Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Law & Order: Criminal Intent
title card
Also known as	Law & Order: CI Criminal Intent
Genre	Police procedural Drama
Format	Live-action
Created by	Dick Wolf
Developed by	René Balcer
Starring	Vincent D'Onofrio Kathryn Erbe Jamey Sheridan Courtney B. Vance Chris Noth Annabella Sciorra Julianne Nicholson Eric Bogosian Alicia Witt Jeff Goldblum Saffron Burrows Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Narrated by	Steven Zirnkilton (opening only)
Opening theme	Theme of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001-07) Theme of Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2007-)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	187 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Walon Green John David Coles Peter Jankowski Dick Wolf
Running time	approx. 43 minutes (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC (2001–2007) USA Network (2007–present)
Picture format	480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	September 30, 2001 (2001-09-30) – present
Chronology
Related shows	Law & Order Paris enquêtes criminelles
External links
Official website

Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer and airing on NBC, the series premiered on September 30, 2001 as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama Law & Order. The series aired on NBC for the first six seasons but was moved to the NBC Universal-owned USA Network starting with the seventh season to share costs and due to declining ratings. Episodes continue to rerun on NBC. The ninth season ended on July 6, 2010 on USA Network.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent focuses on the investigations of the Major Case Squad in a fictionalized version of the New York City Police Department set in New York City's One Police Plaza. In the style of the original Law & Order, episodes are often "ripped from the headlines" or loosely based on a real crime that received media attention.

Premise

Criminal Intent follows a division of the New York City Police Department, the "Major Case Squad". The Major Case Squad investigates high-profile cases (in most cases murder) such as those involving VIPs, local government officials and employees, the financial industry, and the art world. Unlike the other shows in the Law & Order franchise, during Seasons 5–8, Criminal Intent episodes typically alternated between two teams of detectives: Robert Goren and Alexandra Eames alternating with Mike Logan and his partners, Carolyn Barek, Megan Wheeler, and Nola Falacci; after Season 7, Logan quit the force, and was replaced with Zack Nichols.

The series pays attention to the actions and motives of the criminals, rather than focusing exclusively on the police and prosecutions. A feature of each Criminal Intent episode is that the cold open always involves a series of cut-scenes that 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. Unlike other Law & Order series, most Criminal Intent episodes end in confessions rather than continuing to the trial phase.

For the first five seasons, Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver (played by Courtney B. Vance) worked with the detectives on their cases. After Vance's departure, Theresa Randle took over as Patricia Kent, but only appeared in two episodes at the beginning of season six. ADAs have not played a regular role in the show since.

History

Law & Order: Criminal Intent was created in 2001 by René Balcer and Dick Wolf. Balcer served as the show's executive producer, showrunner, and head writer for its first five seasons. The show dominated its original time slot on Sundays at 9:00 pm for its first three seasons (routinely beating its competition Alias and The Sopranos in households and in the 18–49 demographic), and was often the highest rated show of the night, with an average audience of 15.5 million viewers. The show aired Sundays on NBC, with each week's episode being repeated on USA Network the following Saturday.

Beginning in Season 4, it faced stiff new competition from ABC's night-time soap opera Desperate Housewives, a show that soon became the No. 1 drama on television. Although ratings for Criminal Intent further eroded in season 5 amid stiff competition, the series maintained respectable ratings through the season; enough to get it renewed for a sixth season on NBC.

Balcer left the show at the end of Season 5, and the show was handed off to Warren Leight, a longtime Criminal Intent staffer. Under Leight's leadership, the show acquired a new, more melodramatic tone. The mystery aspect of the show was simplified in favor of more personal stories involving the detectives. For example, Goren endured his mother's long battle with cancer, culminating with her death in Goren's last episode in season six. The show's look and editing style also changed in an effort to attract more viewers than the newer CSI franchise.

When NBC had acquired the rights to Sunday Night Football for the 2006–2007 season, Law & Order: Criminal Intent was moved to new time slot on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm, to serve as a lead-in to fellow Law & Order spinoff, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. For its first six airings, it faced CBS's The Unit and baseball on Fox. In late October, Fox's hit series House moved opposite Law & Order: Criminal Intent. It was hoped that the show could maintain second position, beating the then-marginal The Unit but that didn't occur. The show's ratings suffered a steep drop and regularly finished fourth in its time slot. By the end of Season 6, Law & Order: Criminal Intent saw its lowest ratings ever.

