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Crossing Jordan

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Crossing Jordan
Created byTim Kring
StarringJill Hennessy
Miguel Ferrer
Ravi Kapoor
Kathryn Hahn
Steve Valentine
and
Jerry O'Connell (2001-2007)
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes117
Production
Running timeOne hour per episode
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 24, 2001 –
May 16, 2007

Crossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that aired on NBC. It stars Jill Hennessy as the crime-solving medical examiner, Jordan Cavanaugh. The show uses an ensemble cast approach featuring a group of Jordan's co-workers, members of the Boston Medical Examiner's Office and police detectives assigned to the various cases. It was created by Tim Kring. The title references the biblical metaphor of the ancient Hebrews crossing the Jordan River, commonly used in spiritual songs to represent death and passage to the afterlife.

During the first two seasons, the series used a gimmick whereby Jordan and her retired-police-detective father (Ken Howard) would role-play the events leading up to that week's murder, which would be depicted by showing Jordan playing the part of the victim or suspect in a recreation of the scene. (The idea being that such role-playing would allow Jordan to figure out the circumstances of the crime, like a profiler.) This element of the series was mostly dropped when Howard left the series as a regular.

On May 14, 2007, the series was cancelled by NBC.[1]

Cast

  • Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh (Jill Hennessy), a young, attractive medical examiner from Boston who solves crimes during the course of her investigations. Jordan is emotionally scarred by her mother's murder when Jordan was a child in the 1970s. Jordan's issues with trust ensure that serious relationships don't have a chance with her except for the one she has with Woody Hoyt. He is the homicide detective who has stayed true to Jordan for three seasons, giving in to her unorthodox investigating techniques. However, when Woody was shot in the fourth season's finale, Jordan was forced to confess her true feelings for Woody. Woody, however, didn't believe her.
  • Dr. Garret Macy (Miguel Ferrer), Jordan's boss. Macy must deal with Jordan's erratic behavior as well as his confused family (he has a teenage daughter, Abby, but is divorced from his wife) and his own personal demons (Macy is an alcoholic). Garret has an affinity for jazz. He's been known to have had romantic entanglements with grief counselor Lily Lebowski, ADA Renee Walcott, Charlie Davis, and, obviously, his one-time wife, Maggie Warner. Garret has recently admitted to a drinking problem, after finding out his daughter, Abby, had become addicted to heroin upon dropping out of college and becoming involved with a heroin dealer.
  • Mahesh "Bug" Vijayaraghavensatyanaryanamurthy (Ravi Kapoor), a brilliant but shy forensic entomologist from Liverpool. He has feelings for Lily which, until the final episode of Season 5, were not reciprocated. In the beginning of Season 6, with the cancellation of Lily's wedding, his relationship with Lily is beginning to move forward. However, things may be complicated by Lily's unexpected pregnancy with her once to be husband, Jeffery. Bug has since taken it upon himself to make Lilly move in with him and support her and the baby.
  • Lily Lebowski (Kathryn Hahn) the good-hearted grief counselor working in the medical examiner's office. Lily and Garret used to be romantically involved, but their developing relationship ended when Garret went back to his ex-wife for a brief period. Lily and Garret remained friends ever since. Bug thought Lily was adopted because her blood type differed from that of her newly-deceased mother. Garret recently revealed that the woman Lily thought to be her mother was really her aunt. In "Mysterious Ways", she tendered her resignation and accepted her boyfriend's marriage proposal. She eventually cancelled the wedding. Lily has recently received the surprising news that she is pregnant with Jeffery's baby. It is unknown whether this will complicate her blossoming relationship with Bug. In the end of season 6, she moved in with Bug, after he had taken it upon himself that he wanted her and the baby to live with him.
  • Nigel Townsend (Steve Valentine), a wise-cracking British criminologist of ambiguous sexual orientation often known for his dry humor and his knowledge of everything from coffee to textiles. Nigel ran away from the Royal Navy, where he was a counter-intelligence officer. Nigel is sometimes thought to have feelings for Jordan, because of his willingness to do whatever she asks despite the possibility of his losing his job as a consequence. He was also not on speaking terms with his father, who still lives in England, until some time before the episode "Murder in the Rue Morgue", in which he mentioned to Jordan that he was glad that he and his father are back in touch and that he regrets having had no contact with him for so long. Relations with his father continue to be very rocky, however.
  • Detective Woody Hoyt (Jerry O'Connell), a police detective from Wisconsin who often works with Jordan on her cases. Woody is also known to harbor romantic feelings for Jordan, who resists, preferring friendship because she believes it to be safer. However, on Jordan's birthday ("Embraceable You", Season 4), Woody gave her a diamond ring, a gesture that, according to Nigel, shows that Woody wants more from their relationship, but Jordan declined the ring. Premiered in the episode "Wrong Place, Wrong Time", he became a regular in Season 4. On the final episode of Season 4 ("Jump Push Fall"), Woody was shot by a cop killer and nearly died in the hospital, an event that prompted Jordan to confess her love for him when it was uncertain whether he would survive. Many fans considered this a big step in the right direction for their relationship, but a recovering Woody turned her down, believing her declaration of romantic feelings to be motivated by pity for his condition. When a case took him to Las Vegas, he started a flirtatious relationship with Sam Marquez (from sibling TV series Las Vegas), which is still going on; although he was never seen he was apparently invited by Sam to Delinda Deline's wedding.

