''The District'' is an American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and comb ...

and

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eit ...

television series which aired on CBS from October 7, 2000, to May 1, 2004. The show followed the work and personal life of the

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the bo ...

of Washington, D.C.'s

police department The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest ...

Premise

Former

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

Police Commissioner and New York Transit police officer Jack Mannion is hired as the chief of the bureaucracy-laden Washington, D.C. police force. Together with his

detectives A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

and allies he must fight crime as well as internal corruption and the powers of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in order to reorganize and renovate the force.

Production

''The District'' was inspired by the real-life experience of former

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Deputy Police Commissioner

Jack Maple Jack Maple (September 23, 1952 – August 4, 2001) was a New York City deputy police commissioner for crime control strategies. He created the CompStat methodology of crime fighting and law enforcement strategy. He coauthored the book ''The Crim ...

. Along with Police Commissioner William Bratton, he had reorganized the NYPD, and one of the achievements was the

CompStat CompStat—or COMPSTAT, short for COMPuter STATistics, is a computerization and quantification program used by police departments. It was originally set up by the New York City Police Department in the 1990s. Variations of the program have since b ...

program (comparative statistics), which has its own major role in the TV series. After the success in New York, the CompStat program has been adapted by other cities. However Jack Maple himself chose to publish his experiences—along with Chris Mitchell he wrote a book (''The Crime Fighter'', 2000), and along with

Terry George Terence George (born 20 December 1952) is an Irish screenwriter and director. Much of his film work (e.g. ''The Boxer'', ''Some Mother's Son'', and '' In the Name of the Father'') involves " The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. He was nominated ...

he prepared a TV series concept. His impact on the storyline after season 1 was limited; he died of colon cancer on August 4, 2001. Primary filming was in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, with some location shooting in Washington, D.C.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Cast notes

* In 2001, Jean Smart was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series" for her performance as "Sherry Regan". * On March 12, 2003, Thigpen died of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

in her Marina del Rey, California, home. The show's third-season finale had a tribute to her character.

Ratings

Note: Throughout ''The District's'' entire run it was aired in a Saturday night timeslot and also it was the last U.S. scripted series to air on its Saturday night schedule until ''

Ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''re ...

'' debuted in 2017.

International broadcasts

*In Australia, ''The District'' aired on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

in late night slots throughout its run. *In

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, the first two seasons aired on Nova Television. The whole series was aired on AXN with subtitles and later on AXN Crime. Later

Fox Crime Fox Crime (stylized as FOXCRIME) is a television network, launched by the Fox Networks Group, which airs across several countries of Europe, Africa and Asia such as Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Its basic programming include nume ...

repeated the first two seasons and the dub was rerecorded with the same actors. The third season started in October 2010. *In

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, ''The District'' airs Monday through Thursday at 12:30am on TV4. *In

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, ''The District'' aired on the Universal Channel. *In Germany, ''The District'' airs on VOX. *In the United Kingdom, it airs on CBS Action. It was also previously broadcast in late night slots on ITV1. *In

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

, it aired on

Radio Television of Serbia Radio Television of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Радио-телевизија Србије, sr-Lat, Radio-televizija Srbije, italics=yes; abbr. RTS/PTC) is Serbia's public broadcaster. It broadcasts and produces news, drama, and sports programming thr ...

. *In

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

, it aired on the now defunct

Prva TV Prva (; sr-Cyrl, Прва) or Prva Srpska Televizija ( sr-Cyrl, Прва српска телевизија, lit=First Serbian Television), is a Serbian commercial television network with national coverage. Launched on 31 December 2006 at 7&nbs ...

, later it aired on Fox Life (Bulgaria & Balkans region). *In

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

, ''The District'' airs on CVM TV, every Thursday At approx. 12:00 a.m. as of April 2012. *In

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

it aired on

TVR1 TVR 1 (; spelled out as ''Televiziunea Română 1'', "Romanian Television 1") is the main channel of the Romanian public broadcaster TVR. The most important show of the channel is Jurnalul TVR, whose motto is ("The news journal as it should ...

and

TVR2 TVR 2 (, spelled out as ''Televiziunea Română 2'', "Romanian Television 2") is the second channel of the public broadcaster TVR. The channel was launched on May 2, 1968, but it was suspended from January 20, 1985, until February 19, 1990. Fr ...

*In

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

it aired on Rai 2 on November 29, 2004 and replayed on La7 on May 25, 2009. *In

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, ''The District'' airs on France 2 (Washington Police)

Syndication

It ran for a time on

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...

as well as on The Biography Channel after cancellation. On February 7, 2020 it joined the day shift in the Friday slot on Heroes & Icons. Without explanation as of Feb. 20, 2020 the program was pulled and Fridays reverted to NUMB3RS.Tomorrow, Clock into the Day Shift with The District!
(comments confirm abrupt pulling) As of mid-2020 it is back on the Heroes and Icons TV schedule weekdays from 1AM to 3AM Eastern Standard Time.

References

External links

* *
USA Network site
(Archived copy)
CBS Network site
(Archived copy) {{DEFAULTSORT:District 2000 American television series debuts 2004 American television series endings 2000s American crime drama television series 2000s American police procedural television series CBS original programming Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in Washington, D.C. Montgomery County, Maryland in fiction