Cold Squad

Cold Squad (1998-2005) is a Canadian Police Procedural about a unit of homicide detectives who investigate cold cases. The series ran for seven seasons on CTV with a frequently changing cast; Julie Stewart as Sgt. Ali McCormick was the only cast member to remain for the entire series run.


 * Deathbed Confession: "Picasso's Mistake" begins with a serial killer, convicted of killing six women, confessing to a priest as he lays dying that he only murdered five. This sets off an investigation to find a copycat.
 * Defictionalization: Cold case investigation squads did not exist at the time of the series premiere, but now do.
 * Follow the Leader: Cold Case, which has the same premise, was so similar that the creators of Cold Squad hired a lawyer.
 * Government Agency of Fiction: The cold case division.
 * Only Bad Guys Call Their Lawyers:
 * Exploited in "Personal Politics": the suspect asks to speak with his lawyer, but the detectives say that there's no need to get a lawyer involved, they just need him to explain his alibi. Wanting to appear helpful, he does so -- and then the detectives immediately tear the alibi apart, having previously questioned the other people involved, and merely needing him to either confess or get caught in an obvious lie.
 * In "All in the Family," the fact that a suspect not only got a lawyer, but got an expensive lawyer, provides a clue that he's guilty of more than the police knew about.
 * Retool: Between Season 2 and Season 3, almost the entire cast was replaced, as well as the sets, and the credits sequence and music were changed.