Law & Order: Trial by Jury
Encyclopedia
Law & Order: Trial by Jury is an American television drama about criminal trials set in New York City. It was the third spin-off
from the long-running Law & Order
. The show's almost exclusive focus was on the criminal trial of the accused, showing both the prosecution's and defense's preparation for trial, as well as the trial itself. The series premiered on Thursday, March 3, 2005, and ended on January 21, 2006. Its regular time slot was Fridays 10/9 p.m. ET on NBC
. The last episode aired on Court TV
(now truTV) months after the series' cancellation.
or victim telling a story about a crime
that has already occurred. This story is used to inform the audience on what happened prior to the beginning of the episode. This is a departure from the other three Law & Order shows, which usually begin by depicting either the actual crime or its discovery/reporting by civilians. The show progresses on from that point, showing how both sides develop their strategies for winning the case.
The prosecution's preparation usually includes scenes in which their investigators follow up on leads and interview witnesses. The defense's preparation varies from episode to episode, running the gamut from testing arguments in front of jury focus groups to dealmaking between co-defendants. Each episode has several trial scenes, with both sides examining witnesses and giving arguments. There are also several pre-trial meetings where some procedural issue is argued and ruled on. In addition, there are a few episodes showing jury deliberation. The show develops the judges as characters, showing scenes of them conferring with each other and reusing the same judges in multiple episodes.
procedural
Numb3rs
debuted in the midseason in late January 2005 and consistently beat NBC's Medical Investigation
in the ratings, sending the latter show into hiatus and eventual cancellation, freeing up the time slot for Law & Order: Trial by Jury. Despite Trial by Jury 's pedigree, Numb3rs ratings remained strong, often beating Trial by Jury in both overall and key demographic ratings.
Trial by Jury is the first series of the Law & Order
franchise to be cancelled, although TV Guide
reported at one point that NBC had reconsidered its decision and would pick up the series once again, or hand it off to Turner Network Television
(TNT), which also airs reruns of the original series. The sets were reused by a series Wolf produced for NBC entitled Conviction which premiered Friday, March 3, 2006, lasting only one season before cancellation. In an October 2005 interview with the Associated Press
, Wolf stated that NBC had assured him Trial by Jury would return for the fall of 2005 but had "blindsided" him by cancelling it instead.
Court TV
(now truTV) re-aired the entire series, including the episode "Eros In The Upper Eighties", which never aired on NBC before the show's cancellation. TNT has aired the episode "Skeleton" on occasion, as the conclusion to the original series episode "Tombstone".
released Law & Order: Trial by Jury - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
from the long-running Law & Order
Law & Order (franchise)
The Law & Order franchise is a number of related American television series created by Dick Wolf and originally broadcast on NBC, all of which deal with some aspect of the criminal justice system...
. The show's almost exclusive focus was on the criminal trial of the accused, showing both the prosecution's and defense's preparation for trial, as well as the trial itself. The series premiered on Thursday, March 3, 2005, and ended on January 21, 2006. Its regular time slot was Fridays 10/9 p.m. ET on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. The last episode aired on Court TV
Court TV
truTV is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner. The network launched as Court TV in 1991, changing to truTV in 2008...
(now truTV) months after the series' cancellation.
Description
Unlike the other Law & Order series, Trial by Jury shows what it is like to prepare for and try a criminal case. The episodes usually start with a witnessWitness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
or victim telling a story about a crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
that has already occurred. This story is used to inform the audience on what happened prior to the beginning of the episode. This is a departure from the other three Law & Order shows, which usually begin by depicting either the actual crime or its discovery/reporting by civilians. The show progresses on from that point, showing how both sides develop their strategies for winning the case.
The prosecution's preparation usually includes scenes in which their investigators follow up on leads and interview witnesses. The defense's preparation varies from episode to episode, running the gamut from testing arguments in front of jury focus groups to dealmaking between co-defendants. Each episode has several trial scenes, with both sides examining witnesses and giving arguments. There are also several pre-trial meetings where some procedural issue is argued and ruled on. In addition, there are a few episodes showing jury deliberation. The show develops the judges as characters, showing scenes of them conferring with each other and reusing the same judges in multiple episodes.
