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Law & Order: Criminal Intent (season 1)
Encyclopedia
Season one of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, an American police procedural
television series developed by Dick Wolf
and René Balcer
, began airing on September 30, 2001 on NBC
, a national broadcast television
network in the United States. Law & Order: Criminal Intent
is the second spin-off
of the long-running crime drama
Law & Order
, and follows the New York City Police Department's
fictional Major Case Squad, which investigates high-profile murder cases. The first season comprises twenty-two episodes and concluded its initial airing on May 10, 2002. Four actors received star billing in the first season; Vincent D'Onofrio
, Kathryn Erbe
, Jamey Sheridan
, and Courtney B. Vance
.
Episodes depict Detectives Robert Goren
(D'Onofrio) and Alexandra Eames
(Erbe) as the squad's lead investigators. Captain James Deakins
(Sheridan) is the detectives' direct supervisor and head of the Major Case Squad. Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver
(Vance) often attempts to obtain confessions from the suspects, rather than taking them to trial
. Law & Order: Criminal Intent focusses on the actions and motives of the criminals, and divides screen time equally between the suspects and victims, and the police's investigation. The season was filmed on location
in New York City, although scenes set inside the Major Case Squad department were filmed in a studio at Chelsea Piers
, Manhattan
.
The season was nominated for four awards, and was described as the most impressive of all the Law & Order series. It was sold to numerous television stations around the world, has been adapted into localized foreign versions in Russia and France, and has been syndicated in the US on a number of cable channels. A DVD box set of the season was released in America on October 21, 2003, and episodes are available to purchase at the US iTunes Store
and Amazon Video on Demand.
franchise, which was created by Dick Wolf
in 1990. He developed it with René Balcer
, who began working on the original series during its first season. During his time on Law & Order, Balcer was promoted to head writer, show runner
, and executive producer
before leaving in 2000. News first broke of a new series in late 2000, when it was reported that NBC
, broadcaster of Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
, approached Wolf Films and Studios USA about a second spin-off.
Balcer and Wolf conceived Law & Order: Criminal Intent as a police procedural
crime drama that follows a distinct division of the New York City Police Department
: the 'Major Case Squad', and its investigations in to high-profile murder cases, such as those involving VIPs
, local government officials and employees, and people working in the financial industry and the arts and entertainment world. Unlike the other series in the Law & Order franchise, Law & Order: Criminal Intent gives significant attention to the actions and motives of the criminals, rather than primarily focusing on the police investigation and trial
prosecution. Episodes do not contain trials, and end in confessions rather than plea bargain
s or verdict
s.
Production began in January 2001, shooting on location in and around New York City using local color
. The main set of One Police Plaza
is located at Pier 62, Chelsea Piers
, Manhattan
. Thirteen episodes were initially ordered, and were completed by April 2001, so that production would not be halted by a potential strike from the Writers Guild of America
. Balcer was the show runner, executive producer and head writer on the first season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Wolf was also credited as an executive producer, as with all other Law & Order series. The first season gave co-executive producers credits to Peter Jankowski
, Fred Berner, Geoffrey Neigher, and Arthur Forney. John L. Roman, Roz Weinman, and Eric Overmyer
were named producers
, with Michael Kewley a co-producer. Theresa Rebeck
and Marlane Meyer were consulting producers. Twelve people directed, and nine people wrote the twenty-two episodes; Constantine Makris
directed four episodes, and Balcer wrote or co-wrote ten episodes.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is not an ensemble
series, and therefore differs from Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit which respectively featured six and eight actors receiving star billing during the same broadcast season. Movie actor Vincent D'Onofrio
was offered the lead role of Detective Robert Goren
, a hyper-intuitive
contemporary Sherlock Holmes
-type investigator who used to work for the US Military Police. Other than a 1998 guest role on Homicide: Life on the Street
that earned him an Emmy
nomination, this was D'Onofrio's first major television role. Goren's partner, former vice squad detective Alexandra Eames
, was played by Kathryn Erbe
who had just completed a role on Oz
as convicted murderer Shirley Bellinger
. Balcer stated Eames was cast because "she just looked like a real cop." Courtney B. Vance
plays Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver
, a graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice
. Jamey Sheridan
was the last actor to be cast in a main role, taking the part of James Deakins
, a "seasoned" NYPD Captain
. In a recurring role, Leslie Hendrix
appeared as Assistant Chief Medical Examiner Elizabeth Rodgers, the same character she had played in the other two series. Steve Zirnkilton
provides a voice-over
at the beginning of each episode's opening credits
, saying "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."
