''Cold Squad'' is a Canadian

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

series that premiered on CTV on January 23, 1998, at 10 p.m., and ran for seven seasons. Led by Sergeant Ali McCormick ( Julie Stewart), a team of homicide detectives from the

Vancouver Police Department The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) () is the police force in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Greater Vancouver, Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the provinc ...

reopen long-unsolved, or "

cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjectivity, subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute t ...

" cases (the titular "Cold Squad"), using present-day forensic technology and psychological profiling to help crack them. ''Cold Squad'' premiered simultaneously in French Canada on Séries+ as ''Brigade spéciale''. The series was created by Matt MacLeod, Philip Keatley and Julia Keatley, and produced by Keatley MacLeod Productions and

Alliance Atlantis Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Los ...

in association with CTV Television Network, with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund (Canada Media Fund). ''Cold Squad'' is the first

prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

national series produced out of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. With seven seasons and 98 episodes it became the longest-running prime time drama series on Canadian television. The cast of ''Cold Squad'' was diverse and changing. Except for Julie Stewart, almost the entire cast was replaced between the second and third seasons, and the series revamped. The revision was meant to attract a younger audience and more male viewers. (Published originally in the ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices are located at Pos ...

'' on May 26, 1999.) ( Michael Hogan, who played main character Det. Tony Logozzo in Seasons 1 and 2, appeared in the third season two-part opener episode " Deadly Games" but thereafter was gone from the series). Starting with the third season, the "Cold Squad" division was folded into a province-wide task force and its basement setting eliminated. Along with significant variations of the

title sequence A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television show, television programmes present their title and key filmmaking, production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an op ...

(Seasons 1–2, 3–6, 7),

theme music Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

(Seasons 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7), new sets (Seasons 3–6, 7), and change in McCormick's hair colour from auburn to blonde along with her wardrobe (in particular her jacket), these differences contributed to a considerable reworking of the series. The only character to appear in all seven seasons was Sgt. Ali McCormick.

Cast and characters

Main cast

* Julie Stewart as Sgt. Ali (Alison) McCormick * Michael Hogan as Det. Tony Logozzo (seasons 1–2 , Guest season 3) * Joy Tanner as Jill Stone (seasons 1–2) * Paul Boretski as Det. Nick Gallagher (season 1) *

Jerry Wasserman Jerry Wasserman (born November 2, 1945) is an Americans, American professor and film and television actor. Wasserman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a professor of English and Theatre at the University of British Columbia. He was also a f ...

as Insp. Vince Schneider (season 1) * Hiro Kanagawa as Det. James Kai (seasons 1–2) * Jay Brazeau as Sam Fisher (seasons 1–2, 4 , Recurring season 3) * Paul Coeur as Sgt. Lloyd Mastrowski (seasons 1–2) * Eli Gabay as Det. Larry Iredell (season 1) * Linda Ko as Christine Liu (seasons 1–2) * Bob Frazer as Det. Eddie Carson (season 2) * Lori Triolo as Det. Jackie Cortez (season 2) * Peter Wingfield as Insp. Simon Ross (season 2 , Guest season 3) * Garry Chalk as Insp. Andrew Pawlachuk (seasons 4–7 , Recurring season 3) * Tamara Craig Thomas as Det. Mickey Kollander (seasons 3–6) * Gregory Calpakis as Det. Nicco Sevallis (seasons 3–6) * Stephen McHattie as Sgt. Frank Coscarella (seasons 3–4) *

Joely Collins Joely Collins (née Bertorelli; born August 8, 1972) is a Canadian actress. She is the daughter of Andrea Bertorelli and the adopted daughter of English musician Phil Collins. Early life Born and raised largely in Vancouver, British Columbia, Co ...

as Christine Wren (seasons 4–7) * Matthew Bennett as Det. Len Harper (seasons 5–7 , Recurring season 4) *

Sonja Bennett Sonja Bennett (born August 24, 1980) is a Canadians, Canadian actress and screenwriter. Her film debut was in the Canadian feature film ''Punch'' (2002), for which she won the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Canadian Fi ...

