# Murder in the First (TV series)
*Murder in the First* is an American police procedural drama television series, co-created by Emmy-winning producer [Steven Bochco](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-bochco) and screenwriter Eric Lodal, that ran on TNT from June 9, 2014, and followed San Francisco homicide detectives through one murder investigation per season instead of a new case each episode.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-preview-murder-first-20140525-story.html) • [2](https://www.thetvdb.com/series/murder-in-the-first) The title is shared with a 1995 courtroom drama film about Alcatraz inmate [Henri Young](https://www.edgepedia.org/henri-young); the two works are unrelated.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/murder_in_the_first)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and run | TNT, premiered June 9, 2014; three seasons totaling 32 episodes (10, 12, and 10)[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-preview-murder-first-20140525-story.html) • [4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/murder-in-the-first) |
| Creators | Steven Bochco (*Hill Street Blues*, *NYPD Blue*) and Eric Lodal, Bochco's second consecutive series for TNT after *Raising the Bar* ended in 2009[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-preview-murder-first-20140525-story.html) • [5](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a4ce67c18b27d4da21c6e99/t/5a60ea7253450a3d768c05a1/1516300915527/Steven%2BBochco.pdf) |
| Format | A single murder investigation and prosecution spanning an entire season[2](https://www.thetvdb.com/series/murder-in-the-first) |
| Leads | Taye Diggs as Inspector Terry English and Kathleen Robertson as Inspector Hildy Mulligan[6](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/television/20150606__Murder_in_the_First__and__Power__redefine_crime_drama.html) |
| Season 1 antagonist | Erich Blunt, a Silicon Valley tech CEO played by Tom Felton[7](https://www.bellmedia.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Bravo-Murder-In-The-First.pdf) |
| Critical reception | Season 1 scored 68 on Metacritic ("Generally Favorable"), with no negative reviews counted[8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/murder-in-the-first/critic-reviews/) |
## Premise and format
Each season follows Inspectors Terry English and Hildy Mulligan of the [San Francisco Police Department](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-francisco-police-department)'s homicide unit as they investigate a single case from start to finish, including the resulting prosecution.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-preview-murder-first-20140525-story.html) In the pilot, the pair investigate the murder of 50-year-old Kevin Neyers, found shot in the head in the cheap hotel where he lived.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2782378/plotsummary) That killing and a second one turn out to share a common denominator in Erich Blunt, the celebrated CEO of a cutting-edge tech firm who is preparing to take his company public while facing a lawsuit from a software developer claiming Blunt stole his code.[7](https://www.bellmedia.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Bravo-Murder-In-The-First.pdf) • [10](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/murder-in-the-first)
The detectives' personal lives run alongside the case. Hildy is an at-times overwhelmed divorced mother raising a young daughter ([Mimi Kirkland](https://www.edgepedia.org/mimi-kirkland)); Terry is caring for his terminally ill wife.[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-murder-in-first-20140609-column.html) • [12](https://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/murder-in-the-first-tv-review) The squad also includes thoughtful David Molk, his tough partner Edgar Navarro, and supervisor Lt. Jim Koto, played by [Ian Anthony Dale](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-anthony-dale).[13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/murder_in_the_first/s01) • [14](https://eclipsemagazine.com/ian-anthony-dale-talks-about-murder-in-the-first/) Season 1's cast also included [Richard Schiff](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-schiff) as Blunt's personal attorney David Hertzberg and James Cromwell as criminal defense attorney Warren Daniels.[15](https://www.nexttv.com/news/review-tnts-murder-first-375003)
## The single-case format and its precedent
The season-long single case was a return to a structure Bochco had pioneered with the ABC legal drama *Murder One* in 1995, which centered its entire first season on one murder trial. *Murder One* drew solid reviews but was canceled after two seasons, yet it paved the way for later single-case shows such as *The Killing* and *True Detective*.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-preview-murder-first-20140525-story.html) Bochco argued the shorter season made the structure work better: "this is a much more manageable number than *Murder One*", he said, noting that on the earlier show he had not figured out how to end the first season until two-thirds of the way in, "and it's much harder to keep the air in the balloon for 22 episodes."[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-preview-murder-first-20140525-story.html) [TV Guide](https://www.edgepedia.org/tv-guide) noted that at the peak of the binge-viewing era the format aligned with event-series and anthology fare like FX's *Fargo* and HBO's *True Detective*.[16](https://www.tvguide.com/news/murder-first-steven-bochco-taye-diggs-1082665/)