Many New York-based actors guest-starred in the first season, as either victims, suspects, or their family members. Jake Weber
starred as the murderer in the first episode; Kathleen Chalfant
guest-starred in "Smothered" as a murder suspect's wealthy, socialite mother; Stephen Henderson
played the murder victim in "The Faithful"; the murder suspect in "Jones
" was played by Griffin Dunne
and Karen Young
played his wife; "Faith
" featured guest appearances from Mia Dillon
, Remak Ramsay
, Adam LeFevre
, and Polly Draper
.
on the American terrestrial television
network NBC
. The pilot episode, titled "One
", aired on Sunday September 30, 2001 at 9:00 p.m. EST
. Episodes aired weekly until December, when the show took a brief hiatus
until January, and took another hiatus during February. The final episode
of the season aired at 9:00 p.m. on Friday May 10, 2002. Under a $
100,000-per-episode shared or second window syndication agreement that cable channel
USA Network
made with NBC, USA Network was allowed to broadcast episodes out of primetime a week after their premiere on NBC. The season is also under a regular off-network syndication deal at USA Networks and Bravo. The two channels teamed up late 2004 to pay $2 million per episode for the syndication rights to the series, allowing USA Network to air episodes during the week, and Bravo to air episodes at the weekend. In 2007, Fox Television Stations, a group of Fox Broadcasting Company
owned-and-operated station
s, entered a syndication deal to broadcast episodes as part of its daytime schedule. From late 2009, MyNetworkTV
will broadcast Law & Order: Criminal Intent, including episodes from season one, having changed their business model from a network broadcaster to a syndication programming service. The series has also been distributed to international broadcasters. It aired in Canada on CTV
, in France on TF1
, in the United Kingdom on Hallmark Channel
and Five, in Australia on Network Ten
, and in New Zealand on TV3
.
Episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intents first season have been adapted into localized foreign versions. Russian
: (lit. Law & Order: Criminal Mind), premiered in 2007 on NTV (Russia) and is produced by Global American Television, Studio2B and NTV, Wolf Films and NBC Universal. On May 3, 2007, the French Law & Order: Criminal Intent broadcaster, TF1
, began airing Paris enquêtes criminelles
, a co-production from TF1 and ALMA, Wolf Films and NBC Universal. All eight episodes of Paris enquêtes criminelless first season, two episodes from the second season, and one third-season episode were adapted from Law & Order: Criminal Intent first season episodes. Wolf stated that Law & Order: Criminal Intent has been sold to foreign networks because it is easier to adapt into local legal systems than Law & Order, where half of each episode occurs in the courtroom.
The season is available in a number of new media
formats. Universal Studios Home Entertainment
released it in a 6-disc DVD box set on October 21, 2003 in Region 1
, titled Law & Order: Criminal Intent – The First Year. The pilot episode was also released on a separate DVD on June 3, 2003. Consumers in the US can purchase and download episodes from the iTunes Store
and Amazon Video on Demand.
commented on the difference between this series and Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
: "By scrutinizing motive and intent, Criminal Intent utilizes a more personal style that sets it apart from its brethren. Wolf's characters are notoriously devoid of detailed personal lives, but debut [episode] hints at a little more introspection on the part of the characters". In Entertainment Weekly
, Ken Tucker wrote that Law & Order: Criminal Intent was the best series of the year from the Law & Order franchise and that while Law & Order suffered from tired, wooden performances from actors with poor chemistry, the acting on Law & Order: Criminal Intent was at "the other end of the spectrum." Both writers commented on the overpowering screen presence that D'Onofrio commands in the first episode: "Criminal Intent so far is a one-man show with Vincent D'Onofrio at its center. [He] commands the most attention, tending to overshadow Erbe, who is reduced in the pilot to following Goren with an awe-struck look," wrote Fries, while Tucker also stated, "D'Onofrio is so eccentrically entertaining, even his costar Kathryn Erbe seems fascinated", but complained that Erbe's role was smaller than D'Onofrio's, which "jibes with the subtle range she showed on [HBO's] Oz
and proves her professional generosity." He also said Sheridan "is similarly nonplussed and under-utilized," but "Vance is terrific [as Carver], who makes defendants wither in the face of his elegantly reasoned cross-examinations."