as Det. Samantha Walters (season 7) *

Tahmoh Penikett Tahmoh Penikett (; ; born May 20, 1975) is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Karl "Helo" Agathon on SyFy's 2004 television series '' Battlestar Galactica''. He has appeared in TV series ''Supernatural'', '' Dollhouse'', the Showcase ti ...

as Cst. Ray Chase (season 7)

Recurring cast

* Tasha Simms as Dep. Chief Malcolm (seasons 1, 2) * Stacy Grant as Leanne Walker (seasons 1, 3, 6) * Keith Martin Gordey as Judge Foster (seasons 2, 4) * Timothy Webber as Desmond Cage (seasons 2, 5) *

Richard Ian Cox Richard Ian Cox (born October 3, 1973) is a Welsh-born Canadian actor. He is best known for his voice work for English-language dubs of anime, mainly for '' Inuyasha''. Cox gained prominence for playing the character of Henry Dailey's (played ...

as Manny Needlebaum (season 3) * Sharon Alexander as Bernice Boyle (season 3) * Allan Lysell as Det. Bill Overmyer (season 3) * Lisa Houle as Rachel Sherman (seasons 3, 4) * David Palffy as Bailey Gallanson (seasons 3, 4) * Michael David Simms as Sgt. Casey (seasons 3, 4, 5) * Jill Teed as Laura (seasons 4, 5) * Kate Logie as Vanessa (seasons 4, 5) * Craig Warkentin as Vito (seasons 4, 5) * Laurie Murdoch as Chief Perkins (seasons 4, 6) * Lawrence Ricketts as Hank Johnson (seasons 4, 6) * Crystal Bublé as Billie (seasons 5, 6) * Bryan Genesse as Dan (seasons 5, 6) * Brenda James as Sonia Parker (season 6) * Adrian Holmes as Dr. Ben Wilson (seasons 6, 7) * Chilton Crane as Wanda Harper (seasons 6, 7) * Michael Rogers as Chief Wilcox (seasons 6, 7) *

JR Bourne David Bourne (born April 8, 1970), known professionally as JR Bourne, is a Canadian actor. After appearing in many films and television series, Bourne's first major breakthrough was the Showtime series ''Stargate SG-1'' (1998–2000). He achieve ...

as Paul Deeds (season 7)

Development and production

''Cold Squad'' was originally conceived in 1995 as a one-hour series for the Lifetime channel in the United States.

Baton Broadcasting Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include national television ...

became involved in its development in November 1995. Lifetime, however, backed out in mid-1996 and in 1997 the producers partnered with

. At the time ''Cold Squad'' was developed, the production of television series in Vancouver was heavily dominated by programs made for the United States. When ''Cold Squad'' was greenlit it became the first one-hour, prime time dramatic series for Canadian television to be produced out of Vancouver. After Baton committed to local production of the series, the producers reached an agreement with Canadian labor union ACFC West (Association of Canadian Film Craftspeople) to cut the cost of labor on 13 episodes by $225,000 ( CAD). With this concession, the overall budget to produce the first season became approximately $12.5 million (CAD). An unexpected cash crunch by

Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Canadian Crown corporation that supports Canada's audiovisual industry. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm Canada provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in Vancouver, British Colu ...

's Equity Investment Program affected the

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

's funding for the series and the original order for 13 episodes was reduced to 11 episodes. Funding was adjusted and both Baton and Alliance Atlantis committed to an increased financial investment in the production of ''Cold Squad'', with the budget per episode at $900,000-plus (CAD). Baton thereafter reoriented its involvement to that of being the series' Canadian broadcaster only. Keatley MacLeod Productions retained 75% copyright ownership and the rights to U.S. distribution, and Alliance Atlantis retained 25% ownership with distribution rights in other international territories. (Baton Broadcasting, which had full control of the CTV network, was reorganized and renamed CTV Inc. in December 1998. In March 2000, CTV Inc. was acquired by

Bell Canada Enterprises BCE Inc., an abbreviation of its former name Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., is a publicly traded Canadian holding company for Bell Canada, which includes telecommunications providers and various mass media assets under its subsidiary Bell ...

.) Originally scheduled to start on June 16, 1997, filming on ''Cold Squad'' began on July 2, 1997, and the new series' scheduled premiere was changed from September 1997 to January 1998.

