Cold Case
| Cold Case | |
|---|---|
| File:Cold case cast.jpg From left to right: Det. Nick Vera, Lt. John Stillman, Det. Will Jeffries, Det. Lilly Rush and Det. Scotty Valens | |
| Created by | Meredith Stiehm |
| Starring | Kathryn Morris Danny Pino John Finn Jeremy Ratchford Thom Barry Tracie Thoms |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 87 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 45 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 28, 2003 – present |
Cold Case is an American hour-long fictional television show about a police division that specializes in investigating unsolved crimes. The show is set in the city of Philadelphia and first aired in September 2003.
Style
Cold Case is notable for double-casting: it will cast a young actor for the flashback sequences and an older actor for the shots in the present, and cut back and forth between the two, to show how the character has aged. The episode "One Night" managed to triple-cast one character, showing him in the present day, when he committed his murder and when he was a teenager.
Typically once the murderer is revealed, their confession is depicted in one final flashback in which the murder is shown. The episode then ends with a montage (with no dialogue) of the killer(s) being arrested, as well as the fates of other characters from that era, showing them in their current appearance, but briefly flashing back to their younger selves, and finally Detective Lilly Rush or someone else close to the victim seeing a vision of the grateful-looking victim standing nearby, who then quickly vanishes (this aspect of the show is meant to represent Rush's imagination, since the show is not about the supernatural). There have been numerous variations on this pattern, however.
Generally the majority of the victims are shown to be good people thus making the endings, in which the victims are seen one last time, rewarding for the victim's family and the viewer. There have been occasions where the victims were depicted as rather unlikable making the endings somewhat bittersweet. Such victims include a manipulative sexual predator in "Greed", a child molester in "The Plan", a thug in "The House", an abusive mother in "The Woods", mass shooters in "Rampage", and another child molester in "Blackout".
Each episode, during the flashbacks, will feature a different style of direction, whether it be the colors, lighting, shading, or camera angles. Flashbacks from an era such as the 1950s have been shown in black and white, an episode with a case from 1939 featured sepia-toned flashbacks, one episode set in the '80s used a split-screen style. Some popular films have served as inspiration for several episodes such as "Disco Inferno" (Saturday Night Fever), "Yo, Adrian" (Rocky), "Creatures of the Night" (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), "Detention" (The Breakfast Club), "Dog Day Afternoons" (Dog Day Afternoon), "Greed" (Wall Street), "Saving Patrick Bubley (Saving Private Ryan), "Forever Blue" (Brokeback Mountain), "Knuckle Up" (Fight Club) and "Blood on the Tracks" (The Big Chill). Additionally, the episode "Bad Night" heavily referenced the movie Halloween as having possibly inspired a murder.
Two episodes featured flashbacks shown in widescreen format. Season 3's "Family" had flashbacks that were presented with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio while Season 4's "Blood on the Tracks" had flashbacks with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.
Music
The show's theme song is a reworking of "Nara" by E.S. Posthumus. The show's composer of original music is Michael A. Levine, but each episode makes extensive use of era-appropriate music for flashbacks to the year in question. In an episode of a murder in 1994 (Detention), the episode featured references to Kurt Cobain and added grunge songs from the same era, a genre of music that Cobain had popularized. Six different episodes exclusively used the music of Johnny Cash, John Mellencamp , Bruce Springsteen, Tim McGraw, U2, and Bob Dylan, respectively. Also, there has been an episode featuring all Rocky Horror Picture Show songs, as well as an episode with all Cabaret songs.
One episode featured music from an era different than the one featured in the flashbacks. The episode "Blood on the Tracks", about former hippies turned yuppies, took place in 1981 but featured Bob Dylan's music from the 60s.
The episode that was taken the farthest back in Cold Case was the story of a singer who was found dead on Christmas Day, 1929. It featured music 'written' by the dead woman, which was in fact written by Levine.[1]
Rarely is the same song ever heard twice on the show. The sole exception being the fourth season episode Forever Blue which replayed The Monkees song "Daydream Believer" first heard in the third season episode Debut. This was due to the fact that "Daydream Believer" was a last-minute replacement as the producers had originally intended to use "Happy Together" by The Turtles in Forever Blue. The song "Landslide" has been used at the end of two episodes, though not the same version: A cover by The Smashing Pumpkins was used in the episode "Detention" while the original version recorded by Fleetwood Mac was used at the end of the episode "Fireflies".
In the 2006 season, the music aired on the show during some episodes has been sponsored by XM Satellite Radio, where music from the various years covered can be heard on XM's decade channels.
Characters
For detailed information on Cold Case characters see the main article: List of Cold Case characters
- Det. Lilly Rush played by Kathryn Morris
- Det. Scotty Valens played by Danny Pino (Rush's partner)
- Lt. John Stillman played by John Finn (Rush's mentor)
- Det. Will Jeffries played by Thom Barry
- Det. Nick Vera played by Jeremy Ratchford
- Det. Kat Miller played by Tracie Thoms (Season 3-)
- Det. Chris Lassing played by Justin Chambers (Episodes 1-4)
Controversy
In 1998, a similar Canadian series called Cold Squad debuted, several years before Cold Case. Fans of Cold Squad accuse the American series of copying the basic premise and characters of the Canadian version, and at one point the creators of Cold Squad launched legal action against the makers of Cold Case. Both shows air in Canada (and on the same network, CTV). Waking the Dead is a similar British TV series about a "Cold Case Squad", which first aired in 2000.