Law & Order: Criminal Intents first season received four nominations from three award ceremonies
. "The Faithful" and "Smothered" were given commendations at the Prism Awards in the category for Best TV Drama Series Episode. Vance was nominated in the Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
category at the 2002 NAACP Image Awards. René Balcer received an Edgar Award
nomination for "Tuxedo Hill
". Casting director Lynn Kressel was nominated at the Casting Society of America's Artios Awards in the category for Best Casting for TV in a Dramatic Pilot.
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
television series developed by Dick Wolf
Dick Wolf
Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf is an American producer, specializing in crime dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. Throughout his career he has won several awards including an Emmy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Early life:Wolf was born in New York City, the son...
and René Balcer
René Balcer
René Balcer is a Canadian television writer, director and producer.-Early life:He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and attended Lower Canada College in Montreal. He earned his B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Communication Studies from Concordia University in 1978. He began his career as a journalist,...
, began airing on September 30, 2001 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, a national broadcast television
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
network in the United States. Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
is the second spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of the long-running crime drama
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, and follows the New York City Police Department's
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
fictional Major Case Squad, which investigates high-profile murder cases. The first season comprises twenty-two episodes and concluded its initial airing on May 10, 2002. Four actors received star billing in the first season; Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
, Kathryn Erbe
Kathryn Erbe
Kathryn Elsbeth Erbe is an American actress known for her role as Det. Alexandra Eames in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a spin-off of Law & Order, and death row inmate Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series Oz.-Personal life:...
, Jamey Sheridan
Jamey Sheridan
James Patrick "Jamey" Sheridan is an American actor. He was born in Pasadena, California.He has had a prolific acting career in theater, television, and feature film productions. Born to a family of actors, he made it to Broadway and earned a Tony nomination in 1987 for his performance in the...
, and Courtney B. Vance
Courtney B. Vance
Courtney Bernard Vance is an American actor. He was formerly a regular on the NBC/USA television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver. He was also a series regular on the ABC series FlashForward. As of 2011, he appears on the TNT series The Closer as Chief...
.
Episodes depict Detectives Robert Goren
Robert Goren
Det. Robert "Bobby" Goren is a fictional character featured in the NBC-USA Network police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio....
(D'Onofrio) and Alexandra Eames
Alexandra Eames
Det. Alexandra "Alex" Eames is a fictional police detective with the NYPD Major Case Squad featured in the NBC-USA Network Law & Order: Criminal Intent, portrayed by Kathryn Erbe...
(Erbe) as the squad's lead investigators. Captain James Deakins
James Deakins
Captain James Deakins is a fictional character on the NBC-USA Network U.S. television series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, played by Jamey Sheridan.On the show, Deakins supervises New York City's Major Case Squad...
(Sheridan) is the detectives' direct supervisor and head of the Major Case Squad. Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver
Ron Carver
Ron Carver is a fictional character on the NBC-USA Network series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, played by Courtney B. Vance.Carver often works in conjunction with detectives Robert Goren, Alexandra Eames, Mike Logan and Carolyn Barek of the Major Case Squad. He graduated from John Jay College of...
(Vance) often attempts to obtain confessions from the suspects, rather than taking them to trial
Trial (law)
In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...
. Law & Order: Criminal Intent focusses on the actions and motives of the criminals, and divides screen time equally between the suspects and victims, and the police's investigation. The season was filmed on location
Filming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...
in New York City, although scenes set inside the Major Case Squad department were filmed in a studio at Chelsea Piers
Chelsea Piers
Chelsea Piers is a series of piers on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City that was a passenger ship terminal in the early 1900s that was used by the RMS Lusitania and was the destination of the RMS Titanic....
, Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
The season was nominated for four awards, and was described as the most impressive of all the Law & Order series. It was sold to numerous television stations around the world, has been adapted into localized foreign versions in Russia and France, and has been syndicated in the US on a number of cable channels. A DVD box set of the season was released in America on October 21, 2003, and episodes are available to purchase at the US iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
and Amazon Video on Demand.