''Cold Case'' intellectual property controversy

When U.S. television network

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

announced the premiere of ''

Cold Case ''Cold Case'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series. It ran on CBS from September 28, 2003, to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in invest ...

'' for its 2003/2004 schedule, John Doyle of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' wrote: "''Cold Case''...is a new drama about a blond, female cop (played by Kathryn Morris) who tracks down old, cold cases and faces discrimination because she's a woman. It has no connection with ''Cold Squad'', a Canadian series about a blond, female cop who tracks down old, cold cases and faces discrimination because she's a woman." The likeness to ''Cold Squad'' was also noted by other Canadian television critics. Stephanie Earp of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' wrote: "Last fall, American viewers got excited about a new crime drama that revolves around a tough blond detective with an edgy haircut who solves cold cases. Of course, Canadian viewers got excited by that show back in '98, when it debuted under the name ''Cold Squad''." The comparison between ''Cold Squad'' and ''Cold Case'' became compelling when it was revealed that Meredith Stiehm, the creator of ''Cold Case'', had attended seminars on television writing in April 2002 at the

Canadian Film Centre The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization founded in 1988 by filmmaker Norman Jewison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally launched as a film school, today it provides training, development and advancement opportunities for ...

and was informed about the concept of ''Cold Squad'' during one of the sessions. The similarities led ''Cold Squad'' series creators Matt MacLeod and Julia Keatley to retain

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

attorney Carole Handler, of Los Angeles law firm O'Donnell & Schaeffer, to broker talks with ''Cold Case'' producer

Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leonard Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, comedy, fantasy, horror and science fiction. After working in advertising out of college, Bruck ...

and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

MacLeod declined to discuss details but said, "We are deeply concerned bout the shows' similarities..We're taking the appropriate actions." Confirming that written correspondence was proceeding between the producers of the two shows, Handler stated, "We hope to work out the producers' concerns. This is a real issue. My clients are the creators of the original concept." Recourse in the matter included the option of doing nothing, a settlement involving royalties or a format payment, or a lawsuit. CTV acquired the rights to broadcast ''Cold Case'' in Canada and added the series to its Fall 2003 schedule, at the same time postponing the last season of ''Cold Squad'' until Fall 2004. The network took advantage of the resemblance between the two shows by scheduling both during the same

day of the week, Sunday, publicizing the programming as a "crime theme night", with ''Cold Case'' airing at 8 p.m. and ''Cold Squad'' at 10 p.m. During the

18th Gemini Awards The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 18th Gemini Awards were held on October 20, 2003, to honour achievements in Canadian television. The awards show, which was hosted by Seán Cullen, took place at the John Bassett Theatre and was bro ...

, awards host Seán Cullen bluntly echoed a shared sentiment about CTV bumping ''Cold Squad'' off its fall programming in favor of the new American cop show: "Screw you ''Cold Case''. I love ''Cold Squad''." When ''Cold Squad'' went into syndication in the United States the similitude between it and ''Cold Case'' raised eyebrows — until American viewers discovered that ''Cold Squad'' was the precedent series.

Episodes

Release

Broadcast

The premiere of the final season was delayed until Fall 2004 and its programming changed to 9 p.m. Saturday as part of CTV's "crime time"

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

. Due to the network's sporadic scheduling of the season, the last episodes of the series premiered in their French- dubbed versions on Séries+ in 2004, long before the English-language versions of those episodes aired on CTV in the Spring of 2005. In July 2000,

CanWest Global Communications Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage). It held radio, t ...

obtained the international distribution rights for ''Cold Squad'' from Endemol Entertainment Holding NV when it purchased the company's television library. Endemol had procured the rights from Alliance Atlantis. Alliance Atlantis owned Showcase and within Canada

rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. The two types of reruns are those that occur during a hiatus and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word "repe ...

s of ''Cold Squad'' aired on the channel (Showcase was acquired by CanWest in 2007 after its purchase of Alliance Atlantis).

Syndication

In 2005, Thunderbird Films acquired the syndication rights to the series. In Europe, Sony Pictures Television International secured the license to broadcast the program from Fireworks International in October 2005. In the United States, Program Partners (PPI Releasing) acquired the syndication rights from Thunderbird in January 2006, and the series began airing in the U.S. in Fall 2006 as part of a "Crime Watch" block package. In June 2008, the syndication was renewed for an additional season to begin airing in the fall. ''Cold Squad'' was seen in off-network syndication intermittently on cable

specialty channel A specialty channel (also known in the United States as a cable channel or cable network) can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targete ...