Recurring characters

  • Max Cavanaugh (Ken Howard) — Jordan's father, an ex-cop-turned-bar-owner, who disappeared in the finale of Season 3 and reappeared in the episode "It Happened One Night." Ken Howard's appearance in the show was changed from regular cast to guest star.
  • Det. Lois Carver (Amy Aquino) — A no-nonsense detective seen through out season 1. She doesn't appear as frequently in season 2, is not seen at all in season 3, and only appears in 2 season 4 episodes (Deja Past & Necessary risks).
  • DA Renee Walcott (Susan Gibney) — the district attorney who constantly clashed with Jordan. She also had a romantic relationship with Garret Macy, but it ended when she had an affair with her ex-husband and became pregnant (coinciding with Susan Gibney's pregnancy). She returned later in Season 4.
  • Det. Matt Seely (David Monahan) — a somewhat misogynistic detective who is the son of a newspaper mogul. He has the tendency to be insensitive and not to think before he speaks, subsequently annoying the characters in the show. He had shown particular interest in Lily Lebowski, and the relationship was being tentatively explored, but Seely was seen less and less in season 5, as Lily's relationship with Brandau grew (coinciding with another project Monahan was working on).
  • Doctor Howard Stiles (Wallace Shawn) — the resident psychiatrist who checks up on everyone's sanity from time to time (usually once every season) , especially Jordan's. He flirts with Jordan, but seems to understand her commitment and abandonment issues very well, and is extremely gentle when counseling her.
  • Det. Roz Framus (Sandra Bernhard) — a recent acquisition to the recurring character list. She calls Bug "Buggles", which Bug hates.
  • Emmy (Emy Coligado) — works as an assistant in the Medical examiner's office. Emy has appeared in over 20 episodes of the show, starting with "Born to Run," the fourth episode of the first season.
  • ADA Jeffrey Brandau (Ethan Sandler) — a new member (as of Season 5) of the DA's office who began a romantic relationship with Lily, creating a love triangle of sorts between the two of them and Bug.
  • Kate Switzer (Brooke Smith) — a new medical examiner, and the latest in a long line of antagonists to join the rest of the team in the morgue. Though she has learned to work better with her colleagues, her relationships with the staff, especially Jordan and Garret, remain strained at best.

