Cold Case
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Cold Case | |
---|---|
![]() Promotional poster | |
Created by | Meredith Stiehm |
Starring | Kathryn Morris Danny Pino John Finn Jeremy Ratchford Thom Barry Tracie Thoms |
Theme music composer | Helmut and Franz Vonlichten with intro by Michael A. Levine |
Opening theme | Nara |
Composer | Michael A. Levine |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 7 |
No. of episodes | 156 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producer | Jerry Bruckheimer |
Production location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Running time | 45 minutes |
Production companies | Jerry Bruckheimer Television CBS Television Studios Warner Bros. Television |
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | September 28, 2003 May 2, 2010 | –
Cold Case was an American police procedural television series which ran on CBS from September 28, 2003 to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in investigating cold cases. On May 18, 2010, CBS announced that the series had been canceled.[1] The series currently airs in syndication on TNT in the U.S. and on Viva in Canada.[2] Sleuth channel occasionally airs it at midnight on the weekdays. Besides Miami Medical, it is the only Bruckheimer-produced series that has yet to see a DVD release of any season.
Music
The theme song is an excerpt from "Nara" by E.S. Posthumus (who also perform the theme for the NFL on CBS), with an introduction by series composer Michael A. Levine that begins with an otherworldly wail from vocalist Elise Morris. Besides Levine's original music, each episode makes extensive use of era-appropriate music for flashbacks to the year in question. Some episodes contain music only from one artist such as Ray Charles, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, The Doors, John Mellencamp, Johnny Cash, Pink Floyd, Tim McGraw, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Bush, and John Lennon. Pearl Jam's music was used in the two part season six finale, the first time one artist's music has been used for two full episodes.[3] In one episode, the music from the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show and in another episode only music from Cabaret was used. In the series finale, music from The Rolling Stones was used, and for the first time, it featured an unreleased song.
A soundtrack CD was released in 2008 by Lakeshore Records, featuring incidental music composed by Michael A. Levine from the first four seasons, as well as the song 300 Flowers, sung by Robbyn Kirmsse.[4]
Characters
Rank | Name | Division | Seasons | Portrayed by |
---|---|---|---|---|
Senior Detective | Lilly Rush | Homicide | 1–7 | Kathryn Morris |
Lieutenant | John Stillman | Homicide | 1–7 | John Finn |
Senior Detective | Scotty Valens | Homicide | 1–7 | Danny Pino |
Senior Detective | Nick Vera | Homicide | 1–7 | Jeremy Ratchford |
Senior Detective | Will Jeffries | Homicide | 1–7 | Thom Barry |
Senior Detective | Kat Miller | Homicide | 3–7 | Tracie Thoms |
Senior Detective | Josie Sutton | Homicide | 3 | Sarah Brown |
Senior Detective | Chris Lassing | Homicide | 1 | Justin Chambers |
CSI: NY crossover
On May 2, 2007, one of the Cold Case detectives made a rare appearance outside of the series. In the CSI: NY episode "Cold Reveal", Danny Pino appeared as his Cold Case character Scotty Valens as he traveled to New York when it was discovered that CSI Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes) was connected to an unsolved case, proving that Cold Case and CSI take place in the same universe. The CSI shows and Cold Case all air on CBS and are produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. None of the characters from CSI, however, ever appeared on Cold Case.
In addition, there were also crossovers between CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY. Thus these four shows takes place in the same universe as well.
Satire
In 2005, John Finn, Kathryn Morris and Jeremy Ratchford appeared in a satirical promo on the Irish language television station TG4. The commercial won a Gold Medal in the "Best Drama Promos" category of the 2007 Sharks International Advertising Awards Festival of Ireland (Sharks Awards).[5] The promotion features John Finn and Kathryn Morris in character interrogating a murder suspect (Peader Cox) from the TG4 soap Ros na Rún who refuses to speak in English; both detectives then begin talking in Irish, much to the surprise of Jeremy Ratchford's character. The promo tied in with a murder investigation in Ros na Rún.[6]
Similar series
The investigation of "cold cases" has been used as the basis for several other detective dramas, including:
- The Enigma Files, UK / BBC, 1980
- Cold Squad, CAN / CTV Television Network, 1998
- Cold Case Files, A&E Network, 1999 (true cases)
- Waking the Dead, UK / BBC, 2000
- New Tricks, UK / BBC, 2003
- Zettai Reido: Mikaiketsu Jiken Tokumei Sousa, Japan / Fuji Television, 2010
Cold Squad controversy
Upon its launch, television critics noted similarities between Cold Case and a similar Canadian series called Cold Squad which debuted in 1998, five years before Cold Case.[7] Fans of Cold Squad accused the American series of copying the basic premise and characters of the Canadian version. In 2003, the creators of Cold Squad considered launching legal action against the makers of Cold Case over copyright issues.[8][9] Both shows air in Canada (and on the same network, CTV). The law firm headed by famed entertainment attorney Pierce O'Donnell, who successfully represented Art Buchwald in his copyright-infringement suit against Paramount and who has defended the James Bond franchise against copycats, has confirmed that it has agreed to represent[clarification needed] the producers of Cold Squad, who claim that the CBS series is a knock-off of their own hit show. The The Globe and Mail reported that Meredith Stehm, the creator of the American series, attended a seminar on TV writing at the Canadian Film Centre in 2002 where the concept of Cold Squad was explained to her. O'Donnell's law firm stated: "Our clients are very concerned about many striking similarities and have retained counsel to investigate the situation and if necessary, to take appropriate action."