Reviews
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. |
Critical reaction to Cold Case has been mostly favorable, citing its distinctive use of "flashback" scenes-within-scenes, period music, and uplifting storylines.
A 2004 episode based on the "Boy in the Box" [2], a still-unsolved 1957 Philadelphia homicide, was criticized for giving viewers the false impression that the actual case had been solved.
This was not the only episode to use real events as inspiration. Some other episodes include:
- The Pilot episode "Look Again" was based on the Martha Moxley murder case in Greenwich, CT in 1975.
- "Our Boy Is Back" was based on the actual case of Troy Graves -- the infamous Center City Rapist.
- The 4th season premiere "Rampage" was based on the Columbine High School massacre.
- "Love Conquers Al" was based on the murder of Adrianne Jones at the hands of Texas cadets Diane Zamora and David Graham.
- "Late Returns" was loosely based on the Chandra Levy case.
- "Strange Fruit" featured shades of the Emmett Till murder. Emmett Till would later be mentioned in the episode "Fireflies".
- "Mindhunters" was the title of Morris' movie with Christian Slater, Val Kilmer, and LL Cool J
- "Lover's Lane", the Season 1 finale, was loosely based on the story of 9-year-old Krystal Dawn Steadman. On March 19,2000 she had been lured by Thomas Soria Jr. to his apartment which he shared with his father Thomas Sr. where the elder Soria viciously sexually assaulted her and killed her. Soria Sr. committed suicide while awaiting trial while T.J. is doing a life stretch in Nevada State Prison.
Episodes
| Season | Ep # | First Airdate | Last Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 23 | September 28, 2003 | May 23, 2004 |
| Season 2 | 23 | October 03, 2004 | May 22, 2005 |
| Season 3 | 23 | September 25, 2005 | May 21, 2006 |
| Season 4 | 23 | September 24, 2006 | 2007 |
A listing of episodes in chronological order can be found at: List of Cold Case episodes
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 8:00PM | September 28, 2003 | May 23, 2004 | #17 | 14.18 | |
| 2nd | Sunday 8:00PM | October 3, 2004 | May 22, 2005 | #17 | 14.89 | |
| 3rd | Sunday 8:00PM | September 25, 2005 | May 21, 2006 | #21 | 14.24 | |
| 4th | Sunday 9:00PM | September 24, 2006 | May, 2007 | ' | ' |
International
| Country | Name | Translation | Station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Cold Case | Warner Channel | |
| Australia | Cold Case | Nine Network | |
| Austria | Cold Case - Kein Opfer ist je vergessen | Cold Case - No victim is ever forgotten | ORF1 |
| Brazil | Arquivo Morto | Dead File | Warner Channel, SBT |
| Belgium | Cold Case | Kanaal 2 RTL TVI | |
| Bulgaria | Забравени досиета | Forgotten Case | season 1 on bTV and on Nova Television - airing from season 1 to present |
| Canada | Cold Case | CTV and CBS | |
| Chile | Caso Cerrado | Closed Case | TVN |
| Croatia | Zaboravljeni slučaj | Forgotten Case | RTL Televizija |
| Czech republic | Odložené případy | Deferred cases | TV Nova |
| Denmark | Cold Case | TV3 | |
| Finland | Todistettavasti syyllinen | Proven Guilty | MTV3 |
| France | Cold Case : affaires classées | Cold Case: Closed Cases | Canal+ ; France 2 |
| Germany | Cold Case - Kein Opfer ist je vergessen | Cold Case - No victim is ever forgotten | kabel eins |
| Hong Kong | 鐵證懸案 | Irrefutable Evidences, Unsolved Cases | World Channel of Asia Television Limited |
| Hungary | Döglött akták | Dead Files | RTL Klub |
| Indonesia | Cold Case | TV7 | |
| Ireland | Cold Case | TG4 | |
| Israel | פשע מן העבר (Pesha Min He'avar) | A Crime From The Past | yesSTARS |
| Italy | Cold Case: Delitti Irrisolti | Cold Case: Unsolved Crimes | Rai Due |
| Japan | コールドケース 迷宮事件簿(Kōrudo kēsu Meikyuu jikenbo) | Cold Case - Labyrinthine Case Records | WOWOW |
| Mexico | Cold Case | Warner Channel | |
| the Netherlands | :Cold Case | Net5 | |
| New Zealand | TV One | ||
| Norway | Cold Case | TVNorge | |
| Peru | Cold Case | Warner Channel | |
| Philippines | Cold Case | Solar Entertainment's "Crime Suspense" Cable TV Channel | |
| Poland | Dowody zbrodni | Proofs of Crimes | TVN and TVN Siedem |
| Portugal | Casos Arquivados | Archived Cases | FOX and RTP1 |
| Singapore | Channel 5 of Mediacorp | ||
| Slovakia | Odložený prípad | Closed (deferred) case | Markíza |
| South Africa | M-Net | ||
| Spain | Caso Abierto | Open Case | TVE and Fox |
| Sweden | Kalla Spår (SVT) / Cold Case (Kanal 5) | Cold Traces | SVT (S1 Only) / Currently airs on Kanal 5 |
| Turkey | Original Title (Cold Case) | CNBC-e and e2 | |
| UK | Cold Case | Sky One, Sky Two, Sky Three, VM On Demand | |
| USA (second audio program) | Caso Cerrado | Closed Case | Turner Network Television |
| Venezuela | Cold Case | Warner Channel |