Former characters

  • Dr. Trey Sanders (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali) — a rather conservative medical examiner working on a grant, who left after the first season. Although his departure was not explained in the show, it was assumed that his grant either expired or was completed, and that he had simply left for other work.
  • Dr. Elaine Duchamps (Lorraine Toussaint) — a medical examiner who joined the team in the second season and often butted heads with Jordan and Garret as it appeared she was there to take over management of the Coroner's office from Macy. After finally developing a good working relationship with the staff, she died of E. coli in the episode "Perfect Storm", after saving Peter's life.
  • Dr. Peter Winslow (Ivan Sergei) — a recovering drug addict medical examiner who appeared in Seasons 2 and 3 and simply disappeared without explanation. A character named "Peter" was briefly mentioned in a Season 5 episode, but never seen, suggesting that Peter Winslow never left his job at the morgue and has simply been unseen for the last few seasons.
  • Dr. Devan Maguire (Jennifer Finnigan) — a pathology resident who appeared in 10 episodes, including one in which Jordan did not appear. Devan was just beginning to develop a close relationship with Woody when she died in a plane crash between Washington D.C. and Boston in the episode "Fire From the Sky."
  • Detective Annie Capra (Arija Barekis) (Recurring role) — a female detective partnered with Woody throughout Season 3.
  • Dr. Sidney Trumaine (Eugene Byrd) (Recurring role) —a new medical examiner who clashed with Bug over power issues. Sidney also disappeared after Season 5's opener "There’s No Place Like Home II." Like Peter above, his name has been mentioned, leading to the assumption that he is still working, albeit unseen, at the morgue.
  • J.D. Pollack (Charles Mesure) — a sometimes oily reporter who dated Jordan early in Season 5. Their relationship, which had at first mostly just been sexual, got serious enough that J.D. considered proposing, but things were off after Jordan slept with Woody in the episode "Loves Me Not." J.D. was found murdered at the end of Season 5.
  • Detective Tallulah "Lu" Simmons (Leslie Bibb) —first appeared in Season 5, when she was assigned to work with Detective Hoyt on some of the psychological issues he endured while serving on the force. Since then, Lu became a frequent collaborator with the ME's office on cases and struck up a relationship with Hoyt; it's unknown how she dealt with Woody's long distance relationship with Sam Marquez. In the episode "33 Bullets" (6x03), she was killed after being shot during a riot in Boston.
  • William Ivers (Jeffery Donovan) (Recurring role) — a creepily charming attorney hired in Season 6 by the governor's office to investigate any questionable behavior within the morgue, aiming directly at Macy, although Jordan was a brief potential suspect. He disappointingly finds nothing wrong and later targets the morgue's current spending as an open door to a major disaster, enforcing a new, strict budget that deprives the morgue of much-needed equipment. This loss causes many problems in two important cases (Night of The Living Dead (6x06) and, especially, Isolation (6x08)), with the latter resulting in the new budget being revoked and Ivers' exit. He briefly returns in Dead Again (6x15), teaming up with Jordan when a woman presumed murdered 6 years prior (Ivers was the prosecuting attorney in the case) ends up in the morgue.

Minor characters

  • Det. Luisa Santana (Camille Guaty) — a rising detective in the Boston Police Department who appears in the episode "Blue Moon" and again briefly in "Family Affair." Presumably, she is still with the force.
  • Oliver Titleman (Brian Kimmet) — a self-imagined forensics prodigy who fascinates himself with creating the perfect murder and stages elaborate killings to deceive the investigators. He has an unusual obsession with personally beating Dr. Macy at his own game. Oliver appears in episodes "Devil May Care" and "There's No Place Like Home II."
  • Calvin "Cal" Hoyt (Charlie O'Connell) — Woody's younger brother. He is first seen in the Sunset Division spinoff episode (2x20). Cal is reintroduced mid-way into season 4 , with a backstory that paints him as a very charming, but equally troubled young man with a history of drug abuse, among other things, frequently saddling Woody with the responsibility. Cal coincidentally shows up in Skin and Bone (4x16), just as a mass grave full of mobsters is uncovered.
  • Arlene Lebowski (Lesley Ann Warren) — Lily's adoptive mother, She first appears in Don't Look Back (2x08), as it is apparent that she and Lily do not have the best of relationships. Arlene reappears in Locard's Exchange (4x17), visiting Lily yet again, but the visit is short-lived as Lily orders her out of her life and moments later, she is mortally wounded in a hit-and-run. As a result, Lily turns over a new leaf, even petitioning the justice system to make sure that the person who hit Arlene, A woman who believed she was her husband's mistress, gets due justice.
  • Det. Elliot Chandler (Boris Kodjoe) — A new detective who pops up for 2 episodes in Season 6.

