Crossing Jordan (2001-2007)

Jennifer Finnigan, Jill Hennessy, and Kathryn Hahn on Crossing Jordan. (Photo: NBC)

Starring: Jill Hennessy, Miguel Ferrer, Ken Howard

The title of this NBC detective drama referred not to the Biblical river but to Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, played by former Law and Order regular Jill Hennessy. A brilliant Boston-based medical examiner, Jordan tended to rub her superiors the wrong way with her feistiness and insubordination, but her expertise and persistence inevitably proved to be indispensable to Beantown's coroner's office. The heroine was the sort of forensic sleuth who popped up at funerals to snap the cuffs on the "grieving" spouse in preparation for a murder charge. Acting as Jordan's unofficial leg man was her father, Max (Ken Howard), an ex-cop plagued by memories of his murdered wife and by the scandal that cost him his job. Rounding out the cast was Miguel Ferrer as Jordan's combative rule-bound boss, Garret Macy. Created by Tim Kring of Providence fame, the weekly, 60-minute Crossing Jordan was to have made its NBC bow on September 17, 2001, but breaking news events pushed up the series' premiere date to September 24. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide