# The Night Of
**The Night Of** is an eight-part American limited crime drama series for HBO, created by [Steven Zaillian](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-zaillian) and Richard Price, about a young man arrested for murder after a night out.[1](https://www.hbomaxlapress.com/programming/mini-series/229) It is based on the BBC series *Criminal Justice*, created by Peter Moffat, and was produced by Film Rites and BBC Worldwide for HBO.[1](https://www.hbomaxlapress.com/programming/mini-series/229) The series follows Nasir "Naz" Khan, a 23-year-old Pakistani-American college student living with his parents in Queens, New York, who borrows his father's taxi to attend a party in Manhattan and wakes to find a woman's bloodied body with no recollection of what transpired.[1](https://www.hbomaxlapress.com/programming/mini-series/229) • [2](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/criminal-justice-south-asian-story-takes-focus-hbo-s-night-n624026)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Eight-part HBO limited series, produced by Film Rites and BBC Worldwide[1](https://www.hbomaxlapress.com/programming/mini-series/229) |
| Creators | Steven Zaillian and Richard Price, adapting Peter Moffat's BBC series *Criminal Justice* (2008)[1](https://www.hbomaxlapress.com/programming/mini-series/229) • [3](https://www.npr.org/2016/07/08/485111220/hbos-the-night-of-is-riveting-from-the-very-first-frame) |
| Lead cast | Riz Ahmed as Nasir "Naz" Khan; John Turturro as attorney John Stone; Michael Kenneth Williams as Freddy[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/honors/tenth/honoree3) |
| Development | Began in 2009; more than seven years in HBO's development cycle[5](https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/hbo-night-of-director-steve-zallian-1201812916/) |
| Production | 10-month shoot in or around New York City, nearly all on location[5](https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/hbo-night-of-director-steve-zallian-1201812916/) |
| Direction | Zaillian directed all parts except part 4, directed by James Marsh[1](https://www.hbomaxlapress.com/programming/mini-series/229) |
| Critical reception | 38 of 40 Metacritic critic reviews positive (95%), 2 mixed, 0 negative[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-night-of/season-1/) |
## Premise and plot
The story begins with Naz's night out. He takes his father's cab to a party in Manhattan, and after a night he cannot fully remember, he is arrested for the murder of a girl he just met.[1](https://www.hbomaxlapress.com/programming/mini-series/229) From that point the series follows what its producers describe as a realistic, no-frills detailing of each step of the criminal case process, from apprehension to arraignment to trial, examining the police investigation, the legal proceedings, the criminal justice system, and [Rikers Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/rikers-island).[2](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/criminal-justice-south-asian-story-takes-focus-hbo-s-night-n624026) • [1](https://www.hbomaxlapress.com/programming/mini-series/229)
**The legal fight.** Attorney Alison Crowe ([Glenne Headly](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenne-headly)) takes the case pro bono hoping for publicity and urges a plea bargain; Naz pleads innocent instead, after which her assistant Chandra ([Amara Karan](https://www.edgepedia.org/amara-karan)) takes over and re-enlists the attorney John Stone.[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/honors/tenth/honoree3) In the end, the jury is deadlocked and the district attorney drops the charges against Naz, but he returns home with tense family relationships and a drug habit acquired in prison.[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/honors/tenth/honoree3) Steven Zaillian stated that the story's point does not depend on whether Naz is innocent or guilty, since the process happens to anybody who goes through the system.[2](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/criminal-justice-south-asian-story-takes-focus-hbo-s-night-n624026)
## Cast and characters
[Riz Ahmed](https://www.edgepedia.org/riz-ahmed) portrays Nasir "Naz" Khan, and [John Turturro](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-turturro) plays the attorney John Stone, a role originally developed as a starring vehicle for [James Gandolfini](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-gandolfini) and recast after his death.[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/honors/tenth/honoree3) The cast also includes Michael Kenneth Williams as Freddy, Bill Camp, Jeannie Berlin, Glenne Headly as Alison Crowe, and Sofia Black-D'Elia.[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/honors/tenth/honoree3) Later casting additions announced when the project was retitled included Michael K. Williams, Glenne Headly, Ben Shenkman, and Max Casella.[7](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/james-gandolfini-passion-project-criminal-874588/)
## Production and development
Development began in 2009, when [Jane Tranter](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-tranter), then a television executive at BBC Worldwide, showed Steven Zaillian the British series *Criminal Justice*. Zaillian and Richard Price adapted it and brought it to HBO, and the project spent more than seven years in HBO's development cycle.[5](https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/hbo-night-of-director-steve-zallian-1201812916/)
