 pm (EST). ^{[1] [2]} The season was released on DVD by Paramount Home Video.

Cast

• Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan
• Victoria Rowell as Dr. Amanda Bentley
• Charlie Schlatter as Dr. Jesse Travis
• Michael Tucci as Norman Briggs
• Barry Van Dyke as Steve Sloan

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
42	1	"An Innocent Murder"	Vincent McEveety	Cynthia Deming & William Royce	December 8, 1995 (1995-12-08)	13.0 [3]
A young lady murders her rich father (Arthur Taxier) and makes it look like a suicide, but Sloan manages to find holes in her story.
43	2	"Witness to Murder"	Paris Barclay	Story by : Mimi Rothman Schapiro & Bill Wells Teleplay by : Cynthia Deming & William Royce	December 15, 1995 (1995-12-15)	12.3 [4]
Sloan tries to help a girl who witnessed her father's murder and is afraid to tell anyone.
44	3	"All-American Murder"	Christian I. Nyby II	Tom Chehak	December 22, 1995 (1995-12-22)	12.2 [5]
The results of an autopsy on a deceased newcomer to the beach bring a surprising twist to the person's death. Guest Stars: Curtis Armstrong and Leo Penn.
45	4	"Murder in the Courthouse"	Bruce Kessler	Roger Lowenstein	December 29, 1995 (1995-12-29)	11.9 [6]
Mark serves jury duty on a case in which a notorious hit man is found innocent - only to be killed by a bomb that the prosecutor planted for revenge. Mark's effort to prove the prosecutor did uncovers surprising details about her life and the hitman's. Guest Stars: Dixie Carter, James Hong, and Brian Tochi.
46	5	"Murder on the Run: Part 1"	Christian I. Nyby II	Story by : Maurice Hurley & Steve Hattman Teleplay by : Steve Hattman	January 5, 1996 (1996-01-05)	13.4 [7]
A man falsely convicted of killing his wife takes Mark hostage in order to prove his innocence. (A train transporting prisoners derails, sending him to the hospital--partly inspired by The Fugitive (1993 film) .) Guest Stars: Jeff Allin, Dion Anderson, Richard Fancy, and Denise Crosby.
47	6	"Murder on the Run: Part 2"	Christian I. Nyby II	Story by : Maurice Hurley & Steve Hattman Teleplay by : Steve Hattman	January 12, 1996 (1996-01-12)	13.0 [8]
Sloan becomes convinced that George Karn (Jeff Allin) is innocent, so he sets out to find the man who killed Karn's wife. But a hardened police officer constantly impedes his efforts. Guest Stars: Denise Crosby, Richard Fancy, and Dion Anderson.
48	7	"Love Is Murder"	Tom Chehak	Nan Hagan	January 19, 1996 (1996-01-19)	14.0 [9]
Steve becomes attracted to a female reporter who murders cops. Guest Star: Rebeccah Bush
49	8	"Misdiagnosis Murder"	Christian I. Nyby II	Gerry Conway	January 26, 1996 (1996-01-26)	12.4 [10]
Dr Jesse gets involved in a large conspiracy when he sees an alleged heart-attack victim, while a wealthy benefactor takes a shine to Briggs. Guest Stars: Richard Romanus.
50	9	"The Pressure to Murder"	Christopher Hibler	Sibyl Gardner	February 9, 1996 (1996-02-09)	12.2 [11]
Sloan investigates the death of Amanda's cousin Troy, a rugby player and medical intern. Mark quickly determines it was murder but now must figure out why. The key is ABADCAD, in more ways than one.
51	10	"Living on the Streets Can Be Murder"	Christopher Hibler	Carey W. Hayes & Chad Hayes	February 16, 1996 (1996-02-16)	13.2 [12]
Someone is murdering homeless people and harvesting their organs for transplants, so Mark poses as a vagrant to flush them out. Guest Stars: Bryan Cranston
52	11	"Murder, Murder"	Peter Ellis	Nancy Bond	February 23, 1996 (1996-02-23)	12.2 [13]
Sloan faces double trouble while investigating the murders of an old friend (Robert Vaughn) and his young wife (Ruth McGinnis), the prime suspect being the friend's sister-in-law (also McGinnis), his wife's identical twin. Guest Stars: Alan Fudge and Jack McGee.
53	12	"Murder in the Dark"	Bernard L. Kowalski	Joyce Burditt	March 8, 1996 (1996-03-08)	11.4 [14]