Production
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is the third series in the Law & Order crime dramaCrime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
franchise, which was created by Dick Wolf
Dick Wolf
Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf is an American producer, specializing in crime dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. Throughout his career he has won several awards including an Emmy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Early life:Wolf was born in New York City, the son...
in 1990. He developed it with René Balcer
René Balcer
René Balcer is a Canadian television writer, director and producer.-Early life:He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and attended Lower Canada College in Montreal. He earned his B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Communication Studies from Concordia University in 1978. He began his career as a journalist,...
, who began working on the original series during its first season. During his time on Law & Order, Balcer was promoted to head writer, show runner
Show runner
Showrunner is a term of art originating in the United States and Canadian television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television seriesalthough such persons generally are credited as an executive producer...
, and executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
before leaving in 2000. News first broke of a new series in late 2000, when it was reported that NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, broadcaster of Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
, approached Wolf Films and Studios USA about a second spin-off.
Balcer and Wolf conceived Law & Order: Criminal Intent as a police procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
crime drama that follows a distinct division of the New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
: the 'Major Case Squad', and its investigations in to high-profile murder cases, such as those involving VIPs
Very Important Person
A Very Important Person, or VIP is a person who is accorded special privileges due to his or her status or importance.Examples include celebrities, heads of state/heads of government, major employers, high rollers, politicians, high-level corporate officers, wealthy individuals, or any other...
, local government officials and employees, and people working in the financial industry and the arts and entertainment world. Unlike the other series in the Law & Order franchise, Law & Order: Criminal Intent gives significant attention to the actions and motives of the criminals, rather than primarily focusing on the police investigation and trial
Trial (law)
In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...
prosecution. Episodes do not contain trials, and end in confessions rather than plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
s or verdict
Verdict
In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. The term, from the Latin veredictum, literally means "to say the truth" and is derived from Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman: a compound of ver and dit In law, a verdict...
s.
Production began in January 2001, shooting on location in and around New York City using local color
Regionalism (literature)
In literature, regionalism or local color refers to fiction or poetry that focuses on specific features – including characters, dialects, customs, history, and topography – of a particular region...
. The main set of One Police Plaza
One Police Plaza
1 Police Plaza is the headquarters of the New York City Police Department . 1 Police Plaza is located on Park Row in downtown Manhattan near City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge. Its block borders Park Row, Pearl Street, and Police Plaza...
is located at Pier 62, Chelsea Piers
Chelsea Piers
Chelsea Piers is a series of piers on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City that was a passenger ship terminal in the early 1900s that was used by the RMS Lusitania and was the destination of the RMS Titanic....
, Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Thirteen episodes were initially ordered, and were completed by April 2001, so that production would not be halted by a potential strike from the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
. Balcer was the show runner, executive producer and head writer on the first season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Wolf was also credited as an executive producer, as with all other Law & Order series. The first season gave co-executive producers credits to Peter Jankowski
Peter Jankowski
Peter Jankowski is an executive producer of Law & Order and a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross.Jankowski also holds executive producer credits from Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Conviction, Dragnet, Crime & Punishment, Arrest &...
, Fred Berner, Geoffrey Neigher, and Arthur Forney. John L. Roman, Roz Weinman, and Eric Overmyer
Eric Overmyer
Eric Overmyer is a writer and producer. He has written and/or produced numerous TV shows, including St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, The Wire, New Amsterdam, and Treme.-Biography:...
were named producers
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, with Michael Kewley a co-producer. Theresa Rebeck
Theresa Rebeck
Theresa Rebeck is an American playwright, television writer and novelist. Her work has appeared on the Broadway and Off-Broadway stage, in film, and on television. Among her awards are the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award.-Biography:...
and Marlane Meyer were consulting producers. Twelve people directed, and nine people wrote the twenty-two episodes; Constantine Makris
Constantine Makris
Constantine Makris A.S.C. is a Greek-American cinematographer, television director and television producer who has mainly worked on Dick Wolf's series...
directed four episodes, and Balcer wrote or co-wrote ten episodes.
Cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
series, and therefore differs from Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit which respectively featured six and eight actors receiving star billing during the same broadcast season. Movie actor Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
was offered the lead role of Detective Robert Goren
Robert Goren
Det. Robert "Bobby" Goren is a fictional character featured in the NBC-USA Network police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio....
