Cold Squad

Cold Squad
Created by	Julia Keatley and Matt MacLeod
Starring	Julie Stewart
Country of origin	Canada
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	98
Production
Running time	60 min.
Release
Original network	CTV
Original release	January 23, 1998 – June 4, 2005
External links
Website

Cold Squad was a Canadian police procedural television series first broadcast in 1998 that followed the investigations of a part of the Vancouver Police Department Homicide Division tasked with solving cold cases, the titular Cold Squad, as led by Sergeant Ali McCormick (Julie Stewart).

The cast of Cold Squad was diverse and changing, McCormick being the only character to appear in all 7 seasons. Some notable series regulars include Detective Tony Logozzo (Michael Hogan) in seasons 1-2, Sgt. Frank Coscarella (Stephen McHattie) in seasons 3-4, Sgt. Len Harper (Matthew Bennett) in seasons 5-7, Insp. Vince Schneider (Jerry Wasserman) season 1, Insp. Simon Ross (Peter Wingfield) season 2, Insp. Andrew Pawlachuk (Garry Chalk) seasons 3-7, Det. Mickey Kollander (Tamara Craig Thomas) seasons 3-6, Det. Nicco Sevallis (Gregory Calpakis) seasons 3-6, Christine Wren (Joely Collins) seasons 4-7, as well as Det. Samantha Walters (Sonja Bennett) and Const. Ray Chase (Tahmoh Penikett) in season 7.

Between the second and third seasons, almost the entire on-screen cast other than Julie Stewart were replaced (although Michael Hogan and Peter Wingfield do appear in the season three 2-part opener Deadly Games). This along with the new sets, a significant revamp of the credits and theme music, and even having McCormick's hair change from auburn to dirty-blonde all contributed to a considerable reworking of the series.

Due to CTV's sporadic scheduling of the final season, the last episodes of the series initially premiered in their French-dubbed versions on Séries+ in 2004, long before the English versions of those episodes eventually aired on CTV in the Spring of 2005 as part of a "crime time" block on Saturday nights.

When Cold Case premiered, the show's similarities to Cold Squad (including but not limited to a tough female cop with dirty blonde hair leading a team investigating cold cases) led Cold Squad creators Julia Keatley and Matt MacLeod to retain an intellectual property attorney to look into the situation (CTV also aired Cold Case as well).

In 2005, Program Partners / Sony Pictures Television announced that it had acquired the U.S. syndication rights and began airing the show for the first time for United States audiences beginning in September 2006. Currently in this form it is seen overnights on the Retro Television Network, and it has remained in continued American syndication since.

Cold Squad aired on Sleuth in the US in 2009, and currently airs intermittent reruns on Mystery TV within Canada.

DVD release

On September 2, 2003, Alliance Atlantis released the complete first season of Cold Squad on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only). This release has been discontinued and is now out of print.

See also

• The Enigma Files, UK / BBC, 1980
• Cold Case Files, A&E, 1999
• Waking the Dead, UK / BBC, 2000
• New Tricks, UK / BBC, 2003
• Cold Case, CBS, 2003

External links

• Cold Squad at IMDb
• Cold Squad at TV.com