Murder One was one of those great shows that are ahead of their time. Created by Steven Bochco, who also created Hill Street Blues, it followed a single court case for the length of an entire season. Trouble was, back in those pre-Lost, pre-24 days, no one could be arsed to keep up with a plot that lasted for 22-odd episodes; by the second season, the superb lead, Daniel Benzali, had been replaced, and the show chose to focus on cases for only a few episodes at a time.
Now it’s back, apparently. CBS has commissioned a pilot for a new series, as yet untitled, that will follow a single case for an entire season. It will be written by Six Feet Under writer-producer Kate Robin. Where it differs from Murder One, which dealt purely with the defence lawyers and the defendants, is that it will focus on the lead lawyers on both sides of the case, along with half the members of the jury and the judge.
Nevertheless, for those of us who loved the original Murder One, there’s a twinge of sadness as we think of what might have been and how the show might have done in this age of high-quality US TV.
PS It’s available on DVD, but still isn’t at discount prices yet. It will be though, so let’s be patient.