, a hyper-intuitive
Intuition (knowledge)
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without inference or the use of reason. "The word 'intuition' comes from the Latin word 'intueri', which is often roughly translated as meaning 'to look inside'’ or 'to contemplate'." Intuition provides us with beliefs that we cannot necessarily justify...
contemporary Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
-type investigator who used to work for the US Military Police. Other than a 1998 guest role on Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
that earned him an Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nomination, this was D'Onofrio's first major television role. Goren's partner, former vice squad detective Alexandra Eames
Alexandra Eames
Det. Alexandra "Alex" Eames is a fictional police detective with the NYPD Major Case Squad featured in the NBC-USA Network Law & Order: Criminal Intent, portrayed by Kathryn Erbe...
, was played by Kathryn Erbe
Kathryn Erbe
Kathryn Elsbeth Erbe is an American actress known for her role as Det. Alexandra Eames in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a spin-off of Law & Order, and death row inmate Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series Oz.-Personal life:...
who had just completed a role on Oz
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
as convicted murderer Shirley Bellinger
Shirley Bellinger
Shirley Bellinger is a fictional character in the HBO series Oz played by Kathryn Erbe and also referenced in the related book OZ: Behind These Walls: The Journal of Augustus Hill.-Character overview:...
. Balcer stated Eames was cast because "she just looked like a real cop." Courtney B. Vance
Courtney B. Vance
Courtney Bernard Vance is an American actor. He was formerly a regular on the NBC/USA television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver. He was also a series regular on the ABC series FlashForward. As of 2011, he appears on the TNT series The Closer as Chief...
plays Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver
Ron Carver
Ron Carver is a fictional character on the NBC-USA Network series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, played by Courtney B. Vance.Carver often works in conjunction with detectives Robert Goren, Alexandra Eames, Mike Logan and Carolyn Barek of the Major Case Squad. He graduated from John Jay College of...
, a graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice is a senior college of the City University of New York in Midtown Manhattan, New York City and is the only liberal arts college with a criminal justice and forensic focus in the United States. The college offers programs in Forensic Science and Forensic...
. Jamey Sheridan
Jamey Sheridan
James Patrick "Jamey" Sheridan is an American actor. He was born in Pasadena, California.He has had a prolific acting career in theater, television, and feature film productions. Born to a family of actors, he made it to Broadway and earned a Tony nomination in 1987 for his performance in the...
was the last actor to be cast in a main role, taking the part of James Deakins
James Deakins
Captain James Deakins is a fictional character on the NBC-USA Network U.S. television series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, played by Jamey Sheridan.On the show, Deakins supervises New York City's Major Case Squad...
, a "seasoned" NYPD Captain
Police captain
- France :France uses the rank of capitaine for management duties in both uniformed and plain-clothed policing. The rank comes senior to lieutenant and junior to commandant....
. In a recurring role, Leslie Hendrix
Leslie Hendrix
Leslie Hendrix is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Elizabeth Rodgers on four Law & Order series...
appeared as Assistant Chief Medical Examiner Elizabeth Rodgers, the same character she had played in the other two series. Steve Zirnkilton
Steven Zirnkilton
Steven Zirnkilton is an American voice-over actor, known for providing the opening narration of all shows in the Law & Order franchise. He received the job after he was originally hired by series creator Dick Wolf for a small part on Law & Order....
provides a voice-over
Voice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
at the beginning of each episode's opening credits
Opening credits
In a motion picture, television program, or video game, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There...
, saying "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."
Many New York-based actors guest-starred in the first season, as either victims, suspects, or their family members. Jake Weber
Jake Weber
Jake Weber is an English actor, known in film for his role as Michael in Dawn of the Dead and for his role as Drew in Meet Joe Black...
starred as the murderer in the first episode; Kathleen Chalfant
Kathleen Chalfant
-Life and career:Chalfant was born as in San Francisco, California and raised in her parents' boarding house in Oakland. Her father, William Bishop, was an officer in the Coast Guard...
guest-starred in "Smothered" as a murder suspect's wealthy, socialite mother; Stephen Henderson
Stephen Henderson
Stephen McKinley Henderson is an American actor.-Life and career:Henderson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Ruby Naomi and Elihue Henderson. He was originally part of Group 1 of the Juilliard Drama School, later finishing his degree at the North Carolina School of the Arts...
played the murder victim in "The Faithful"; the murder suspect in "Jones
Jones (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)
"Jones" is a first season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Plot summary:In this episode, Detective Goren and Eames are investigating the death of a pretty, petite woman found drowned in her bathtub....
