Until I got the DVD set of Season 3, I had only seen this episode ("Death Takes a Dive", Season 3, Disc 2/Episode 16) in syndication, and it was syndicated as standard length.

But the version on the DVD release is 72 minutes long - the proper length for a 1.5-hr episode with commercials - anyone know any history on this one? I played the episode thru and see no evidence that it was restored or has special bits added... Most strange.

I know they did some horrible things to shows in syndication and wonder if maybe this was a special to coincide with a current event or something back in the 80s, but was chopped up for the syndication run.

Any pointers to the background of this would be appreciated!

This was an extended episode, and served as a sort of pilot for Jerry Orbach's spin-off series, The Law and Harry McGraw.