Characters
| Name | |Occupation | 1 | |3 | |5 | |7 | |9 | |11 | |13 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tracey Kibre Tracey Kibre Tracey Kibre is a fictional character on the now defunct Law & Order: Trial by Jury, portrayed by Bebe Neuwirth. A tough, focused prosecutor, Kibre has worked for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for fifteen years and is a stark contrast to the Executive ADAs in the other three Law & Order... |
Bebe Neuwirth Bebe Neuwirth Beatrice "Bebe" Neuwirth is an American actress, singer and dancer. She has worked in television and is known for her portrayal of Dr. Lilith Sternin, Dr. Frasier Crane's wife , on both the TV sitcom Cheers , and its spin-off Frasier... |
BCADA | Main | ||||||||||||
| Kelly Gaffney Kelly Gaffney Kelly Gaffney is a fictional character portrayed by Amy Carlson on the television program Law & Order: Trial by Jury. She was surnamed after Dick Wolf's mother's maiden name.... |
Amy Carlson Amy Carlson Amy Lynn Carlson is an American actress best known for playing Josie Watts on Another World and Alex Taylor on Third Watch. More recently, she played Kelly Gaffney on the short-lived NBC courtroom drama, Law & Order: Trial by Jury. She currently plays Linda Reagan on the CBS drama Blue Bloods... |
ADA | Main | ||||||||||||
| Hector Salazar Hector Salazar (Law & Order) Hector Salazar, played by Kirk Acevedo, is a fictional character on the short-lived TV drama Law & Order: Trial by Jury.Salazar is an investigator with the Manhattan District Attorney's office. He was originally a police detective with the NYPD, but was shot in the line of duty and severely wounded... |
Kirk Acevedo Kirk Acevedo Kirk Acevedo is an American actor. He is primarily known for his portrayals of Miguel Alvarez in the HBO series Oz, Joe Toye in Band of Brothers and FBI Agent Charlie Francis in the science-fiction series Fringe.... |
Investigator | Main | ||||||||||||
| Chris Ravell | Scott Cohen | Detective | Special Guest | Main | |||||||||||
| Arthur Branch Arthur Branch Arthur Branch is a fictional attorney and a regular character on the TV crime dramas Law & Order and Law & Order: Trial by Jury. Branch has also appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Conviction.... |
Fred Dalton Thompson Fred Dalton Thompson Fred Dalton Thompson , is an American politician, actor, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, and radio host. He served as a Republican U.S... |
DA | Main | ||||||||||||
| Lennie Briscoe Lennie Briscoe Leonard W. "Lennie" Briscoe is a fictional character on NBC's long running police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order. He was featured on the show for 12 seasons, from 1992 to 2004. He was created by Walon Green and René Balcer, and was portrayed by Jerry Orbach... |
Jerry Orbach Jerry Orbach Jerome Bernard "Jerry" Orbach was an American actor and singer. He was well known for his starring role as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the Law & Order television series and as the voice of Lumière in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As well, Orbach was a noted musical theatre star... |
Investigator | Main | ||||||||||||
- Tracey Kibre is tough, focused prosecutor, she is a contrast to the lead ADAs in the other three series with a black-and-white view of the law.
- Kelly Gaffney is the younger assistant to Kibre, she is often more by-the-book. She often challenges Kibre, who sees the law in more shades of gray than her partner.
- Hector Salazar is a former police detective who was apparently injured on duty; an injury would have likely put him in a desk job, which he did not find too thrilling.
- Lennie Briscoe was the first partner of Hector Salazar, the longest serving detective on any Law & Order series. He only appears in the first two episodes due to the death of Orbach. His final onscreen appearance is in the episode "Forty-One Shots". Orbach was so ill at the time that he could barely speak above a whisper. Thus his final line of dialogue had to be rewritten.
- Arthur Branch is the New York district attorney, he also appeared in a starring role on the original Law & Order.
- Chris Ravell is the second partner of Hector SalazarHector Salazar (Law & Order)Hector Salazar, played by Kirk Acevedo, is a fictional character on the short-lived TV drama Law & Order: Trial by Jury.Salazar is an investigator with the Manhattan District Attorney's office. He was originally a police detective with the NYPD, but was shot in the line of duty and severely wounded...
, in episodes 3 to 13, unlike Salazar and Briscoe, he is a member of the NYPD. Cohen was credited as a Guest Appearance for Episodes 3 and 4 before being added to the main credits in Episode 5.
Crossover episodes
There were 2 two-part crossover episodes:- "Tombstone" (Law & Order 15x20), continued in "Skeleton" (Law & Order: Trial by Jury 1x8)
- "Night" (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 6x20), continued in "Day" (Law & Order: Trial by Jury 1x11)
Ratings
| Season | Episodes | Timeslot (EST) | Season premiere | Season finale | TV season | Ranking | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | Fridays 10:00 p.m. | March 3, 2005 | January 21, 2006 | 2004–2005 | #37 | 10.73 |
Cancellation
NBC announced on May 16, 2005 that Trial by Jury would not be returning for the 2005–2006 fall television season. The rival CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
Numb3rs
NUMB3RS
Numb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...
debuted in the midseason in late January 2005 and consistently beat NBC's Medical Investigation
Medical Investigation
Medical Investigation was an American medical drama television series that began September 9, 2004, on NBC. It ran for 20 one-hour episodes before being cancelled in 2005...
in the ratings, sending the latter show into hiatus and eventual cancellation, freeing up the time slot for Law & Order: Trial by Jury. Despite Trial by Jury 's pedigree, Numb3rs ratings remained strong, often beating Trial by Jury in both overall and key demographic ratings.
Trial by Jury is the first series of the Law & Order
Law & Order (franchise)
The Law & Order franchise is a number of related American television series created by Dick Wolf and originally broadcast on NBC, all of which deal with some aspect of the criminal justice system...
franchise to be cancelled, although TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
reported at one point that NBC had reconsidered its decision and would pick up the series once again, or hand it off to Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
(TNT), which also airs reruns of the original series. The sets were reused by a series Wolf produced for NBC entitled Conviction which premiered Friday, March 3, 2006, lasting only one season before cancellation. In an October 2005 interview with the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, Wolf stated that NBC had assured him Trial by Jury would return for the fall of 2005 but had "blindsided" him by cancelling it instead.
Court TV
Court TV
truTV is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner. The network launched as Court TV in 1991, changing to truTV in 2008...
(now truTV) re-aired the entire series, including the episode "Eros In The Upper Eighties", which never aired on NBC before the show's cancellation. TNT has aired the episode "Skeleton" on occasion, as the conclusion to the original series episode "Tombstone".
DVD release
On April 25, 2006, Universal Studios Home EntertainmentUniversal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...
released Law & Order: Trial by Jury - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.
| DVD name | Ep # | Release date | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Law & Order: Trial by Jury - The Complete Series | 14 | April 25, 2006 |
|