In May 2007, NBC faced a choice of renewing either Criminal Intent or the original Law & Order, which had seen a ratings increase in the last few episodes of its 17th season. Ultimately, because of Criminal Intent's weak ratings, NBC picked up Law & Order. Criminal Intent's new episodes were moved to the NBC Universal-owned USA Network, where it could be expected to attract a much larger audience.^[1] The remaining episodes from the seventh season began running on June 8, 2007.^[2] Production on the show was halted temporarily in December 2007 due to the writers' strike.

For its move to the USA Network, the "heavier"-sounding version of the Law & Order: CI theme used for the show's opening credits was replaced by the version used on the short-lived Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

It was announced on May 22, 2008 that USA Network had renewed Criminal Intent for an eighth season. Season 7 was the top-rated television series on basic cable, having more than quadrupled the audience for the 10 pm Thursday slot on USA Network when compared to the ratings from the previous year. Nielsen Ratings for the week of July 13, 2008 showed that Criminal Intent was ranked sixth overall on top 20 cable ratings, with a viewer base of 4.899 million viewers.^[3] The network ordered 16 episodes, which were originally to begin broadcasting in November 2008, but the network moved the premiere back, first to February 5, 2009, then with an expected date of spring–summer 2009, and finally announcing the start date as April 19. The only change in cast members from the seventh season was^[1] Chris Noth's departure and replacement by Jeff Goldblum.^[4] At the end of Season 7, Leight, who left to focus on In Treatment, was replaced by new executive producers Walon Green and Robert Nathan. In December 2008, Nathan left the show after completing two Goldblum episodes. Law & Order co-executive producer and writer Ed Zuckerman then picked up Nathan's assignment while continuing his duties for the original Law & Order's 19th season. Michael Chernuchin co-executive produces Green's episodes, and Tim Lea co-executive produces Zuckerman's episodes. Other executive producers on the series are Norberto Barba, Peter Jankowski, Diana Son, Julie Martin, and Arthur W. Forney. Charlie Rubin is the supervising producer, and Balcer, Eric Overmyer, and Siobhan Byrne O'Connor are consulting producers. In April 2009, NBC began airing Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 8 encores a few days after they premiered on USA.

D'Onofrio, Erbe, and Bogosian left the series in the Season 9 premiere, which aired in two parts on March 30 and April 6, 2010. Some sources have speculated that USA Network prefers Goldblum's lighter Monk-style contribution as it fits better with their slate of other series.^[5]

Walon Green, Peter Jankowski, John David Coles, and Dick Wolf are the executive producers for the ninth season of Criminal Intent.

On May 16, 2010; The Toronto Star's television columnist Rob Salem said, "NBC’s venerable original Law & Order (which was recently canceled in May 2010 and confirmed canceled in July 2010) is so far the most mourned on the death list. Its beleaguered spinoff, L&O: Criminal Intent, already banished to cable’s USA Network, is expected to follow it off the air later this summer." ^[6][7][8]

On July 4, 2010; The Edmonton Journal describes the history of Law & Order: CI from its style and cast members along with comparing the NBC years to the show's current state on the USA Network. Saying things like, "Ratings for both programs eroded over time, though (Law & Order). NBC shuffled Law & Order: CI off to its USA Network two years ago, where it had to compete for attention with the likes of lightweight clinkers such as Monk, Burn Notice and Royal Pains. It was decided that D'Onofrio and Erbe weren't hip enough for the U.S. cable network's audience, which likes its crime shows light as a feather and slightly on the goofy side." and "Goldblum has a unique way about him, and this is a very different show with him playing detective. Whether it's better is up to you [the viewer] to decide."^[9]

Media outlets reported in August 2010 that actor Jeff Goldblum (Detective Zachary Nichols) had decided to leave the cast of Law & Order: CI, citing concerns about the show's future.^[10][11] The option to return on all the actors formally expired on July 31, 2010 after being extended by a month on June 30, 2010 when they were originally up. A final decision by the USA Network over whether the series will be renewed for another season has yet to be announced.^[10]

Broadcast history

The show originally aired on Sunday nights at 9:00 pm. ET on NBC for the first five seasons, from September 30, 2001 through May 14, 2006. It was then shifted to Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on September 19, 2006, and remained in that time slot through the end of Season 6 on May 21, 2007. CI was then moved to the USA Network for its 7th season and aired Thursday nights at 9:00 pm starting October 4, 2007 until the fall finale in December 2007. It was then moved to Sunday nights at 9:00 pm ET on June 8, 2008 (when it paired up with In Plain Sight) until the 8th season finale on August 9, 2009. On March 30, 2010 the series moved to a new day and timeslot, Tuesday nights at 10:00 pm. ET.

