Kathryn Morris UK

Japanese Cold Case Season 2 Due Soon

It has been two years but the Kanagawa Prefectural Police’s First Investigative Division squad are returning to Japanese television screens in the autumn.

The WOWOW TV network is airing 10 new episodes of their version of Cold Case starting on the 13th of October. WOWOW is the Japanese home of the original American version too.

Yo Yoshida returns as the Japanese Lilly Rush. Her character is called Yuri Ishikawa and, as I noted previously, in a nice touch Yuri is Japanese for Lily. The rest of the core cast looks to be the same as in season 1 too.

Read all the details on the WOWOW website HERE.

If you know of a localised version of Cold Case in your part of the world then please do let me know.

New US Channel Leads With Female Leads

starttv_logo

The beginning of September, in significant parts of the United States, sees the launch of a new television channel.

Start TV, by the Weigel Broadcasting Co., will be available on many CBS Television Studios local stations across the nation covering around 42% of households.

Many of these smaller channels have a general theme to hang the content on, often targeting a particular demographic. Start TV’s focus is on procedural shows with strong female leads. I think you can see where this is going.

The association with CBS continues with some of the content due to be carried. CBS shows The Good Wife and Cold Case both get mentions in the launch press release. The relevant section for us here at KM UK:

Cold Case starring Kathryn Morris as a lone female detective who finds her calling by unraveling and re-thinking previously unsolved, older crimes.

They are not limiting their output to the ‘eye network’ though, with other network’s programmes such as The Closer, Medium, Crossing Jordan, and Profiler. featuring initially. Schedules are due to be follow a fixed pattern across all seven days of the week, so a show will be on at the same time each and every day.

See the Start TV website HERE.

Acht no! Has It Been That Long?

These anniversaries seem to come around so quickly these days.

Yet they are still a surprise and the ever increasing number is still a bit of a shock. Was it really that long ago?

Here on KM UK we always try and post a quick reminder on key dates and the 2nd of May is one of those dates.

That fateful Sunday in 2010 was day the final ever two episodes of Cold Case aired. It has now been gone for longer than it ran for. The show ended on something of a hopeful note for Lilly and co. but there was ending as such. No doubt the squad continued in some form after we stopped watching. Gone but not forgotten.

We are still watching the actors continue their careers and you can read about them in our regular monthly catch-ups.

Boston Herald’s Cold Case Revival

Reacting to the news that the NBC network in America is considering reviving The Office (the US version of course), Mark Perigard of the Boston Herald newspaper has put forward his own thoughts on shows that should be brought back.

Mark, the TV critic for the Boston Herald, has his misgivings about The Office but can understand the wish to return to past glories after the success of the recent new Will & Grace season, and the soon returning, already resurrected, The X-Files.

Continuing his article, Mark puts forward five other shows he thinks are worth considering. Obviously based on the existence of this post and its title, Cold Case is one of them. We’ll come to that in moment, because visitors to this site may be interested to note two other choices Mark makes.

Cop drama The Shield is first up. Our connection to that show is Danny Pino (Scotty Valens in CC) had a guest starring role in four episodes just before joining Cold Case.

Secondly we have Xena: Warrior Princess. As Mark says, there have been talk of a revival of Xena in recent years but the plans came to nought. Kathryn, of course, had a major role in two episodes of Xena as Najara. It may only have been that double appearance but the character had a wider effect on the relationship between Xena and her side-kick Gabrielle.

Lastly Mark talks about Cold Case. This is what he wrote:

A series that was a cut above crime procedurals, “Cold Case” (2003-2010) featured a group of Philadelphia detectives investigating murders unsolved sometimes for decades and featured moving flashbacks and the original music of the day, including Ray Charles, the Doors and Bruce Springsteen. “Cold Case” is also one of the few TV series that has never been released to DVD, allegedly because of the onerous issue of music rights involved. I think we would all feel safer knowing Detective Lilly Rush — and star Kathryn Morris — was back on the job.

Here, here.

KM UK did its own pitch for a new Cold Case season back in July.

You can read Mark Perigard’s piece in full on the Boston Herald website HERE.

Cold Case Is 14 Today

CC_Titles_16 Yes! Nailed it! I’ve remembered and got the right date for the first time in a few years.

The 28th of September is one of those key dates in the KM UK calendar. In 2003 it was first time the world got to Look Again. The first episode of Cold Case premièred that Sunday night on the CBS network in America.

Happy Birthday Cold Case.

The basic formula of investigating old unsolved cases was set from the beginning, but the Cold Case greatly expanded the flashback elements as that initial season progressed. They became key to what made the show different from other procedurals, and no doubt added greatly to the cost and complexity of making each episode. Two actors were often used to play the same character at different ages, and the sets needed to be changed to match the time periods too.

One significant change in the early season was the departure of actor Justin Chambers. Justin played Chris Lassing, the detective paired with Kathryn’s Lilly Rush. He only appeared in three of the first four episodes (Look Again, Gleen, and Churchgoing People). The order the episodes were filmed may have been different from the order they were broadcast, explaining Justin’s absence from number three. Justin went on to become a lead character in Grey’s Anatomy. The hospital drama returns to TV tonight to start its 14th season. In the coming months Justin will be celebrating his 300th episode of Grey’s. One hundred times more than he did on Cold Case! That’s quite a milestone.

Danny Pino as Scotty Valens was brought in as Lilly’s cop partner from episode five, so the decision to change was likely taken before Look Again first aired. Danny remained for the rest of the show’s seven season run.

With all the remakes and ‘re-imaging’ going on in Hollywood these days it is surely time to get the old gang back together again (as I pondered HERE in July) or for a Cold Case: The Next Generation?