A Few Bits of Interest

[Naj]

InsideR said:

Fun fact: do you know the Philly skyline seen through the headquarters window? It's really Philly, but it's a very large photograph.

Now I'll really have to look. I do notice that shot in the episodes!

Do you remember the track scene in Runner where Lilly catches up with the jogging murderer? It's a composite shot: the skyline is Philly, the track LA.

Kewl. I never would have guessed.

Despite the disclaimer at the top, many of the cases are, in fact, based on real ones.

/me I've always thought they were. I'd love to see their version of JonBenet Ramsey Or OJ. Do you have any idea if something like this is in the works? *if you can answer*

~Naj

[Ryebeach]

Thanks again for the interesting tidbits only an InsideR could provide.

On average, do you know how long after a ep is shot before it is aired? I've heard 4 to 6 weeks for some t.v. shows. Is that the industry average?

[InsideR]

Tracylyn wrote:

<Where I live the newspaper did an article on cold cases around here and how the police were going through them all because of the success of your show. This is something I'm sure all of you are proud of.>

Wow, I didn't know that. That's great! Do you have a weblink to an article you could post?

<One more question...any hints on the music in each episode? ;D I know you probably can't answer that but it's nice to see music incorporated into a show. As they say...music is the background to our life.>

There are two parts to the music - the songs and the score. (Actually, three parts if you include the theme.)

The songs are initially chosen by the writers of the episode based on the year of the show and the appropriateness of the song. But often the songs are too expensive to license or the artists won't license them or they just don't work once it's shot. This is where the music supervision team from Whirly Girl comes in. They provide dozens of alternatives to the editor and Meredith that they think might work. Meredith has the final say.

The score - which is all the instrumental music that is NOT a song - is composed by Michael A. Levine. Although some signature short bits of music are used often, he writes a new theme every week that is only used in that episode. This theme is usually introduced early on and played out most fully under the last depiction of the murder scene. (There were a couple of exceptions to this when a theme was used on more than one episode. Extra credit trivia points if you know which ones.)

The bulk of the theme is a piece called "Nara" from an album by E Posthumus. Fun fact: It was originally written for film trailers. The first few seconds - with the woman singing - are by the regular composer. Also, outside the U.S. there is a separate end titles theme written by him.

-R

[Ryebeach]

InsideR said:

The bulk of the theme is a piece called "Nara" from an album by E Posthumus. Fun fact: It was originally written for film trailers.

Yeah, I remember hearing that theme in quite a few film trailers, the latest being "Vanity Fair," with Reese Witherspoon from September.

[Tracylynn]

InsideR said:

Tracylyn wrote:

<Where I live the newspaper did an article on cold cases around here and how the police were going through them all because of the success of your show. This is something I'm sure all of you are proud of.>

Wow, I didn't know that. That's great! Do you have a weblink to an article you could post?

-R

I will try to find a link to my town's newspaper and the article. I must say that I am no computer wizard and I have a hard time finding anything on the net. I just know how to get to the sites I want to visit. LOL

I do know the publisher of my town's newspaper also is the publisher for a few other towns so I might have to go to their home site. But I will try my best.

Tracylynn

[InsideR]

Ryebeach said:

Thanks again for the interesting tidbits only an InsideR could provide.

On average, do you know how long after a ep is shot before it is aired? I've heard 4 to 6 weeks for some t.v. shows. Is that the industry average?

That's about right, but it varies a great deal when things go to air in a different order from the order in which they're shot. (The network does this for all sorts of arcane strategic reasons.)

That doesn't mean there is no activity between the wrap and the air. In that time the episode must be edited, color corrected, looped, scored, sound designed, mixed, and approved (which usually means changing all the above.) Not to mention vsiual effects must be created. Sometimes, if the producers really think something isn't working there is a reshoot.

It's usually done for real a day or two before it airs.

-R

[Ryebeach]

InsideR said:

It's usually done for real a day or two before it airs.

For some reason, that surprises me, that the final product is not fully finished until just about the day it airs but when I think about it, it does make sense. As you pointed out, there's so much to do after filming is complete before an ep can air and it never occurred to me that there could be reshoots as they do on feature films. Thanks InsideR!

[Tati]

hi InsideR,

again thanks for all the info you're sharing with us. It's great to have you here.
My question now is: do you now of any plans of releasing DVDs of Cold Case? I've heard it would take long to release them because of all the music copyrights. Are people working on the DVDs already?

thanks!

[TVFan]

InsideR - Thank you for all your insightful tidbits. I noticed you were looking for the articles that mention cold case unts popping up from the popularity of the show. Here is some info from my local paper that I posted on here a little while ago:

I was reading my regional paper online today (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), and I came across an article on cold cases in the area. It mentions our Cold Case, and how the show has affected law enforcement. I can't link to the artilce b/c you have to have a subscription, but here are the parts that relate to our show:

**Some in the Gwinnett Police Department dream of creating a cold case squad, a group of detectives that would focus only on unsolved homicides. The concept has become more in vogue this year with the premiere of the CBS cop drama, "Cold Case," featuring a male and female detective team who solve ancient whodunits. Occasionally, Jean Wallace watches the hit series at her Pensacola home and dreams that television detective Lily Rush will arrest the man who killed her daughter, Lisa Geise.**

**Cold case units are becoming more common across the nation. Retired Phoenix police Sgt. Jim Givens said he successfully lobbied for the creation of a unit in the Arizona city more than a decade ago. The four-investigator team was set up in 1993, Givens said. It solved a handful of high-profile murder cases, including two from the early '70s, said Givens, a 21-year veteran who supervised the Phoenix unit. "It's not easy to allocate the resources for cold cases," Givens said. "These cases are cold because they are hard to solve. These cases take time and resources. I've sent detectives from coast to coast working cold cases." Givens said the TV show has prompted three law enforcement agencies to contact him, seeking advice on launching cold case units.**

**New investigative advances such as fingerprint databases and DNA can be instrumental in solving old homicides, Givens said. "Also, the passage of time helps," Givens said. "Relationships change over time. Sometimes, people who wouldn't talk before are more willing to talk."**

The rest of the article deals with local cold cases, but I thought the snipets from above were interesting.