" was played by Griffin Dunne
Griffin Dunne
-Personal life:Dunne was born Thomas Griffin Dunne in New York City, New York, the son of Ellen Beatriz Dunne and Dominick Dunne. His mother founded the victims' rights organization Justice for Homicide Victims and his father was a producer, writer, and actor...
and Karen Young
Karen Young (actress)
Karen Young is an American actress.Born in Pequannock Township, New Jersey, Young studied at Rutgers University. After graduation she moved to New York City and became an actress, appearing in such films as 9½ Weeks, Jaws: The Revenge, Daylight, Mercy and Hoffa. Her ex-husband is Tom Noonan...
played his wife; "Faith
Faith (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)
"Faith" is a first season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Plot summary:In this episode, Goren and Eames investigate the death of a wealthy publisher killed by a car bomb....
" featured guest appearances from Mia Dillon
Mia Dillon
Mia Dillon is an American actress.Born in Colorado, Dillon graduated from Marple-Newtown Senior High School in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. She made her Broadway debut in Hugh Leonard's Da in 1978...
, Remak Ramsay
Remak Ramsay
Remak Ramsay is an American veteran stage, film and television actor.Ramsay was born Gustavus Remak Ramsay in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Caroline V...
, Adam LeFevre
Adam LeFevre
Adam LeFevre is an American character actor, poet and playwright who works in cinema, television, theater and commercials....
, and Polly Draper
Polly Draper
Polly Carey Draper is an American actress, screenwriter, playwright, producer and director. She is renowned for her ensemble role in ABC's hit series Thirtysomething. In 1998, Draper starred in her screenwriting debut The Tic Code, featuring Gregory Hines which was inspired by her husband Michael...
.
Distribution
The first season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent premiered during the 2001–2002 television season2001–02 United States network television schedule
This was the United States broadcast television schedule on all six commercial television networks for the fall season beginning in September 2001. All times are Eastern and Pacific.New fall series are highlighted in bold....
on the American terrestrial television
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
network NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. The pilot episode, titled "One
One (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)
"One" is the first episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.- Plot summary :In January 1998, Karl Atwood enlists his girlfriend Gia and three others to help plan and execute a major jewelry heist: Carson, fresh out of a Canadian prison; Nathan, an expert in phony...
", aired on Sunday September 30, 2001 at 9:00 p.m. EST
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
. Episodes aired weekly until December, when the show took a brief hiatus
Hiatus (television)
In television scheduling, a hiatus refers to a break of at least several weeks in the normal schedule of a broadcast programming. It can occur during a season of a television program, or can be between television seasons .- Planned hiatus :Many times television stations will implement a hiatus...
until January, and took another hiatus during February. The final episode
Season finale
A season finale is the final episode of a season of a television program...
of the season aired at 9:00 p.m. on Friday May 10, 2002. Under a $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
100,000-per-episode shared or second window syndication agreement that cable channel
Cable network
A cable channel is a television channel available via cable television. Such channels are usually also available via satellite television, including direct broadcast satellite providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and BSkyB...
USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
made with NBC, USA Network was allowed to broadcast episodes out of primetime a week after their premiere on NBC. The season is also under a regular off-network syndication deal at USA Networks and Bravo. The two channels teamed up late 2004 to pay $2 million per episode for the syndication rights to the series, allowing USA Network to air episodes during the week, and Bravo to air episodes at the weekend. In 2007, Fox Television Stations, a group of Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
s, entered a syndication deal to broadcast episodes as part of its daytime schedule. From late 2009, MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
will broadcast Law & Order: Criminal Intent, including episodes from season one, having changed their business model from a network broadcaster to a syndication programming service. The series has also been distributed to international broadcasters. It aired in Canada on CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
, in France on TF1
TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
, in the United Kingdom on Hallmark Channel
Hallmark Channel (UK)
The Universal Channel is a television channel owned by NBCUniversal.The channel mainly broadcasts United States imports including drama series and TV movies such as House MD and Law & Order. However the channel also screens British dramas including Hustle and Spooks, and Australian series like Sea...
and Five, in Australia on Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
, and in New Zealand on TV3
TV3 (New Zealand)
TV3 is a New Zealand commercial television network, owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Launched on 26 November 1989, the first private television network in New Zealand...
