Cold Case canceled

Cafe Society
1

My favorite program, Cold Case has been canceled. Not to be confused with Cold Case Files, which I’m not familiar with.

[ul]
[li]Good stories, [/li][li]Good detective ensemble with a minimum of personal problems cluttering up the show, [/li][li]Great music that matches the era of the flashbacks- a prison breakout show featured all Johnny Cash, another one was all Rocky Horror Picture Show music,[/li][li]Poignant and satisfying endings that often leave me in a puddle of tears and sobs such that my dog, seeing me in great distress, starts licking my elbow furiously, [/li][li]A female detective with translucent porcelain skin, which makes me forgive her for not owning a comb or a pair of girl shoes.[/li][/ul]
I also love the captain. If he had been on L&O:CI, chances are he could have kept Bobby under control and he and Alex would still be together.

2

I was disappointed to hear this, despite my continual frustration at missing the end of numerous episodes because the Sunday afternoon sports event of the week lasted longer than expected and I didn’t realize it in time to rest my DVR. This is particularly annoying because I’ve heard that there’s almost no chance that the show will ever be released on DVD because of the rights problems involved in the music used.

3

Good points all – Cold Case was never one of my “Oooo, I’m really looking forward to watching this” shows, but I always enjoyed it quite a bit. You’re dead on regarding the music – no other current show I’m aware of made as much good use out of music as CC did (and dear God, did I ever love the Rocky Horror episode).

My only disagreement is regarding “a minimum of personal problems cluttering up the show”. That, to me, is what’s been killing it the past two seasons. Lily and her father. Lily and her sister. Lily and the military base guy. Scotty, his mother and her rapist. On and on with these…I understand that it’s important to have underlying story threads to keep viewers hooked, but they were starting to go a little far with them.

Still, I’ll miss the show.
By the by, Cold Case Files can be decent if you like true-crime shows.

4

That’s why I always set the DVR to record for an hour beyond Cold Case’s scheduled run time.

Huh…that’s surprising. I get it in the case of something like WKRP, where no one ever thought it would become an issue, but I’m surprised they didn’t get cleared up right up front for a modern series like this.

5

Sorry you’re losing a show you like, but I have to say the couple of episodes I’ve seen - usually just in part - were really terrible. Manipulative, trite, and the way they used music struck me as really lazy. It always felt like they were doing it to kill time and avoid writing dialogue. But maybe that’s me. I’m usually irritated by montages on TV shows.

6

Is Lily the women with the freaky over-Botoxed face?

7

Previous thread with some more discussion.

8

I also learned to set the DVR to record 1.5 hours, and started it 5 minutes early.

The personal problems did start to intrude some, but never got to be the focal point of the show, thank goodness.

9

It’s kind of odd – I generally hate predictability in shows, yet I loved how predictable CC was. It almost never veered from format:

Person A brings cold case to the team’s attention, casts suspicion on Person B.
Person B is interviewed, claims innocence, casts suspicion on Person C.
Person C is interviewed, claims innocence, casts suspicion on Person D.
Person D is interviewed, claims innocence, casts suspicion on Person E.
Person E is interviewed, claims innocence, casts suspicion on Person F.
Person F is interviewed, claims innocence, points team back at Person B, C, D or E.
Reinterview above Person, lie is exposed, confession results.

My wife and I had a game we played every week: After the opening flashback showing that week’s murder, we each make a Whodunnit pick – was it one of the players in the opening scene (and if so, which one), or someone who hasn’t been introduced yet? If you went with the latter, then you had to call the doer as soon as they appeared onscreen. I was crazy-good at the game, picking the doer with over 80% accuracy (yes, we kept track). :slight_smile:

I hated those ones where there was no doer, and the death turned out to be accidental – screwed our game right up. Fortunately, they only went to that well two or three times during the series.

My personal best moment: Earlier this season, they had a pro-wrestling themed episode. As soon as it started and they were showing the flashback of the guys in the ring, I turned to my wife and said “The promoter did it” (and mind you, this was seconds into the show – well before they even introduced that there was a promoter). Nailed it. :slight_smile:

10

I wandered away from the show two years ago or so. I kept thinking “How many old, unsolved cases do they have in this city, and how can they justify taking the time of the entire homicide department to work them?”

11

I am not a cop show person at all, and generally not a TV drama person either, but a couple of years ago, a local station stared showing re-runs of Cold Case at 2am on saturday nights.

Because there wasn’t much else on at the time, I watched a couple of episodes, and was actually able to figure out what was going on rather quickly (as other posters have mentioned, there isn’t too much back-story with the characters that is necc. to watch the show). I began to enjoy Cold Case for what it was, which IMHO is a by the numbers cop show with a great musical score to accompany the story, and a formula that is basically the same each time, perfectly explained by Hal Briston (they interview various suspects/witnesses, take everything they are told at face value and eventually learn the shocking truth:dubious:) but even with the less-than-believable plotlines, I still think it’s a pretty enjoyable hour of TV, and I am kind of sorry to see it go…

PS—Even though she is not the type of woman I am normally attracted to Kathryn Morris (who plays Det. Lilly Rush) is among the most beautiful women on any television show of the past several years. She is stunning, with a regal bearing.

12

I’ve never actually seen this show, but I love the Canadian show that it’s apparently based on, Cold Squad. (Although according to Wikipedia, it wasn’t done with permission, and the Cold Squad people have considered suing CBS.) It’s a very original and sometimes quite shocking show. I recommend it highly!

13

The thing that I always enjoyed about the show (aside from the translucent porcelain skin, about which I agree with you) is the casting of the various guest stars. In particular, the selection of actors to play the young and older versions of the characters is absolutely flawless.

14

Back in 2006, a friend and I took the Deluxe VIP tour at Warner Bros. in Burbank. As part of that tour, our guide took us into the Cold Case squad room, the interrogation room, and the cell block. They’re beautiful sets in person – the clutter on each desk in the squad room was perfect. I’d never watched the show, but decided to watch it to see the sets as they appeared on TV. I got hooked pretty fast, and I’m sad to see it go, even though I’ve drifted away in the past couple seasons.

This will leave a hole in the production calendar at Warner Bros. though it’s probably already been filled. They used the backlot sets very frequently – particularly Hennessy Street (a New York set originally made famous in the 1982 version of Annie) and the residential street.

15

I’ve only recently gotten into Cold Case, (it replaced Without a Trace on TNT’s syndication) but it seems like it’s the most emotional of all cop shows. Probably because it’s the only one where we really get to know the victim. Every other one starts with a dead body. If we see them alive it’s only very briefly.

16

I always liked it for the dramatic glimpses into times past and their cultural characteristics. Like, even ten years ago things were different in a lot of ways we don’t notice until the contrast is highlighted.

17

The detail in past scenes is so much fun to see. In one late 1950’s flashback, a kid had the SAME red plaid metal lunchbox that my friend Diane had in seventh grade. (I WANTED that lunchbox, but it was too expensive… and people wonder why I’m in therapy… :frowning: )

18

I just liked that six people would have perfect recall of events that had happened to them decades before, even when from that characters perspective the event wouldn’t have been all that noteworthy.

I never cared for the show but my wife watched it. Now I’ll have more room on the DVR.

19

I liked it too. Yes, it was manipulative; yes, it was predictible; yes, the ‘personal problems’ had started to intrude… but I liked it and I’m gonna miss it.

And I surely hope the dude who played Scotty gets another job soon because he is GORGEOUS!

20

I didn’t like shows that went too far back in time. If a perpetrator gets to enjoy a long, full life outside of prison before paying for the crime with his or her last few infirm years, that didn’t seem like much of a victory.