## Themes and production
Bochco and Lodal set the show where they saw the central tension of the moment: San Francisco's collision of tech wealth and working-class policing. Bochco said he was inspired after reading a [Steve Jobs](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-jobs) biography and taken with the idea of young genius and its perks and pitfalls, calling the subject "a classic tale of the haves and have-nots" between twentysomething billionaires and the middle-class and blue-collar people who look at them with bafflement.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-preview-murder-first-20140525-story.html) Lodal described the question the show asks as "How do you find stability in a world where the ground is constantly shifting under you?" and arranged for the actors to visit Bay Area companies such as Twitter and Airbnb before shooting; the cast also toured the police department's criminal headquarters at 850 Bryant Street with a retired detective.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-preview-murder-first-20140525-story.html) The show shot in Los Angeles and San Francisco.[1](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-preview-murder-first-20140525-story.html)
## Reception
Season 1 received generally favorable reviews, scoring 68 on Metacritic from 24 critics, 17 of them positive.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/murder-in-the-first/critic-reviews/) Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times called it "a masterfully paced balance of tricky whodunit and character development" and judged that the tightly focused single story worked better in a short season than it would across 23 episodes.[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-murder-in-first-20140609-column.html) The New York Times' Alessandra Stanley found it not as innovative as *Murder One* but similarly well paced and compelling.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/murder-in-the-first/critic-reviews/) Critics were not uniform: Emily St. James of the A.V. Club gave the premiere a C, calling it "painfully generic" in a television landscape crowded with case-of-the-season shows, and Time Out Chicago found it aimless and the two leads' chemistry weak.[13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/murder_in_the_first/s01) • [12](https://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/murder-in-the-first-tv-review)
The series ultimately ran three seasons on TNT: 10 episodes in 2014, 12 in 2015, and 10 in 2016.[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/murder-in-the-first)
## References
1. [Steven Bochco returns to the police beat with 'Murder in the First', Los Angeles Times (May 23, 2014)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-preview-murder-first-20140525-story.html)
2. [Murder in the First, TheTVDB.com](https://www.thetvdb.com/series/murder-in-the-first)
3. [Murder in the First (1995 film), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/murder_in_the_first)
4. [Murder in the First, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/murder-in-the-first)
5. [Steven Bochco profile document](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a4ce67c18b27d4da21c6e99/t/5a60ea7253450a3d768c05a1/1516300915527/Steven%2BBochco.pdf)
6. ['Murder in the First' and 'Power' redefine crime drama, Philadelphia Inquirer (June 6, 2015)](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/television/20150606__Murder_in_the_First__and__Power__redefine_crime_drama.html)
7. [MURDER IN THE FIRST press release, Bell Media (2014)](https://www.bellmedia.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Bravo-Murder-In-The-First.pdf)
8. [Murder in the First critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/murder-in-the-first/critic-reviews/)
9. ["Murder in the First" Pilot plot summary, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2782378/plotsummary)
10. [Murder in the First, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/murder-in-the-first)
11. [Review: 'Murder in the First' a masterful mix of whodunit, characters, Los Angeles Times (June 9, 2014)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-murder-in-first-20140609-column.html)
12. [Murder in the First: TV review, Time Out Chicago](https://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/murder-in-the-first-tv-review)
13. [Murder in the First: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/murder_in_the_first/s01)
14. [Ian Anthony Dale talks about 'Murder In The First', EclipseMagazine](https://eclipsemagazine.com/ian-anthony-dale-talks-about-murder-in-the-first/)
15. [Review: TNT's 'Murder in the First', Multichannel News (June 10, 2014)](https://www.nexttv.com/news/review-tnts-murder-first-375003)
16. [Is Murder in the First Steven Bochco's Next NYPD Blue?, TV Guide (June 8, 2014)](https://www.tvguide.com/news/murder-first-steven-bochco-taye-diggs-1082665/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Genre and subject-scripted series › Crime, police, and detective series › American crime series › Serialized crime dramas › Titles M to Y*
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