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Law & Order: Criminal Intent

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Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Created byDick Wolf
StarringVincent D'Onofrio
Kathryn Erbe
Chris Noth (2005-present)
Courtney B. Vance
Previous Cast:
Jamey Sheridan (2001-06)
Annabella Sciorra (2005-06)
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes111, as of May 14, 2006
Production
Running timeapprox. 45 minutes (per episode)
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 30, 2001 –
Present

Law & Order: Criminal Intent (also known as Law & Order: CI, L&O:CI, Criminal Intent, or simply CI) is an American crime drama television series set in New York City that premiered on September 30, 2001. It is the second spinoff of the long-running crime drama Law & Order. The show currently stars Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Chris Noth, and Courtney B. Vance.

New episodes of Criminal Intent can be seen on Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on NBC, but starting for the 2006-07 season, CI will move to Fridays at 10 p.m. EST as "NBC Sunday Night Football" takes over its old time slot.[1] In addition, re-runs are aired on the USA and Bravo Cable TV networks.

Season 5 premiered on September 25, 2005 and the show was recently renewed for a sixth season. The show had the lowest ratings of all Law & Order Shows, but served as a good lead-in to SVU, which drew the highest ratings, with nearly 15 million viewers.[2]

Series overview

Law & Order: Criminal Intent follows a distinct division of the New York City Police Department: the "Major Case Squad". The Major Case Squad investigates high-profile cases, usually homicides, such as those involving VIPs, local government officials and employees, the financial industry, and the art world. Sometimes a VIP or government employee will only be marginally involved in an episode's case which would otherwise fall outside the scope of the Major Case Squad; this is a form of MacGuffin.

Unlike the other shows in the Law & Order franchise, Criminal Intent gives a great amount of attention to the actions and motives of the criminals, rather than showing almost exclusively the police and prosecution's side of the case.

A signature feature of each Criminal Intent episode (not present in the original Law & Order series) is that the teaser introduction before the title sequence always involves a montage; the rapid cut-scenes show events from the suspects' and victims' lives, leading up to the crime. Clues to the crime's eventual solution can often be found in this teaser sequence.

Criminal Intent plots and characterization are notably more complex and subtle than the original Law & Order, indicating that the series is aimed at a more sophisticated audience.

Characters

File:Locicast.jpg
The original cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent
  • Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio), is a quirky yet extraordinarily intelligent investigator and profiler known for his instinct and insight. Often, Goren's intuition turns out to be the case-breaker, rather than solid evidence (which is usually the case in the other two series). Each episode, Goren typically employs his knowledge of an unusually wide range of topics, from theoretical physics to (multiple) foreign languages. Goren once served in the U.S. Army's Military Police, stationed in Germany and Korea. The Bobby Goren character is very reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes; he notices tiny (yet important) details ignored by others, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of almost all subjects. Frequently, Goren obtains crucial information and confessions by psychologically manipulating and provoking suspects, and suspects' associates.
  • Detective Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe), a quiet, practical partner who always seems to mesh well with Goren, despite the noticeable personality differences between the two. Her character is much like the screen portrayals of Holmes's partner Dr. Watson: an equal who is overshadowed by the charismatic presence of a prodigy partner. While still an assertive and no-nonsense cop, much of Eames's dialogue consists of sarcastic, pun-heavy observations delivered at dramatically opportune moments.
    • When Erbe went on maternity leave, her character was substituted for by Detective G. Lynn Bishop (Samantha Buck), during Season 3, episodes 5 through 11. (the 2003-2004 season)
File:CI all.jpg
The current cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent; from left, Courtney B. Vance, Kathryn Erbe, Vincent D'Onofrio, Chris Noth, Annabella Sciorra, and Jamey Sheridan
  • Captain James Deakins (Jamey Sheridan). Goren and Eames's immediate supervisor; he periodically checks up on their progress during investigations. Deakins resigned at the end of Season 5 rather than battle a conspiracy to frame him instigated by an influential man he helped put in prison, Frank Adair. Jamey Sheridan left the show after the 2005-2006 season.[3]