Dr John Foster, a pioneering New York surgeon, arrives at Community General Hospital to perform an abdominal aortic procedure on a wealthy patient. The night before the surgery, Dr Mark is concerned to note that Dr John is drinking rather heavily. Dr John turns up for the surgery in an intoxicated state and is ordered out of the OR by Dr Claire Hartman who then performs the surgery. He then goes on a bender and later arrives at Dr Claire’s apartment and has a furious row with her. Dr Claire is found dead the next morning. Mark diagnoses that John is a full-blown alcoholic and furthermore John has no memory of going to Dr Claire’s apartment – or much of anything else, from the night before. But might Dr Claire’s fast and loose private life hold the real key to her murder? Look out for the bartender who Jesse speaks to at the Whirlwind Club. He is played by Kevin McNally, Dick Van Dyke’s real-life son in law and, in later seasons, the recurring character of Will Sanders a Fire Department Paramedic, who frequently wheels patients into the CGH Reception area while summarising the patient’s injuries for the medical staff. Guest Star: John Pleshette, Kevin McNally
54	13	"35 Millimeter Murder"	Bruce Seth Green	Steve Hattman	March 29, 1996 (1996-03-29)	12.5 [15]
A picture taken by a paparazzo provides a clue in a kidnapping and murder case, while Amanda goes into labor. Guest Stars: Stephen Furst and Cylk Cozart.
55	14	"The Murder Trade"	Oz Scott	Joyce Burditt	April 5, 1996 (1996-04-05)	13.0 [16]
A Psychotherapist murders a downsizing expert who threatened Mark Sloan's job, then attempts to blackmail the doctor into returning the favor. Guest Stars: Leila Kenzle and Terry O'Quinn.
56	15	"Mind Over Murder"	Christian I. Nyby II	Gerry Conway	April 12, 1996 (1996-04-12)	11.8 [17]
A psychic from an infomercial claims she saw a future murder being committed. Guest Stars: George Hamilton and Tracy Nelson
57	16	"Murder by the Book"	Christopher Hibler	Tom Chehak & Steve Hattman	April 19, 1996 (1996-04-19)	11.6 [18]
Call girls and the co-author of their racy book, ‘Munchies, Snacks and Spreads’, are being threatened with murder, while Dr Amanda discovers she was never legally married. Guest Stars: Troy Evans, Tony Pierce, Jeri Lynn Ryan and Rick Dees (as himself).
58	17	"FMurder"	Christian I. Nyby II	Story by : Gerry Conway & Steve Hattman Teleplay by : Gerry Conway	April 26, 1996 (1996-04-26)	12.0 [19]
Sloan suspects a TV homemaker (Vicki Lawrence) murdered a perverted radio host (Morton Downey Jr.) who got her pregnant. Guest Star: Kene Holliday (played Tyler Hudson on Matlock)
59	18	"Left-Handed Murder"	Jonathan Frakes	Mark Masuoka	May 3, 1996 (1996-05-03)	11.7 [20]
The remains of Sloan's friend are found in a dead shark, which is made all the more suspicious when it's discovered the victim had three wives. Curio: In this episode, Dr Amanda is very clearly pregnant. So, sequentially, the events of this episode must have taken place prior to those in episode 13 (‘35 Millimetre Murder’) when Dr Amanda gave birth – with Dr Jesse’s assistance. Guest Star: Tim Choate, Christina Pickles.

References

1. TV Listings for December 8, 1995
2. TV Listings for May 3, 1996
3. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . December 13, 1995. p. 3D.
4. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . December 20, 1995. p. 3D.
5. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . December 27, 1995. p. 3D.
6. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . January 3, 1996. p. 3D.
7. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . January 10, 1996. p. 3D.
8. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . January 17, 1996. p. 3D.
9. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . January 24, 1996. p. 3D.
10. DeRosa, Robin (January 31, 1996). "Super Bowl, 'Friends' lead to NBC blowout". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
11. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . February 14, 1996. p. 3D.
12. DeRosa, Robin (February 21, 1996). "Powerhouse Thursday propels NBC". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
13. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . February 28, 1996. p. 3D.
14. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . March 13, 1996. p. 3D.
15. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . April 3, 1996. p. 3D.
16. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . April 10, 1996. p. 3D.
17. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . April 17, 1996. p. 3D.
18. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . April 24, 1996. p. 3D.
19. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . May 1, 1996. p. 3D.
20. DeRosa, Robin (May 8, 1996). "'ER,' 'Seinfeld,' 'Beast' lead NBC sweep". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.