''Prime Suspect'' is an American

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 ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television series that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from September 22, 2011, to January 22, 2012. It stars

Maria Bello Maria Bello (born April 18, 1967) is an American actress and producer. Her first major film role was in 1998's '' Permanent Midnight''. She followed this with a range of supporting and leading parts in films such as '' Payback'' (1999), '' Coyot ...

as Detective Jane Timoney. The series was a "re-imagining" of the original British series ''

Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television series devised by Lynda La Plante. Broadcast on ITV between 1991 and 2006, it stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater Lo ...

''. The series was created by

Lynda La Plante Lynda Joy La Plante, CBE (née Titchmarsh; born 15 March 1943) is an English author, screenwriter and former actress often known for writing the '' Prime Suspect'' television crime series. In 2024 she was honoured with the Crime Writers' Asso ...

and developed by

Alexandra Cunningham Alexandra Cunningham (born 1972/73) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and television producer. From 1998 through 2000, she attended the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at The Juilliard School. Her plays include ''The Th ...

, who also serves as executive producer and writer.

Peter Berg Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. His directorial film works include the black comedy '' Very Bad Things'' (1998), the action comedy '' The Rundown'' (2003), the sports drama '' Friday Night ...

serves as executive producer and director.

Sarah Aubrey Sarah Aubrey is a British-born Australian actress. She has had guest roles in episodes of ''Pieces of Her (TV series), Pieces of Her'', ''The Secret Life of Us'', ''All Saints (TV series), All Saints'', ''Water Rats (TV series), Water Rats'' and ...

, Julie Meldal-Johnson, Paul Buccieri,

, and John McNamara all serve as executive producers. The series is produced by

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

ITV Studios America ITV Studios Limited is a British multinational television media company owned by British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is bas ...

, and Film 44. On November 14, 2011, NBC announced it would replace ''Prime Suspect'' in the Thursday night line-up with ''

The Firm The FIRM is a brand of exercise videos and equipment currently owned by Gaiam. First released in 1986, the video series is best known for popularizing a hybrid of aerobic exercise and weight training. History In 1979, Anna Benson founded th ...

'', beginning January 12, 2012. The final two produced episodes were broadcast by NBC on Sunday, January 22, 2012. ''The Firm'' also struggled in the time slot, and was moved within four weeks to a different time slot and replaced by another new series, ''

Awake Wakefulness is a daily recurring brain state and state of consciousness in which an individual is conscious and engages in coherent cognitive and behavioral responses to the external world. Being awake is the opposite of being asleep, in which ...

''; ''Awake'' was another ratings failure, and all three series were cancelled that season.

Synopsis

Produced by

and

, the crime drama ''Prime Suspect'' takes place within a New York City Police Department homicide squad. The series stars

as NYPD homicide detective Jane Timoney, an outsider who has just transferred to a new squad where her new colleagues already dislike her. Jane is confident and focused, but also rude, abrupt and occasionally reckless. She has her vices, and rumors about how she got the job follow her everywhere.

Cast and characters

as Det. Jane Timoney *

Brían F. O'Byrne Brían Francis O'Byrne (born 16 May 1967) is an Irish actor who works and lives in the United States. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his role in the miniseries '' Mildred Pierce'' (2011) and won a BAFTA TV Award for his role in ...

as Det. Reg Duffy *

Kirk Acevedo Kirkland M. Acevedo (born November 27, 1971) is an American actor best known as Miguel Alvarez in '' Oz'', Joe Toye in '' Band of Brothers'', and FBI Agent Charlie Francis on '' Fringe''. His best-known films are '' The Thin Red Line'', '' D ...

as Det. Luisito Calderon *

Peter Gerety Peter Gerety is an American actor. He played officer, later detective, Stuart Gharty on '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1996–1999), and Judge Daniel Phelan in ''The Wire'' (2002–2008). Early years Gerety was born in Providence, Rhode I ...

as Desmond Timoney, Jane's father. *

Tim Griffin John Timothy Griffin (born August 21, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas, attorney general of Arkansas. He served as the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, lieutenant governor of Arkans ...

