Murder One is an American legal drama television series that aired on ABC in the United States from September 19, 1995 to May 29, 1997. The series was created by Steven Bochco, Charles H. Eglee, and Channing Gibson. Like many of Bochco's previous series, Murder One was produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Sometime after the conclusion of Murder One Bochco ended his longtime relationship with Fox and moved his production company over to Paramount, making Murder One his last production with Fox for over a decade. In 1997, TV Guide ranked the first episode, "Chapter 1", #60 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes in television history. Premise In its first season, the series starred Daniel Benzali as defense attorney Theodore (Ted) Hoffman, a criminal litigator and the principal of his own firm, Hoffman and Associates. Backed by a cadre of young associates, Hoffman was a gruff, masterful criminal lawyer who zealously represented his clients in high-profile cases. Patricia Clarkson played his wife, Annie. Unique for a television drama at that time, the first season of the series revolved around a single high-profile criminal case. Stanley Tucci played Richard Cross, a charming but morally ambiguous philanthropist and the first man arrested for the murder of Jessica Costello. Bobbie Phillips played Julie Costello, the murder victim's sister and the girlfriend of Richard Cross. For the duration of season one, Hoffman defended Neil Avedon (Jason Gedrick), a young Hollywood star accused of the murder of fifteen-year-old Jessica Costello. During the first part of the season, Hoffman's associates also handled smaller cases which were usually wrapped up within one episode. While there were many plot twists and misdirections, fundamentally the entire season consisted of one defense case for Hoffman & Associates. In the second season, Benzali was replaced by Anthony LaPaglia as Jimmy Wyler, a former assistant district attorney who took over Hoffman's firm. The second season also featured this type of seriality, to a limited extent: three unrelated trials, over 18 episodes. The serial nature of the drama may have been problematic, leaving viewers who either missed episodes or did not see the series from its premiere at a loss. As a result, from about halfway through the first season, an increasingly detailed introduction began to take up several minutes at the start of each episode. Following somewhat disappointing ratings, ABC and Bochco revamped the show significantly for