Murder One: Season 1

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 25 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Ratings

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4.6

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4.6	Your Score
4.6	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

ABC | Season Premiere Date: September 19, 1995

Starring: DB Woodside, J.C. MacKenzie, Patricia Clarkson

Summary: One of several crime and law dramas created by Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, L.A. Law), Murder One boasted a then-unique concept: it would tell a single story -- that of a major murder trial -- over the course of an entire season. In the first season, Daniel Benzali portrayed the lead defense attorney, Patricia ClarksonOne of several crime and law dramas created by Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, L.A. Law), Murder One boasted a then-unique concept: it would tell a single story -- that of a major murder trial -- over the course of an entire season. In the first season, Daniel Benzali portrayed the lead defense attorney, Patricia Clarkson played his wife, and Jason Gedrick the accused man he represented. Audiences at the time seemed deterred by the serialization, with low ratings leading to major cast and format changes in season two.… Expand

Creator: Charles H. Eglee and Steven Bochco and Channing Gibson

Genre(s): Drama

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Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E23. Chapter Twenty-Three
Air Date: April 23, 1996
tbd
S1:E22. Chapter Twenty-Two
Air Date: April 22, 1996
tbd
S1:E21. Chapter Twenty-One
Air Date: April 22, 1996

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Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

Ed Bark

Jan 29, 2014

None of the fall's 41 other rookies looks capable of playing in the same league...The premiere episode is a knockout. [19 Sept 1995, p.1C]

100

Jan 28, 2014

By far the best new drama of the TV season...Murder One is profound, brilliant, mesmerizing and scary. [19 Sept 1995, p.1E]

100

Ellen Gray

Jan 29, 2014

Let's get this out of the way. Last fall's best new drama and this fall's best new drama have one thing in common: a 15-year-old girl. [18 Sept 1995, p.43]

100

Barry Garron

Jan 29, 2014

Murder One is by far the best new drama of the season, a sensational and intelligent combination of grit, mystery and conflict. [19 Sept 1995, p.E1]

100

Tom Feran

Jan 29, 2014

Murder One is shrewdly constructed, quickly absorbing and absolutely first-rate - the best new show of fall...Terrifically scripted and perfectly cast, the show gets its biggest lift from the shaven-headed Benzali, whose brilliant performance as the principled, supremely confident Hoffman could be the best advertisement for defense attorneys since Clarence Darrow. [19 Sept 1995, p.9E]

100

Tom Shales

Jan 29, 2014

Calling Steven Bochco's Murder One the best new series of the season is too easy and over-understated. The episode airing tonight on ABC is one of the classiest, best-written and most assured dramatic pilots ever seen on television, and next week's installment, "Chapter Two," is nearly as good. This is super-gripping, diamond-bright, edge-of-your-couch TV. Read full review

John J. O'Connor

Jan 29, 2014

It's by no means assured that American viewers will commit themselves to what is, in effect, a very long mini-series with no tidy wrap-ups each week. But Murder One sets the stage skillfully for what promises to be the television equivalent of an absorbing excursion into a good Mary Higgins Clark mystery. I wouldn't dream of missing, at the very least, the next few episodes. Read full review

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User Score

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4.6

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User Reviews

MACSTAR123

Mar 30, 2015

AMAZING!!!!! Watched this series when it first came out on TV. Ordered it as box set discs to watch again, just concluded yesterday Sunday March 29th.
Beautifully filmed, I agree with Daniel Belzani - what a hunk! The dark and the light shots, make it mesmeric. Keeps you gripped from firstAMAZING!!!!! Watched this series when it first came out on TV. Ordered it as box set discs to watch again, just concluded yesterday Sunday March 29th.
Beautifully filmed, I agree with Daniel Belzani - what a hunk! The dark and the light shots, make it mesmeric. Keeps you gripped from first scene - the twists and the turns - the court time - the time in the practice. You are enveloped from the word go - is it him, is it her. We did not guess right. We did not want it to end. Wish it was still going. It is far superior to nearly everything in the crime/law genre. What do we do now - nothing like it?… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Lotusdancer

Apr 22, 2021

Season one was riveting! The cast was perfect and the writing and directing some of the best on television!

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

LamontRaymond

Jan 29, 2014

One of my all-time favorite TV seasons. This is the kind of thing that would be on HBO, FX, or AMC if it were released these days. Benzali is a bad-ass, and the writing is rock solid.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

benchwarmer

Mar 21, 2019

This is absolutely one of the finest seasons of television the 90’s ever produced.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MrLikeable

Jun 16, 2016

It has its moments, but TV has come a long way since the mid 90s. While the character of Richard Cross is engaging, much of the plot is not much more than soap opera. Definitely watchable, but there are much better options.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Seasons & Episodes

89

Series Overview
Season 2

73
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: October 10, 1996
Season 1

99
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: September 19, 1995
- tbd
  S1:E23. Chapter Twenty-Three
  Air Date: April 23, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E22. Chapter Twenty-Two
  Air Date: April 22, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E21. Chapter Twenty-One
  Air Date: April 22, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E20. Chapter Twenty
  Air Date: April 8, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E19. Chapter Nineteen
  Air Date: April 1, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E18. Chapter Eighteen
  Air Date: March 18, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E17. Chapter Seventeen
  Air Date: March 11, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E16. Chapter Sixteen
  Air Date: March 4, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E15. Chapter Fifteen
  Air Date: February 19, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E14. Chapter Fourteen
  Air Date: February 12, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E13. Chapter Thirteen
  Air Date: February 5, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E12. Chapter Twelve
  Air Date: January 22, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E11. Chapter Eleven
  Air Date: January 15, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E10. Chapter Ten
  Air Date: January 8, 1996
- tbd
  S1:E9. Chapter Nine
  Air Date: December 31, 1995
- tbd
  S1:E8. Chapter Eight
  Air Date: November 16, 1995
- tbd
  S1:E7. Chapter Seven
  Air Date: November 9, 1995
- tbd
  S1:E6. Chapter Six
  Air Date: November 2, 1995
- tbd
  S1:E5. Chapter Five
  Air Date: October 19, 1995
- tbd
  S1:E4. Chapter Four
  Air Date: October 12, 1995
- tbd
  S1:E3. Chapter Three
  Air Date: October 3, 1995
- tbd
  S1:E2. Chapter Two
  Air Date: September 26, 1995
- tbd
  S1:E1. Chapter One
  Air Date: September 19, 1995