Show information

Crossing Jordan premiered in 2001 on NBC; originally scheduled to debut on September 11, its launch was pushed back due to the terrorist attacks on that date. It has aired on Monday, Friday and then Sunday, its air date throughout the 2005-2006 season. For the 2006-2007 season, NBC had planned to move it back to Fridays at 8 pm beginning in October, but without warning nor explanation, replaced it with 1 vs. 100, much to the dismay of viewers wanting resolution of last season's cliffhanger. NBC claimed that Crossing Jordan was such a strong show that it could be used anywhere in the schedule, yet only ordered 17 new shows for the new season, instead of the standard 22 or 23 shows that would constitute a "full" season order. NBC returned the show to its original time slot of 10 pm on Sundays starting on January 14, 2007, but changed to Wednesdays at 9 pm as of March 7, 2007.

The scientific aspects of the show are comparable to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, but come with a rock and roll sensibility owing to Jordan's psychological Sturm und Drang. The show is also less graphic than the CSI shows, and more character-driven.

In the first season, Hennessy was the only cast member to be shown in the opening credits, which featured a rewritten version of Bad Haggis' "REELS Part Two: My Love is In America" (from the CD "Trip") performed by bagpiper Eric Rigler. Starting with the second season, the show adopted more clinical credits where all of the major players were pictured, along with a more rock-like, less Irish-sounding opening theme.

The show was put on hiatus for the 2003-2004 season to accommodate Hennessy's real-life pregnancy, not returning to the airwaves until March 9, 2004. The previous cliffhanger plotline was dropped in a new episode, which featured a humorous subplot that paid homage to Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 film Rear Window. The murder victim's name was Alex Corvald — a reference to Thorwald in the film.

Crossing Jordan was created by Tim Kring and is produced by Tailwind Productions in association with NBC Universal. Singer-songwriter duo Wendy and Lisa score the music for the show. Eric Rigler's pipes and whistles can still be heard in most episodes.

Inability of NBC to secure music rights has prevented the show, which relies heavily on pop music in its soundtrack, from being released on DVD. However on the NBC.com blog, it was announced this problem may soon be resolved.[2]

The show was cancelled on May 14, 2007, after finishing the sixth season. Reruns still air on A&E Monday through Friday at 9:00 am and again at 3:00 pm.

International

In Australia, the show screens on Channel Seven on Tuesdays at 10:00pm, with repeats airing on the W cable channel.

In Brazil, the show screens on NBC's Universal Channel.

In Belarus, the show is on Hallmark's international channel (available on cable).

In Bulgaria, the show is on Hallmark's international channel (available on cable) and is called Срещи с Джордан (aka Meeting Jordan).

In Canada, it airs on Global, CH and Séries+ (French Canada, under the name Témoins silencieux).

In France, the show screens on TF1.

In Germany, the show screens on private network VOX, together with Close to Home.

In Hungary, the show airs on Hallmark and Cool.

In Indonesia, the show airs on Metro TV.

In Italy, the show airs in clear on La7, and on the Sky satellite channel FoxLife.

In Latin America, the show screens on NBC's Universal Channel.

In The Netherlands, the show airs on Talpa.

In the Philippines, the show airs on Crime Suspense.

In Poland, the show airs on Hallmark and Fox Life.

In Spain, the show screens in satellite/cable channel Cosmopolitan, and since November 2005 on the broadcast network Cuatro.

In Sweden, the show airs on TV4+ and TV4.

In Turkey, the show airs on Digiturk satellite FoxLife channel.

In the UAE and several Arabic countries, the show airs on MBC 4.

In the UK, Crossing Jordan was previously on The Hallmark Channel but is now available on ITV3.