.
Episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intents first season have been adapted into localized foreign versions. Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: (lit. Law & Order: Criminal Mind), premiered in 2007 on NTV (Russia) and is produced by Global American Television, Studio2B and NTV, Wolf Films and NBC Universal. On May 3, 2007, the French Law & Order: Criminal Intent broadcaster, TF1
TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
, began airing Paris enquêtes criminelles
Paris enquêtes criminelles
Paris enquêtes criminelles is a French television series broadcast since May 3, 2007 on TF1.-Synopsis:Adapted from Law & Order: Criminal Intent , it follows the investigations of two police detectives with very different methods of investigation. Vincent Revel is very intuitive, while his partner...
, a co-production from TF1 and ALMA, Wolf Films and NBC Universal. All eight episodes of Paris enquêtes criminelless first season, two episodes from the second season, and one third-season episode were adapted from Law & Order: Criminal Intent first season episodes. Wolf stated that Law & Order: Criminal Intent has been sold to foreign networks because it is easier to adapt into local legal systems than Law & Order, where half of each episode occurs in the courtroom.
The season is available in a number of new media
New media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
formats. Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...
released it in a 6-disc DVD box set on October 21, 2003 in Region 1
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
, titled Law & Order: Criminal Intent – The First Year. The pilot episode was also released on a separate DVD on June 3, 2003. Consumers in the US can purchase and download episodes from the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
and Amazon Video on Demand.
Reception
Laura Fries of VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
commented on the difference between this series and Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
: "By scrutinizing motive and intent, Criminal Intent utilizes a more personal style that sets it apart from its brethren. Wolf's characters are notoriously devoid of detailed personal lives, but debut [episode] hints at a little more introspection on the part of the characters". In Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, Ken Tucker wrote that Law & Order: Criminal Intent was the best series of the year from the Law & Order franchise and that while Law & Order suffered from tired, wooden performances from actors with poor chemistry, the acting on Law & Order: Criminal Intent was at "the other end of the spectrum." Both writers commented on the overpowering screen presence that D'Onofrio commands in the first episode: "Criminal Intent so far is a one-man show with Vincent D'Onofrio at its center. [He] commands the most attention, tending to overshadow Erbe, who is reduced in the pilot to following Goren with an awe-struck look," wrote Fries, while Tucker also stated, "D'Onofrio is so eccentrically entertaining, even his costar Kathryn Erbe seems fascinated", but complained that Erbe's role was smaller than D'Onofrio's, which "jibes with the subtle range she showed on [HBO's] Oz
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
and proves her professional generosity." He also said Sheridan "is similarly nonplussed and under-utilized," but "Vance is terrific [as Carver], who makes defendants wither in the face of his elegantly reasoned cross-examinations."
Law & Order: Criminal Intents first season received four nominations from three award ceremonies
Award ceremony
An awards ceremony is an event and television programming genre where an award, of any type, is given to a person or people. Ceremonies are usually held at night, with guests wearing formal gowns and suits. They also usually have a host, with many categories for the awards. In the event that there...
. "The Faithful" and "Smothered" were given commendations at the Prism Awards in the category for Best TV Drama Series Episode. Vance was nominated in the Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series:*Most Wins:* Malik Yoba, Eriq La Salle, Hill Harper have won this category 3 times.*Most Nominations-Winners/Nominees:...
category at the 2002 NAACP Image Awards. René Balcer received an Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
nomination for "Tuxedo Hill
Tuxedo Hill
"Tuxedo Hill" is a first season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Plot summary:Detectives Goren and Eames investigate the assault/car accident of a corporate finance officer and murder of her boyfriend and stumble onto a corporate accounting fraud/stock manipulation...
". Casting director Lynn Kressel was nominated at the Casting Society of America's Artios Awards in the category for Best Casting for TV in a Dramatic Pilot.
Episodes
| Season # |
Series # |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
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