Beginning with the 2005 season, a second team of detectives was introduced to alternate with Goren and Eames, reportedly to relieve D'Onofrio from being overworked, which had led to medical problems in previous seasons. The second team is as follows:

  • Detective Mike Logan (Chris Noth). Logan is a troubled detective who had formerly worked as a homicide detective in Manhattan's 27th precinct (from 1990–1995, on the original Law & Order). He had been banished to the force's career graveyard after publicly punching a homophobic politician who had murdered a gay man that Logan had grudgingly come to respect, but redeemed himself by solving a dirty-cop murder/conspiracy case (as seen in the 1998 NBC TV movie Exiled: A Law & Order Movie). He made an appearance working with the Major case squad investigating a case of prisoner abuse by a corrupt warden and his guards. He was later transferred from the Staten Island precinct's harbor patrol to its domestic disputes department. An officer involved shooting that he was involved in was the ammunition used to fuel a conspiracy against Deakins that led to his resignation.
  • Detective Carolyn Barek (Annabella Sciorra), partner of Mike Logan. Barek is a brilliant criminal profiler who ascended from the hardscrabble streets of Brooklyn's Cobble Hill to the highest ranks of the NYPD and beyond, spending two post-September 11th years with the FBI. Annabella Sciorra left the show after the 2005-2006 season.[4]

Episodes

Main article: List of Law & Order: Criminal Intent episodes

Trivia

  • The words to the opening narration: In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad. These are their stories.
  • While many cast members of the various Law & Order shows are "repeat offenders" (actors who previously appeared in other roles), Courtney B. Vance is one of the few multi-repeat-offenders: he previously played two different characters on the original show (a mayoral aide in "By Hooker, By Crook" and a stockbroker in "Rage"). Amy Carlson also appeared as two other characters before joining the main cast of Law & Order: Trial By Jury.
  • The opening footage for Criminal Intent was edited to remove an image of the World Trade Center in the wake of the attacks on September 11th. Additionally, a planned miniseries which would have featured Detective Goren and united the casts of Criminal Intent, SVU, and the original Law & Order was cancelled.
  • D'Onofrio's real-life father, Gene D'Onofrio, appears in the episode "Slither". He is seen walking within the Major Case Squad.
  • Annabella Sciorra played Maggie Dettweiler, a defense attorney, in the episode "The Abominable Showman" on Law & Order: Trial By Jury. Sciorra's appearances mark the shortest amount of time between characters: six months.

Awards

Won

Nominated

  • 2005 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Television Episode Teleplay
    • "Conscience"
    • "Consumed"
    • "Pas De Deux"
  • 2004 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Television Episode Teleplay (episode - "Probability")
  • 2003 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Television Episode (episode - "Tuxedo Hill")
  • 2002 Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (Courtney B. Vance)

DVD releases

DVD Name
Release dates
Region 1
Region 2
Region 4
The Complete 1st Season October 21 2003 February 28 2005 January 20 2005
The Complete 2nd Season N/A July 17 2006 March 7 2006
The Complete 3rd Season September 14 2004 N/A N/A

Technical information

Law & Order: CI has been shot on film in 16:9 format since at least 2004. As broadcasters convert the archived film to high-definition television (HDTV), the show holds the distinction of being the oldest weekly series currently available in HDTV. This also presents the unique oddity of reruns in this format providing more (previously cropped) material than when the episodes were first run broadcast in 4:3. Since 2004, first run episodes have also aired in HDTV. Since 2006, all new episodes of the multiple Law & Order series have aired in widescreen for 4:3 screens, following other NBC shows such as The West Wing, ER, and Crossing Jordan.

File:CI game.jpg

French adaptation

In July 2005, NBC Universal sold the format of Law & Order: CI to French channel TF1 Alma Productions to launch a localized French version of the drama. The version will get its own native language title and actors. It should go into production and premiere in 2006. It will mirror the content of the original US stories, although the location will be in Paris and adjusted for language and culture. Vincent Perez is going to play the same character that Vincent d'Onofrio.

International

See also

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