Cold Case

Cold Case is an American police procedural crime drama television series. It 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, usually homicides. On May 18, 2010, the series was cancelled after seven seasons.

Premise

The show is set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it follows Detective Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris), a homicide detective with the Philadelphia Police Department, who specializes in cold cases, investigations which are no longer being actively pursued by the department. Rush was initially partnered with Detective Chris Lassing (Justin Chambers) in the first five episodes and then with Detective Scotty Valens (Danny Pino) for the remainder of the series. They work under Lieutenant John Stillman (John Finn) and are assisted by other detectives from their squad—Nick Vera (Jeremy Ratchford), Will Jeffries (Thom Barry), and beginning in season three, Kat Miller (Tracie Thoms).

Cast and characters

Kathryn Morris as Lilly Rush, a Homicide Detective. Lilly first investigates a cold case during episode 1 of the series, and later continues to do so at her own request. In this capacity, Rush becomes the lead detective of the cold case division.
Justin Chambers as Chris Lassing, a detective. Lilly's original partner (Season 1).
Danny Pino as Scotty Valens, a detective. Lilly's second partner.
John Finn as John Stillman, a lieutenant and the head of Philadelphia Homicide Division.
Jeremy Ratchford as Nick Vera, a detective assigned to Homicide.
Thom Barry as Will Jeffries, a senior detective, and Philadelphia Homicide Division's assistant-supervisor.
Tracie Thoms as Kat Miller, a narcotics detective who later joins as a homicide detective (Seasons 3–7).

Fictional universe

Danny Pino appeared as Valens in the CSI: NY episode "Cold Reveal". This episode connected Cold Case to not only CSI: NY, but also to CSI: Miami, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Cyber, CSI: Vegas, and Without a Trace.

Adaptations

Japanese adaptation

A Japanese remake of the series, , set in Yokohama, was broadcast on cable network WOWOW Prime from October 22, 2016, to December 24, 2016. A second season was broadcast from October 13, 2018, to December 15, 2018, and a third season was broadcast from December 5, 2020, to February 13, 2021. The second and third seasons are filmed in 8K and downscaled to 4K for broadcast. The show consisted of 25 episodes.

Cold Squad controversy

At the launch of Cold Case in July 2003, a Canadian journalist asked the launch panel about similarities between Cold Case and a Canadian series called Cold Squad which had debuted five years earlier. Cold Squad fans accused the American series of copying the Canadian program's basic premise and characters. In 2003, the Cold Squad creators considered seeking legal redress against the Cold Case producers over copyright issues. Both shows aired in Canada (and on the same network, CTV). In November 2003, the law firm O'Donnell & Schaeffer confirmed it agreed to represent the Cold Squad producers, who claimed the CBS series was a copy of their own hit show. The Globe and Mail reported that Meredith Stiehm, the American series creator, attended a TV writing seminar at the Canadian Film Centre in 2002 where the Cold Squad concept was discussed. O'Donnell lawyer, Carole Handler 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."

! style="text-align:center" | 14.18

|- style="background:#f9f9f9;"

| style="background:#004eff; height:10px;"|

| 2nd

| 2004–2005

| October 3, 2004

| May 22, 2005

! style="text-align:center" | #14

! style="text-align:center" | 9.7

! style="text-align:center" | 10.89

|- style="background:#f9f9f9;"

| style="background:silver; height:10px;"|

| 6th

| 2008–2009

| September 28, 2008

| May 10, 2009

! style="text-align:center" | #20

! style="text-align:center" | 7.5

! style="text-align:center" | #29

! style="text-align:center" | 6.3 On November 22, 2009, CBS made a final attempt to increase the ratings by scheduling Cold Case at 9:00 pm. The ratings increased to 10 million viewers, but it was short-lived because on February 14, 2010, Cold Case returned to its original schedule, at 10:00 pm and the ratings dropped. The show concluded its run in May 2010 ranking at #29. More than two weeks after the series finale aired, CBS announced the show would not be renewed for an eighth season.

Since it had become customary to end each season with a cliffhanger, season 7's final episode, "Shattered", ended leaving viewers wondering about the fates of several characters. The cancellation of the show left those questions unresolved.

Possible revival/reboot

In April 2024, a revival of the series was under discussion, but in September 2024 Deadline reported that a deal for the proposed series could not be reached between Warner Brothers Television and CBS.

Distribution

Broadcast

The series aired in syndication on CBS, and also on Ion Television in the United States. and on Viva in Canada. Sleuth also aired the series occasionally. In 2011, the show aired on MyNetworkTV until its removal a year later. The show made its debut on the new over-the-air channel Start TV when it launched on September 3, 2018. It also airs on MBC Action. As of 2022, reruns are often shown on TNT.

Home media and streaming

After the program's debut in 2003, the show was not released on DVD or Blu-ray due to licensing issues related to the use of contemporary music in each episode.

In May 2020, the Roku Channel in the United States released all episodes of Cold Case to stream for the first time, in a high-definition digital format, with full subtitles and all contemporary music from the original CBS broadcasts left intact. The streaming ended in December 2020. The show returned to the service in September 2021.

Cold Case was made available for streaming on HBO Max (at the time called Max) as of June 19, 2023.

Soundtrack

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.