Nobody wants to be the person who mucked up the 鈥淟aw & Order鈥� franchise.
It鈥檚 a fear that鈥檚 haunted veteran procedural writer Tassie Cameron since she embarked on the most daunting responsibility of her career: turning Dick Wolf鈥檚 beloved legal drama into the new Canadian spinoff 鈥淟aw & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent.鈥�
Despite years of experience writing on 鈥淩ookie Blue,鈥� 鈥淧retty Hard Cases鈥� and 鈥淢ary Kills People,鈥� she quivers at the responsibility she holds as the show鈥檚 Thursday broadcast premiere approaches.
鈥淚 think we all feel a tremendous amount of pressure not to let down Toronto (or) Canada 鈥� it鈥檚 horrifying,鈥� the showrunner said.
鈥淧eople have such embedded expectations about the show because almost everybody鈥檚 watched it and has feelings.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to disappoint the franchise holders in the States, but you don鈥檛 want to disappoint your country. And it starts to feel big like that. I know that sounds ridiculous.鈥�
Sitting alongside fellow executive producer Erin Haskett at their production office, the pair are discussing how far they鈥檝e come in only a few months.
It鈥檚 December of last year and the Canadian production has one shooting day in the whirlwind season, which came together on tight timelines as the dual Hollywood writer and actor strikes halted many other films and TV series.
鈥淭he show got greenlit the first week of June, with one script,鈥� Haskett said.
鈥淭hen it was like, oh my God, we need nine more,鈥� added Cameron.
鈥淪o I was calling writers (asking,) 鈥業s anybody available tomorrow to sit in a room with me for two weeks to start writing this thing?鈥�
鈥淟aw & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent,鈥� a co-production between Rogers鈥� media division and Vancouver-based Lark Productions, was filming on the streets of Toronto before the end of August, Haskett noted.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 been (working) night and day pretty much since then,鈥� she added.
The show follows detectives Henry Graff, played by Aden Young, and Frankie Bateman, played by Kathleen Munroe, as they investigate high-profile homicides in Canada鈥檚 largest city.
The cases featured on the show are ripped from the headlines and inspired by real-life criminal investigations.
The show鈥檚 leading cast also includes Karen Robinson as inspector Vivienne Holness, and K.C. Collins as deputy crown attorney Theo Forrester.
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