Since the show has moved to USA, NBC has re-aired episodes from the most recent season during the summer months. Reruns also air frequently on USA, Bravo, MyNetworkTV, WGN America and in syndication on local stations.

Cast and characters

The cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2010); from left to right, Saffron Burrows, Jeff Goldblum, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.

The show premiered September 30, 2001 on NBC, starring Vincent D'Onofrio as Detective Robert Goren, a junior detective in the Major Case Squad with a knack for solving difficult crimes, and Kathryn Erbe as his partner, Detective Alexandra Eames, a veteran detective who initially resists her partner but grows to understand him as the series progresses. Jamey Sheridan plays Captain James Deakins; although Deakins's first priority is the success of criminal investigations, he is often forced to rein in his more unpredictable detectives, especially Goren and later Logan, to manage the bad publicity they occasionally attract. While this creates some friction between Deakins and his detectives, for the most part they respect his professional judgment and authority. Courtney B. Vance's Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver is frequently in conflict with all the detectives because they tend to rely on hunches and instinct, when he wants more hard evidence. Despite this conflict, however, he has a strong working relationship with both teams.

In the third season, from episodes 5–11, Eames is temporarily replaced by Detective G. Lynn Bishop portrayed by Samantha Buck. Eames is volunteering to serve as a surrogate mother for her sister's baby; in reality, Erbe was pregnant with her second child.

In the fifth season, Chris Noth joined the cast, reprising his role as Detective Mike Logan from the original Law & Order. Noth alternates the starring role every other episode with D'Onofrio, and is partnered with Annabella Sciorra as Detective Carolyn Barek. When Sciorra left after one season, she was replaced by Julianne Nicholson as Detective Megan Wheeler, who remains with the show through the end of the eighth season.

Deakins retires from the Major Case Squad at the end of Season 5 rather than battle a conspiracy to frame him instigated by former police officer Frank Adair, who Major Case detectives have arrested for killing his girlfriend and her husband. Deakins was replaced by Eric Bogosian who plays Captain Danny Ross. Carver leaves as well, though there is no explanation why he left; he is replaced by ADA Patricia Kent portrayed by Theresa Randle who is only seen in two episodes.

In Season 7 Wheeler temporarily leaves MCS to go to Europe where she teaches a course on American police procedure. In reality, Julianne Nicholson was pregnant with her first child, and was replaced temporarily by Alicia Witt who plays Detective Nola Falacci.

Noth left the series at the end of season seven. He was replaced by Jeff Goldblum as Detective Zack Nichols.^[12] The series was renewed for a ninth season, which began in March 2010 and marked the departure of D'Onofrio, Erbe, and Bogosian. Ross is murdered in the first half of the season premiere, while Eames fires Goren in the second half and then quits the NYPD. Goldblum will now head the series with new partner Detective Serena Stevens, played by Saffron Burrows. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio will succeed Bogosian, portraying Captain Zoe Callas.^[13][14]

Media outlets reported in August 2010 that Jeff Goldblum (Detective Zachary Nichols) had decided to leave the cast of Law & Order: CI.^[10][11]

Seasons

Criminal Intent's seasons 1–5 aired on NBC on Sunday nights at 9:00 pm EST. Season 6 aired on NBC on Tuesday nights at 9:00 pm EST. In October 2007, new episodes of season 7 aired on the USA Network on Thursday nights at 9:00 pm EST. In June 2008 the remaining episodes of the seventh season until the end of the eighth season aired on Sunday nights at 9:00 pm EST on USA. Starting on January 9, 2008, reruns of season 7 began airing on NBC and May 6, 2009, reruns of season 8 began airing on NBC. Criminal Intent's season finale aired August 9, 2009. June 20, 2010, reruns of season 9 began airing on Sunday nights on NBC. The show moved to Tuesday nights at 10:00 pm EST on USA as of the ninth season which premiered on March 30, 2010 and ended July 6, 2010.