Episodes
Season | Ep. # | First Airdate | Last Airdate |
---|---|---|---|
Season 1 | 23 | September 28, 2003 | May 23, 2004 |
Season 2 | 23 | October 3, 2004 | May 22, 2005 |
Season 3 | 23 | September 25, 2005 | May 21, 2006 |
Season 4 | 24 | September 24, 2006 | May 6, 2007 |
Season 5 | 18 | September 23, 2007 | May 4, 2008 |
Season 6 | 23 | September 28, 2008 | May 10, 2009 |
Season 7 | 22 | September 27, 2009 | May 2, 2010[10] |
U.S. television ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Cold Case on CBS.
- Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
Season | Timeslot | Season premiere | Season finale | TV Season | Ranking | Viewers (in millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Sunday 8:00 p.m. | September 28, 2003 | May 23, 2004 | 2003–2004 | #17 | 14.18[11] |
2nd | Sunday 8:00 p.m. | October 3, 2004 | May 22, 2005 | 2004–2005 | #17 | 15.10[12] |
3rd | Sunday 8:00 p.m. | September 25, 2005 | May 21, 2006 | 2005–2006 | #21 | 14.24[13] |
4th | Sunday 9:00 p.m. | September 24, 2006 | May 6, 2007 | 2006–2007 | #23 | 13.98[14] |
5th | Sunday 9:00 p.m. | September 23, 2007 | May 4, 2008 | 2007–2008 | #34 | 10.89[15] |
6th | Sunday 9:00 p.m. | September 28, 2008 | May 10, 2009 | 2008–2009 | #23 | 12.00[16] |
7th | Sunday 10:00 p.m. (September 27 – November 15) Sunday 9:00 p.m. (November 22 – January 17) Sunday 10:00 p.m. (February 14 – May 2) |
September 27, 2009 | May 2, 2010[10] | 2009–2010 | #32 | 9.86[17] |
International broadcast
References
- ^ Hibberd, James (May 18, 2010). "CBS cancels seven shows, including "Ghost", "Case"". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ James, Newton Howard (June 22, 2011). "CBS canceled shows including ghost, case". IGN.
- ^ "Pearl Jam Turns "Ten" Buzz". March 19, 2009. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
- ^ "Cold Case Soundtrack page at Lakeshore Records". November 11, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
- ^ "Corporate – Awards". TG4. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
- ^ "Cold Case meets Ros Na Rún". You Tube/TG4. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
- ^ Bob Sassone (September 18, 2006). "The strange case of Cold Squad". TV Squad. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
- ^ Ian Edwards (November 10, 2003). "Cold Squad on Bruckheimer Case". Playback. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ Dan Brown (December 4, 2003). "The genius of Ratchford". CBC News. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
- ^ a b http://www.cbspressexpress.com/div.php/cbs_entertainment/release?id=24809
- ^ "ABC Medianet". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
- ^ "Primetime series". Hollywoodreporter.com. May 27, 2005. Retrieved April 5, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ "ABC Medianet". ABC Medianet. May 31, 2006. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
- ^ "ABC Medianet". ABC Medianet. June 5, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
- ^ "Season Program Rankings" (PDF). ABC Medianet. May 28, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
- ^ "ABC Medianet". ABC Medianet. May 27, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
- ^ "Full Series Rankings For The 2009–10 Broadcast Season". Deadline. May 27, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
External links
- Use mdy dates from August 2010
- 2000s American television series
- 2003 American television series debuts
- 2010s American television series
- 2010 American television series endings
- CBS network shows
- Crime television series
- English-language television series
- Police procedural television series
- Television series by CBS Paramount Television
- Television series by Warner Bros. Television
- Television shows set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania