In Justice

In Justice is an American police procedural television series created by Michelle King and Robert King. The series began airing on Sunday, January 1, 2006 on ABC as a midseason replacement and assumed its regular night and time on Friday, January 6, 2006 at 9 p.m. EST. It ended after its 13-episode run on March 31, 2006. The series was simulcast in Canada on CTV. In the UK In Justice was shown on UKTV Gold beginning September 17, 2006 and was later repeated on ABC1 in 2007.

In Justice
Intertitle
GenrePolice procedural
Created by
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producers
  • Robert King
  • Michelle King
  • Jeff Melvoin
  • Stu Bloomberg
Running time45 minutes
Production companies
Release
Original networkABC
Picture format1080i (HDTV)
Original releaseJanuary 1 (2006-01-01) –
March 31, 2006 (2006-03-31)

On May 16, 2006, ABC cancelled the series.[1] Series creators Michelle and Robert King went on to develop the series The Good Wife.[2]

Premise

In Justice focuses on freeing wrongly convicted criminals. Kyle MacLachlan (of Twin Peaks) stars as David Swain, a wealthy and successful lawyer who heads a high-profile organization called the National Justice Project (commonly abbreviated as "NJP") in the San Francisco Bay Area, along with his lead investigator, ex-police detective Charles Conti (portrayed by Jason O'Mara). Members of the National Justice Project work pro-bono to overturn wrongful convictions, liberate the falsely accused and discover the identity of those who are really to blame. Although the NJP is fictional, there are organizations which examine cases involving people who may have been wrongly convicted (e.g. the Innocence Project).

Each new episode starts out with "what the jury believed", usually a scene in which the person who was wrongly convicted acts out the crime. Throughout the show, David and Charles unravel many clues to how and why the person they are trying to exonerate was convicted in the first place.

Each episode revolves around separate cases and addresses the various reasons for miscarriage of justice. The progress in the show relies less on the famous but largely fictitious forensic procedures used in the CSI franchise and other procedural shows. In a few episodes "CSI-fiction" is mentioned as a description of theatre and inaccuracy, and sometimes forgery of forensics technology.

The series deals with a few subplots. The most prominent is Conti's remorse from his time as a police officer, when he caused an innocent suspect's suicide by coercing him to confess to the murder of his family, and how it makes him obsessed with clearing the wrongfully convicted. Other subplots deals with Swain's uneasy relationship with judicial colleagues and the district attorney's attempts to discredit him, Sonya's personal motivations for clearing the wrongfully convicted - her brother being one of them, and Brianna's reservations and doubts about some of the cases.

Cast

Episodes

The show's "sneak-peek" episode aired on January 1, 2006, while the original series pilot was aired on January 6, 2006. According to Variety, the program won its timeslot in the January 1 sneak airing and finished second in its January 6 timeslot, the latter just slightly behind CBS's Close to Home.[3] The eighth episode, "The Public Burning", came in second to NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics.[4]

# Title Directed by Written by Viewers
(millions)		 Original
airdate		 Production
code
1"Brothers and Sisters"James FrawleyTom Szentgyorgyi10.50[5]January 1, 2006 (2006-01-01)103
2"Pilot"Mick JacksonJeff Melvoin, Robert King & Michelle King9.20[6]January 6, 2006 (2006-01-06)101
3"Golden Boy"Paul HolahanRobert King & Michelle King8.70[7]January 13, 2006 (2006-01-13)102
4"Confessions"Stephen DePaulTerri Kopp8.90[8]January 20, 2006 (2006-01-20)105
5"Another Country"John ContnerJeff Melvoin7.60[9]January 27, 2006 (2006-01-27)104
6"The Ten Percenter"David StraitonHenry Robles8.80[10]February 3, 2006 (2006-02-03)107
7"Cost of Freedom"Paul HolahanBarry M. Schkolnick8.41[11]February 10, 2006 (2006-02-10)106
8"The Public Burning"Marita GrabiakMichael Oates Palmer8.33[12]February 17, 2006 (2006-02-17)108
9"Victims"Kevin BrayCourtney Kemp6.60[13]March 3, 2006 (2006-03-03)109
10"Badge of Honor"Peter MedakMarc Guggenheim5.09[14]March 10, 2006 (2006-03-10)110
11"Lovers"J. Miller TobinTerri Kopp & Karen Campbell6.51[15]March 17, 2006 (2006-03-17)111
12"Side Man"Paul HolahanMichael Oates Palmer & Barry M. Schkolnick6.72[16]March 24, 2006 (2006-03-24)112
13"Crossing the Line"Paul HolahanHenry Robles5.52[17]March 31, 2006 (2006-03-31)113

The team succeeds in clearing a convicted person in each episode, except in "The Public Burning", where justice fails and a mild mentally challenged man is executed just minutes before truth is revealed (though it is unclear if the team were able to expose the killer, since Conti confronts the murderer in his house).