as Det. Augie Blando *

Damon Gupton Damon Jamal Gupton (born January 4, 1973) is an American actor and orchestral conductor, best known for his series regular roles as Charles Foster on '' Deadline'', Evrard Velerio on ''Prime Suspect'', Adam Page on '' The Divide'', Detective Cal ...

as Det. Evrard Velerio *

Elizabeth Rodriguez Elizabeth Rodriguez is an American actress. She began her career appearing in films ''Fresh'' (1994), ''Dead Presidents'' (1995), '' I Think I Do'' (1997) and '' Blow'' (2001). She played Detective Gina Calabrese in the 2006 film adaptation of ...

appeared as Det. Carolina Rivera (four episodes) *Joe Nieves as Det. Eddie Gautier (pilot only) *

Kenny Johnson Kenny Johnson (born July 13, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Detective Curtis Lemansky in ''The Shield'', Butch "Burner" Barnes in '' Pensacola: Wings of Gold'', Detective Ham Dewey in '' Saving Grace'', Herman Kozik i ...

as Matt Webb *

Aidan Quinn Aidan Quinn (born March 8, 1959) is an Irish-American actor. He made his film debut in '' Reckless'' (1984), and has starred in over 80 feature films, including ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' (1985), '' The Mission'' (1986), '' Stakeout'' (1987) ...

as Lt. Kevin Sweeney

Development and production

An American remake of the UK series was previously ordered by NBC in September 2009 as part of a two-year, three pilot deal with ITV Studios. Hank Steinberg, the creator of the CBS ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002, to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

'' series, was set to write and executive produce the two-hour pilot. In early 2010,

Erwin Stoff Erwin Stoff (born 26 April 1951 in Vorona) is a Romanian-born American film producer. He is best known for being the president of company 3 Arts Entertainment, Inc., based in Beverly Hills, CA. Among his credits are ''The Matrix'', '' Beautifu ...

and Paul Buccieri were to also serve as executive producers—for

ITV Studios ITV Studios Limited is a British multinational television media company owned by British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is ba ...

and

Universal Media Studios Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It serves as the networ ...

—and Mick Jackson was on board to direct. By late February, the project was put on hold because reportedly an actress could not be found to play the lead character. In July 2010, Universal Media Studios signed a new deal with Film 44, the production company of

and

. As part of the agreement, they took over the development of ''Prime Suspect''. "We are proud to continue our productive creative relationship with Peter and Sarah in developing ''Prime Suspect'', among others… They have immense talent and passion". In early 2011, NBC gave the green light to produce a pilot script. In late May, NBC announced that ''Prime Suspect'' would premiere on Thursday September 22, 2011. It was announced in early August that

would star as the main character of Det. Jane Timoney. The series was filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

although it is set in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Episodes

Ratings

Reception

The series premiere was viewed by 6.05 million viewers with a 1.8 rating in the 18–49 demographic. The series has received generally positive reviews from critics and viewers. The series received 66/100 based upon 26 reviews on the website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

indicating the series as generally favourable. Most critics found Maria Bello's performance the strongest factor of the series praising her excellent and intriguing portrayal of Det. Jane Timoney. Mo Fathelbab of ''BuzzFocus'' said, "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the American version of ''Prime Suspect'' is my favorite new hour-long show on network television. It may very well be the best new show premiering this fall. It's a smart, un-condescending cop show that is anchored by a fantastic performance by Maria Bello". Eric Blattberg said, "What makes ''Prime Suspect'' compelling enough to see where this show goes is its remarkable cast. This show is not actually bad at all; it's an enjoyable hour, but it's going to need a lot of work to avoid being lost in the shuffle amongst other established police shows. Not to mention the fact that it's up against Thursday heavyweights". On October 4, 2011, NBC announced that the show's first three episodes would be rerun on Monday nights for the month of October, following the cancellation of ''

The Playboy Club ''The Playboy Club'' is an American historical crime drama television series that aired on NBC from September 19 to October 3, 2011. Set in 1961, the series centers on the employees (known as Bunnies) of the original Playboy Club operating in ...

''.

International distribution

References

External links

* * {{Lynda La Plante 2010s American crime drama television series 2010s American police procedural television series 2011 American television series debuts 2012 American television series endings American television series based on British television series American English-language television shows Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in New York City NBC crime dramas