Episodes

Law & Order: Criminal Intent started its ninth season on Tuesday March 30, 2010. Seasons 1 thru 7 consisted of 21 to 23 episodes and Seasons 8 & 9 consisted of 16; each episode lasts approximately sixty minutes including commercials (approx. 43 without commercials).

Awards/nominations

DVD releases

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released Law & Order: Criminal Intent on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4. Seasons 1–5 have been released in Region 1, with seasons 1-4 also available in Regions 2 and 4.

Technical information

Law & Order: Criminal Intent has been produced in 16:9 format since at least 2004, when it was first broadcast in HDTV. Standard definition NBC stations aired the episodes cropped to 4:3 until 2006, when all Law & Order series began airing episodes in 16:9 for SD. Reruns of those episodes which were cropped to 4:3 have subsequently been aired in 16:9 as well. Some broadcasters outside the USA, however, still use versions cropped to 4:3.

The show has been recorded on film for the first eight seasons. At the commencement of season nine, the camera department switched to digital video acquisition. The lighting in the MCS squad room also received a significant change. The series has always relied heavily on color corrected fluorescent lighting which contributed to its drab and bluish look. At the beginning of season nine, sections of the MCS ceiling were removed and banks of incandescent lighting strips were added to steepen the warmer, sunny day look of the drab squad room.

Related series

• Law & Order franchise
  • Law & Order
  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
  • Law & Order: Trial by Jury
  • Law & Order: Los Angeles
  • Conviction
• A Criminal Intent computer game was released by Legacy Interactive in November 2005.

Crossovers

During the first season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, several cast members from the original series made guest appearances as their Law & Order characters. Dianne Wiest appeared in the first episode of the series, "One", Jerry Orbach and Jesse L. Martin guest starred in the episode "Poison", S. Epatha Merkerson appeared in the episode "Badge", and J.K. Simmons appeared in the episode "Crazy." Leslie Hendrix also reprises her role as Medical Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers as a recurring character throughout the run of the series starting with the first season episode "The Faithful." In 2005, Chris Noth reprised his role as Detective Mike Logan for the show's fourth season. This appearance led to Noth joining the cast in the fifth season, appearing in the starring role for half the episodes of the season.[61] Noth remained with the show for three seasons before departing in 2008. Also appearing during the show's fifth season were Fred Dalton Thompson and Carolyn McCormick.

On June 15, 2008, Mary McCormack made a guest appearance in the 2008 episode "Contract", as Mary Shannon, her character from In Plain Sight. At the time of the original airing, In Plain Sight followed Criminal Intent on the USA Network.

French adaptation

In July 2005, NBC Universal sold the format of Law & Order: Criminal Intent to French channel TF1 Alma Productions to launch a localized French version of the drama. The version came with its own native language title (Paris enquêtes criminelles) and actors. The first season, consisting of eight episodes, went into production and premiered in 2007. The show mirrors the content of the original US stories, although it is set in Paris and is adjusted for language and culture. Vincent Perez plays Vincent Revel (French equivalent of Vincent D'Onofrio's role, Robert Goren). Sandrine Rigaux played Claire Savigny (French equivalent of Kathryn Erbe's character, Alex Eames) during the first season. A crossover between Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Paris, enquêtes criminelles was produced in preparation for April 2007.

On the subject of differences between his character, Ravel, and Goren, Vincent Perez has said (translated from French), "I've watched very little of the original series so as not to be influenced, but I had the impression that Goren was very cerebral. Ravel is more instinctive and perhaps, more vulnerable".

The show premiered in France in May 2007 and has become a major success for TF1. A second season has been ordered. Sandrine Rigaux will be replaced by Audrey Looten, who will play Mélanie Rousseau.

Russian adaptation

A Russian version of L&O: CI (shot in Moscow with Russian actors) premiered in March 2007, where it was shown back to back with the Russian version of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, to become one of Russia's top-rated series. As a result, the initial order of eight episodes has been expanded to some 40 episodes.

See also

• List of television shows filmed in New York City

Notes

External links

• Official website on NBC
• Official website on USA Network
• Official website on Five
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent at the Internet Movie Database
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent at TV.com
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent at the TV IV