[irishkale]

Are there any scenes that are shot but not included in the final cut (for whatever reason)?

Any information about "deleted scenes" that you can divulge?

[InsideR]

Deleted Scenes? Besides those deleted for time or clarity, there have been some that the network objected to, usually for sexual content. For example, in The House, the scene where the guard was getting it on with the nurse while asking her to call him "pretty girl" originally showed him behind her and moving his hips. Even though no skin was shown, the network found it too suggestive. Too bad - it was funny.

Usually it's words that get changed. For example, the word "tits" was used last season, but in wake of a certain wardrobe malfuntion it is forbidden this year.

I have heard, there was also network concern about the gay-theme of this week's Raining Men. Last season we had "Time to Hate" and it seemed pretty uncontroversial. But with the recent election, being anti-gay is now not only acceptable, but considered a "moral value". In the near future, I think gay themes will be rarer, and not just on our show.

-R

[cherzee]

Hello,
I am new to the boards. Anyway, I noticed that Josh Hopkins' (ADA Kite) new show Global Frequency has been shelved by the WB network. Does this mean he might be returning to the show?

[misguided freak]

InsideR said:

But with the recent election, being anti-gay is now not only acceptable, but considered a "moral value". In the near future, I think gay themes will be rarer, and not just on our show.

It saddens me to hear that being "anti-gay" is going to be considered a *virtue* in the future! One thing I love about this show is how it addresses controversial topics such as GLTB issues, abortion, racism, etc.

I'm just wondering, are there plans for a DVD soon? I sense that Jerry's other shows tend to release their first season DVDs sometime after the second season finishes. (I think that's the case with WAT and CSI: Miami) But I do notice that CSI and WAT are on NBC while Cold Case is on CBS, will that have any effect on when the DVDs will be out?

[CC Fan]

misguided said:

But I do notice that CSI and WAT are on NBC while Cold Case is on CBS, will that have any effect on when the DVDs will be out?

Wait, CSI and WAT are on CBS as well. Right? Wait, now I can't remember! I swear they're on the same station as CC. Right?

[Ryebeach]

CC said:

Wait, CSI and WAT are on CBS as well. Right? Wait, now I can't remember! I swear they're on the same station as CC. Right?

Right. CSI and WAT are also on CBS but they are produced by different studios. All three CSI's are produced by paramount studio, which along with CBS, is owned my Viacom, Inc. CSI's DVD's are all produced and distributed by Paramount Home Video. Without a Trace and Cold Case are produced by Warner Brother's studio, therefore, Warner's Brothers would be the ones who would distribute Cold Case and WAT DVD's. So, unfortunately, you can't compare CSI's DVD release schedule to Without a Trace and Cold Case DVD release.

I know this is rather complicated and it takes some heavy duty investigating to figure it all out.

[misguided freak]

Oope, you guys are right. Here in Canada, the stations are all different and I got totally mixed up. CTV and Global mix everything up; the only channel I can keep straight is UPN

[Trublu]

misguided said:

It saddens me to hear that being "anti-gay" is going to be considered a *virtue* in the future! One thing I love about this show is how it addresses controversial topics such as GLTB issues, abortion, racism, etc.

I agree Misguided. Cold Case is one of the few shows that i watch that touch on these issues, because <unfortunately> they are so controversial and hard to address. I hope being "anti-gay" will NEVER be considered a 'moral value'. <i have always wondered, why are these people singled out? Are they not just as human as we are? It baffles me...> When i saw the preview for "Raining Men", the first thing i thought of was "how will people react [to the theme]?"

[InsideR]

There is a gay wedding scene in "It's Raining Men" which originally had a kiss in it which has been cut due to pressure from the network.

it could be worse. There are dozens of stations all over the country that wouldn't air "Saving Private Ryan" on Veterans Day for fear of FCC reprisal.

In the 1960s, Mission Impossible was blacked out in the south because it had a black man as a regular in the cast. We're not there...yet.

[Ryebeach]

InsideR said:

There is a gay wedding scene in "It's Raining Men" which originally had a kiss in it which has been cut due to pressure from the network.

That really makes me upset that after as far as we've come, networks are still afraid of things like this but that is a discussion for a whole other topic.

InsideRlink=board=news&thread=1099372246&start=37#2 said:

it could be worse. There are dozens of stations all over the country that wouldn't air "Saving Private Ryan" on Veterans Day for fear of FCC reprisal.

Both of my local ABC affiliates refused to broadcast "Saving Private Ryan" last nite although I can't really blame them. I don't see why the FCC didn't issue a statement stating that no charges would be filed against them for airing the unedited version of that film on Veteran's Day. I mean, what television station would want to risk hundred's of thousands of dollars in penalties.
And why didn't ABC give permission for the local affiliates to broadcast the film at 10:00pm when it would have been allowed.

It seemed like neither ABC nor the FCC wanted to back down and in the end, it was the american people who lost out of seeing an educational, entertaining and heart wrenching film.

[InsideR]

Questions? Comments?

It seems this thread has gone quiet. Is there still interest? Is it that it's a little daunting to go through 3 pages?

-R