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the series has an approval rating of 40% based on reviews from 10 critics. The site's consensus states: In Justice brandishes a refreshingly righteous premise, but this derivative procedural's good intentions can't vindicate the indistinctive casting and uninspired cases.[18] On Metacritic the series has a score of 48% based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[19]

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News compared the show to Without a Trace and Cold Case. He wrote: "The chemistry among the leads isn't fully there, and the trail of clues, at least in the opening two episodes, relies on a lot of serendipity and improbable deductive work. But "In Justice" is a watchable show."[20] Linda Stasi of the New York Post said: "It's not bad. Now understand that I say this despite the fact that the producers themselves should be arrested for theft for swiping everything that wasn't nailed down to make this show." Stasi notes the cast are "startlingly good-looking" and "the acting is quite good", she praises the writing, with some reservations about the "cheesy dialogue". She concludes "you may, in fact enjoy it a lot."[21]

Phil Gallo of Variety called the show "A model of midseason mediocrity".[22] Tom Shales of the Washington Post wrote: "It's an imitation of something already being imitated here, there and everywhere."[23] Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle called the show "a mess" and was critical of ABC for not knowing what they wanted the show to be.[24]

See also

References
  1. Kimball, Trevor (May 16, 2006). "2006 Cancelled Shows: ABC Cleans House". TV Series Finale. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  2. Edward Wyatt (October 13, 2009). "Wife's Discomfort Fits Comfortably in CBS's Lineup". The New York Times. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  3. Kissel, Rick (January 8, 2006). "The ratings rumba Big bow for ABC's 'Dancing'; 'Earl' strong". variety.com. Retrieved January 10, 2006.
  4. "PRIMETIME RATINGS REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 13-19, 2006". thefutoncritic.com. February 22, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  5. "PRIMETIME RATINGS REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF DEC. 26, 2005 - JAN. 1, 2006". thefutoncritic.com. January 4, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  6. "PRIMETIME RATINGS REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 2-8, 2006". thefutoncritic.com. January 10, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  7. "PRIMETIME RATINGS REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 9-15, 2006". thefutoncritic.com. January 18, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  8. "PRIMETIME RATINGS REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 16-22, 2006". thefutoncritic.com. January 24, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  9. "PRIMETIME RATINGS REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 23-29, 2006". thefutoncritic.com. January 31, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  10. "PRIMETIME RATINGS REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 30 – FEBRUARY 5, 2006". thefutoncritic.com. February 7, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  11. "WEEKLY PROGRAM RANKINGS FROM 02/06/06 THROUGH 02/12/06" (Press release). ABC Medianet. February 14, 2006. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  12. "WEEKLY PROGRAM RANKINGS FROM 02/13/06 THROUGH 02/19/06" (Press release). ABC Medianet. February 22, 2006. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  13. "WEEKLY PROGRAM RANKINGS FROM 02/27/06 THROUGH 03/05/06" (Press release). ABC Medianet. March 7, 2006. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  14. "WEEKLY PROGRAM RANKINGS FROM 03/06/06 THROUGH 03/12/06" (Press release). ABC Medianet. March 14, 2006. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  15. "WEEKLY PROGRAM RANKINGS FROM 03/13/06 THROUGH 03/19/06" (Press release). ABC Medianet. March 21, 2006. Archived from the original on December 9, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  16. "WEEKLY PROGRAM RANKINGS FROM 03/20/06 THROUGH 03/26/06" (Press release). ABC Medianet. March 28, 2011. Archived from the original on December 9, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  17. "WEEKLY PROGRAM RANKINGS FROM 03/27/06 THROUGH 04/02/06" (Press release). ABC Medianet. April 4, 2006. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  18. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/in_justice/s01
  19. https://www.metacritic.com/tv/in-justice/season-1/critic-reviews
  20. https://web.archive.org/web/20060210100608/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/378670p-321618c.html
  21. https://nypost.com/2005/12/30/wrong-man-nothing-is-worse-than-someone-in-jail-for-a-crime-he-didnt-do/
  22. https://variety.com/2005/tv/reviews/in-justice-1200519503/
  23. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/30/AR2005123001635.html
  24. https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Sparing-the-innocent-but-not-the-audience-2555096.php
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