Mystery TV, and also on

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. The series aired on

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previo ...

channel Sleuth in the U.S. in 2009. It was then broadcast on

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

networks Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

, such as Tuff TV. It began airing on

Retro TV Retro TV (stylized as retrotv), formerly known as Retro Television Network, is an American terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Get After It Media. The network mainly airs classic television sitcoms and drama series f ...

in 2011. Also in 2011, My Family TV added ''Cold Squad'' to its roster of programs and continued to carry the series after

rebranding Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

as The Family Channel. In May 2019, the series began airing on the

El Rey Network El Rey Network (Spanish for ''The King'') is a media brand founded by Robert Rodriguez on December 15, 2013, that is currently owned in a joint venture with FactoryMade Ventures. Until December 31, 2020, El Rey was a cable and satellite network ...

Home media

released the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

of Season 1 for Region 1 in Canada only, on September 2, 2003. It became available in the United States in 2009. The Region 2 DVD of Season 1 was released in the Netherlands (English audio with Dutch subtitles) by Just Entertainment Bv on March 20, 2012. It became available in the United Kingdom as an import. The Season 2 DVD (Region 2) was released in the Netherlands (English audio with Dutch subtitles) by Just Entertainment Bv on June 19, 2012. It was made available in the United Kingdom as an import.

Digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of information or materials through digital platforms. The distribution of digital ...

of ''Cold Squad'' became available in the U.S. as instant

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in 2011. The complete series (98 episodes) was made available as video on demand (VOD) on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

in February 2013.

Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

added Season 1 to its North American library in October 2015, Season 2 in September 2016, Season 3 in October 2016, and Season 4 in March 2017. In the United Kingdom, Amazon Instant Video UK added Season 2 first to its library in September 2016, Seasons 1 and 3 in October 2016, and Season 4 in February 2017. The series became available on

Tubi Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...

in 2018.

Reception

In a final season interview with Julie Stewart, media and television columnist Bill Brioux wrote: "''Cold Squad'' has consistently been one of the top-rated Canadian-produced TV shows, despite being booted all over CTV's schedule." (Published originally in the ''

'' on September 4, 2004.)

Awards and nominations

''Cold Squad'' was nominated for 38

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

, 49 Leo Awards, one

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC; ) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assist ...

award, and two Writers Guild of Canada awards during its seven-season run. The series won seven Gemini Awards, including Julie Stewart for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role" (2002), Garry Chalk for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series" (2002 and 2001), and Tamara Craig Thomas for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series" (2001). It won four Leo Awards, including Julie Stewart for "Best Lead Performance By A Female in a Dramatic Series" (2003).

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC; ) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assist ...

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

Leo Awards

Writers Guild of Canada

Notes

References

External links

* (Archive) * * * *
''Cold Squad''
cast and producers at

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (stylized as gettyimages) is a visual media company and supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video, and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three mark ...

''Cold Squad''
at Thunderbird Entertainment
''Cold Squad''
at PPI Releasing

by Andrew Deskin, Production Design
''Cold Squad'' sets
by Marian Wihak, Production Design
''Cold Squad'' Season 1 DVD cover
(Netherlands)
''Cold Squad'' Season 2 DVD cover
(Netherlands) * * * {{Portal bar, Television, Canada 1998 Canadian television series debuts 2005 Canadian television series endings 1990s Canadian crime drama television series 2000s Canadian crime drama television series Canadian mystery television series Detective television series Canadian police procedural television series Police procedurals Television shows set in Vancouver Television shows filmed in Vancouver Television series by Alliance Atlantis Television series by Bell Media CTV Television Network original programming Canadian Screen Award–winning television shows

Cast and characters

Main cast

Recurring cast

Development and production

''Cold Case'' intellectual property controversy

Episodes

Release

Broadcast

Syndication

Home media

Reception

Awards and nominations

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC; ) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assist ...

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

Leo Awards

Writers Guild of Canada

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links