Robbery Homicide Division
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| Robbery Homicide Division | |
|---|---|
| Format | Drama |
| Created by | Barry Schindel |
| Starring | Tom Sizemore David Cubitt Klea Scott Barry Shabaka Henley Michael Paul Chan |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 1 hour per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | 2002-09-27 – 2003-04-21 |
Robbery Homicide Division (RHD) was an American police procedural television series on CBS, created by Barry Schindel with famed Executive Producer Michael Mann.
The show took an intense, no-nonsense look at the present-day Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery Homicide Division. Lt. Sam Cole is the driven chief detective of a squad that is dedicated to solving some of the worst crimes the city has to offer. There were several technical advisers who worked on the show: Chic Daniel, an LAPD living legend who served more than twenty years on SWAT; Robert Deamer, a specialist of gang enforcement who is one of the most decorated veteran of Special Enforcement Unit (ex-C.R.A.S.H.); and Lieutenant Todd Reinhold, an actual squad leader of Special Weapons And Tactics.
The series was originally titled Metro which was the division where the show was originally going to be set. Then, the title was changed to RHD/LA which was used for the fall schedule announcement. CBS ordered the final title believing that people would be confused about what RHD stood for.
In April 2002, Schindel, who wrote the pilot episode and created the show, left to focus on his duties at NBC's Law & Order. Frank Spotnitz joined the show as an executive producer in May after The X-Files ended its nine-season run and then left in October reported because he decided that it "was not creatively the show that he wanted to be working on."[1]
Thematically, the show was very reminiscent of Mann's film Heat in that it also dealt with a driven cop working the Robbery-Homicide Division leading a multi-ethnic squad. Stylistically, Mann has said that RHD was a chance to test out some of the high-definition digital cameras he would later employ to much greater effect on Collateral and Miami Vice.
The show debuted on Friday at 10pm ET/9c to an anemic 8.41 million viewers. CBS gave RHD two chances to capture a wider audience by airing two episodes on Saturday night. The first tryout was unsuccessful, but the second Saturday airing on December 7, 2002 did capture a larger audience; garnering a 6.0 household rating, while its lead-in The District received a 4.3 in households. On average, the show drew 7.12 million viewers an episode.
Although RHD was critically acclaimed, Law & Order: SVU had better ratings in the same time slot. CBS placed the show on hiatus after the December 7th episode. The series was cancelled after ten episodes. Mann told Variety magazine, "I guess maybe the show never found its audience." There was speculation that either HBO or Showtime would pick up the series.[2]
The remaining three unaired episodes premiered on the USA Network in April 2003. Currently, it can be seen on HDNet. In 2008, the series began airing on Sleuth.
Contents |
[edit] Cast and characters
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Tom Sizemore | Lt. Sam Cole |
| David Cubitt | Det. Richard Barstow |
| Michael Paul Chan | Det. Ron Lu |
| Klea Scott | Det. Sonia Robbins |
| Barry Shabaka Henley | Sgt. Albert Simms |
[edit] Episodes
|
D
|
Code | Name | Writer(s) | Director | Premiere | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E3801/101 | A Life of Its Own | Barry Schindel [1] | Stephen Gyllenhaal | 2002-09-27 | CBS |
| 2 | E3802/102 | Mini-Mall | Todd A. Kessler | Fred Keller | 2002-10-04 | CBS |
| 3 | E3803/103 | 2028 (a.k.a. Internet Sex) | Jan Oxenberg [2], Philippe Browning, Frank Spotnitz, Todd A. Kessler | D. J. Caruso | 2002-10-11 | CBS |
| 4 | E3807/105 | Free and Clear | Vince Gilligan | D. J. Caruso | 2002-10-18 | CBS |
| 5 | E3805/106 | Alton Davis Redux | Carter Harris | Rod Hardy | 2002-10-25 | CBS |
| 6 | E3806/107 | In/Famous | Frank Spotnitz, Jan Oxenberg | Paul Michael Glaser | 2002-11-01 | CBS |
| 7 | E3804/104 | City of Strivers (a.k.a. Defense Lawyer) | Jan Oxenberg | Rod Hardy [3] | 2002-11-08 | CBS |
| 8 | E3808/108 | Wild Ride (a.k.a. Zero Disrespect) | Todd A. Kessler | Nick Gomez | 2002-11-15 | CBS |
| 9 | E3810/109 | Life Is Dust | Todd A. Kessler, Sean Jablonski [4] | Mario Van Peebles | 2002-11-30 | CBS |
| 10 | E3811/110 | Had | Todd A. Kessler, Gustave Reininger, Glenn Kessler | Paul Michael Glaser | 2002-12-07 | CBS |
| 11 | E3812/111 | Hellbound Train | Jan Oxenberg | Ami Canaan Mann | CBS | |
| 12 | E3809/112 | Vamonos, Chica | Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler, Sean Whitesell | Bill Duke | CBS | |
| 13 | E3814/113 | Absolute Perfection | David O. Sosna [5] | Paul Michael Glaser | CBS | |
[edit] TV Ratings
- Episode 1 (9/27/02) - Viewers: 8.41 million
- Episode 2 (10/04/02) - Viewers: 8.0 million
- Episode 3 (10/11/02) - Viewers: 8.0 million
- Episode 4 (10/18/02) - Viewers: 5.8 million
- Episode 5 (10/25/02) - Viewers: 6.8 million
- Episode 6 (11/01/02) - Viewers: 7.1 million
- Episode 7 (11/08/02) - Viewers: 6.8 million
- Episode 8 (11/15/02) - Viewers: 6.5 million
- Episode 9 (11/30/02) - Viewers: 7.8 million (Sat 10:40/9:40c)
- Episode 10 (12/07/02) - Viewers: 9.1 million (Sat 10/9c)
[edit] References
- ^ Schneider, Michael. "Spotnitz transfers out of Robbery Homicide", Variety, October 4, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
- ^ Adalian, Josef. "Eye closes RHD file", Variety, December 10, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