**The Gandolfini recasting chain.** James Gandolfini signed on to star as the defense attorney and to serve as an executive producer, but died of a heart attack in June 2013, shortly after the series was greenlit.[5](https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/hbo-night-of-director-steve-zallian-1201812916/) John Turturro replaced [Robert De Niro](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-de-niro) in the project in April 2014, in a role that had originally been earmarked for Gandolfini.[7](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/james-gandolfini-passion-project-criminal-874588/) NPR describes the project as originally intended to star Gandolfini, with Turturro taking over the role; Variety places Gandolfini's death shortly after the greenlight, before production.[3](https://www.npr.org/2016/07/08/485111220/hbos-the-night-of-is-riveting-from-the-very-first-frame) • [5](https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/hbo-night-of-director-steve-zallian-1201812916/) The project was retitled *The Night Of* ahead of a summer premiere.[7](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/james-gandolfini-passion-project-criminal-874588/)
The shoot took 10 months, filmed in or around New York City, nearly all of it on location, down to the insert shots.[5](https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/hbo-night-of-director-steve-zallian-1201812916/) Zaillian directed all parts except part 4, which was directed by James Marsh; Mark A. Baker produced part 1 and Scott Ferguson produced parts 2 through 8.[1](https://www.hbomaxlapress.com/programming/mini-series/229) Executive producers were Zaillian, Price, Jane Tranter, James Gandolfini, and Peter Moffat.[1](https://www.hbomaxlapress.com/programming/mini-series/229)
## Adaptation from Criminal Justice and themes
The British original, *Criminal Justice*, aired in the United Kingdom beginning in 2008; its first season, written by Peter Moffat, was about a young British college student named Ben, played by [Ben Whishaw](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-whishaw), accused of murder.[3](https://www.npr.org/2016/07/08/485111220/hbos-the-night-of-is-riveting-from-the-very-first-frame) For the American remake, Price and Zaillian re-cast the prime suspect as a Pakistani-American played by Riz Ahmed, a change that injects subtext into everything from his treatment in prison to his initial questioning by Detective Box, played by [Bill Camp](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-camp).[3](https://www.npr.org/2016/07/08/485111220/hbos-the-night-of-is-riveting-from-the-very-first-frame) In the British version the character is Caucasian; although the change was made for verisimilitude, since New York cab drivers are rarely white, it opened storytelling about prejudice in a post-9/11 world.[5](https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/hbo-night-of-director-steve-zallian-1201812916/)
**Research and realism.** Zaillian and his team conducted research at Rikers Island and at arraignment court for the depiction of the criminal justice system.[5](https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/hbo-night-of-director-steve-zallian-1201812916/) Critics framed the result as being about the immigrant experience in New York City, the cruelty of Rikers Island, and a legal system in which guilt and innocence are often uncertain.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-night-of-2016) The series also explores the Pakistani-American community in Queens and the fallout for Naz's family under media spotlight.[5](https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/hbo-night-of-director-steve-zallian-1201812916/)
## Comparison with other crime dramas
Vulture situated the series in a "Slow TV" template alongside *American Crime* and *The People v. O.J. Simpson*, calling it "the longest, bleakest Law & Order episode ever" and noting it is not especially innovative because it is based on Moffat's *Criminal Justice*.[9](https://www.vulture.com/2016/06/tv-review-the-night-of.html) The same review compared Richard Price's treatment of unglamorous crime to his novels *Clockers* and *Freedomland*, which gave such crimes "the Dostoyevsky treatment".[9](https://www.vulture.com/2016/06/tv-review-the-night-of.html) A review quoted on Metacritic compared the series with *Serial* and *Making a Murderer* while arguing it shares as much with *The Wire*, "a series about the omnipotence of dysfunctional power structures".[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-night-of/season-1/) NPR observed that the eight-part drama keeps widening from a murder-suspect story into a portrait of the system.[3](https://www.npr.org/2016/07/08/485111220/hbos-the-night-of-is-riveting-from-the-very-first-frame)
## Reception and awards
On Metacritic, season 1 received 40 critic reviews, of which 38 (95%) were positive, 2 (5%) mixed, and 0 negative.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-night-of/season-1/) The series received a Television Academy Honor in the Academy's tenth Honors cycle, recognizing its exploration of the American justice system; the Academy noted that the series had already won several awards before that honor.[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/honors/tenth/honoree3)
## Availability
As of the retrieved listing, *The Night Of* remains available for streaming on [HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max), described as a miniseries about a young Pakistani-American man accused of murder.[10](https://www.hbomax.com/tv/en/show/64c9bde2-1bef-4c8b-91fa-3f3c4e2ec9c3)
## References
1. [The Night Of, HBO Max LA Press Room](https://www.hbomaxlapress.com/programming/mini-series/229)
2. [Criminal Justice, South Asian Stories Takes Focus in HBO's 'The Night Of', NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/criminal-justice-south-asian-story-takes-focus-hbo-s-night-n624026)
3. [HBO's 'The Night Of' Is Riveting From The Very First Frame, NPR](https://www.npr.org/2016/07/08/485111220/hbos-the-night-of-is-riveting-from-the-very-first-frame)
4. [The Night Of Explores the American Justice System Inside and Out, Television Academy Honors](https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/honors/tenth/honoree3)
5. [HBO's 'Night' Gets Film-Style Grittiness From Director Steve Zaillian, Variety](https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/hbo-night-of-director-steve-zallian-1201812916/)
6. [The Night Of season 1 Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-night-of/season-1/)
7. [James Gandolfini Passion Project 'Criminal Justice' Gets New Title, Summer Premiere at HBO, The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/james-gandolfini-passion-project-criminal-874588/)
8. [The Night Of movie review & film summary (2016), RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-night-of-2016)
9. [HBO's The Night Of Unfolds Like a Fat Crime Novel, Vulture](https://www.vulture.com/2016/06/tv-review-the-night-of.html)
10. [Watch The Night Of, HBO Max](https://www.hbomax.com/tv/en/show/64c9bde2-1bef-4c8b-91fa-3f3c4e2ec9c3)
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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*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license