In the United States, repeats through the last season air on A & E at 9 pm and 3 pm EST weekdays, also NBC at 9 pm on Wednesdays.

In Venezuela, it currently airs on Televen on Saturdays at 6:30 pm.

Las Vegas crossover

Crossing Jordan is set in the same fictional universe as fellow NBC series Las Vegas. In the Season 4 episode "What Happens in Vegas Dies in Boston", a case took Jordan and Woody to Las Vegas, where Woody got very well-acquainted with Montecito's host Sam Marquez (Vanessa Marcil), and the long-distance relationship is still going on. O'Connell has appeared in two episodes of Las Vegas so far, and he's slated to appear in two more this season. Vanessa Marcil has also appeared as Sam in two Crossing Jordan episodes.

Cancellation

Crossing Jordan was cancelled after six seasons on May 11, 2007 by NBC *

Episode list

Season 1: 2001-2002

Season 2: 2002-2003

Season 3: 2004

Season 4: 2004-2005

Season 5: 2005-2006

Season 6: 2007

2006-2007 season

RATINGS PER EPISODE:

Episode 6-01, "Retribution": 6.8 million viewers
Episode 6-02, "Shattered": 7.6 million viewers
Episode 6-03, "33 Bullets": 7.9 million viewers (41st place)
Episode 6-04, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love": 8.1 million viewers
Episode 6-05, "Mr. Little and Mr. Big": 7.0 million viewers (65th place)
Episode 6-06, "Night of the Living Dead": 6.7 million viewers
Episode 6-07, "Hubris": 8.0 million viewers
Episode 6-08, "Isolation": 7.4 million viewers
Episode 6-09, "Seven Feet Under": 6.1 million viewers
Episode 6-10, "Fall From Grace": 7.0 million viewers
Episode 6-11, "Faith": 7.6 million viewers
Episode 6-12, "Sleeping Beauty": 6.2 million viewers
Episode 6-13, "Post Hoc": 6.9 million viewers
Episode 6-14, "In Sickness & In Health": 6.4 million viewers
Episode 6-15, "Dead Again": 5.9 million viewers
Episode 6-16, "D.O.A.": 5.3 million viewers
Episode 6-17, "Crash": 6.4 million viewers

Originally, the show was going to appear on Sunday nights after the football season ended in January, but it was then scheduled to premiere on October 20 2006 and to be on Friday nights with Medium being put into the after-football Sunday night slot. It was scheduled to air at 8 pm Eastern/Pacific and 7 pm Central/Mountain, but NBC decided to avoid showing scripted programming at that hour. The season premiere was preempted in favor of 1 vs. 100, a game show hosted by Bob Saget.[3] The season premiere ran on Sunday January 14 2007 at 10 pm Eastern/Pacific and 9pm Central. A crossover episode of Las Vegas in which the Crossing Jordan characters appear was aired on November 17 2006. Beginning March 7 2007, the show will move to a new time slot, Wednesday 9/8C.

THE SERIES FINALE

Originally, the finale for the sixth season was promoted as a cliff-hanger. A plane crash which left all of the main characters (with the exception of Lily) stranded atop a mountain with little hope of being discovered was reported to end with no resolution, as the story would pick up at the onset of a subsequent season. However, once NBC decided against renewing Crossing Jordan for a seventh year, fans were treated to a much more satisfying ending. Medical examiner Jordan ultimately confronted her held-in feelings for police detective Woody and finally professed her love. Furthermore, all of the characters were, to their shock, rescued in the final moments of the series. (This came as a relief to fans, who were generally given the impression they'd be forced to stomach a cliff-hanger and wished to view a more appropriate conclusion to the series.) The ending provided fuel to rumors that producers recorded two endings to the finale: one in case the series would be renewed, and another in case the series would not be.

References

  1. ^ TV Series Finale NBC
  2. ^ Crossing Jordan on DVD
  3. ^ Johns, Anna (September 28, 2006). "NBC bumps Crossing Jordan for new game show". TVSquad.com. Retrieved 2006-11-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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