‘Cold Justice’ Spinoff Greenlit By TNT

TNT is expanding its real-life investigation series Cold Justice into a franchise. The network has ordered 10 episodes of an untitled spinoff from Wolf Reality and Magical Elves, slated to launch in spring 2015. Like its predecessor, the new series will follow a pair of crime experts as they travel the country to assist local law enforcement in closing long-unsolved cases. Rather than tackling homicides, however, the new series will focus on sex crimes.

Cold Justice, TNT’s first breakout reality series, averaged more than 2.2 million viewers in Live + 7 this past summer, a +17% increase over the show’s winter episodes. In key demos, Cold Justice averaged 838,000 adults 25-54 (+3% vs. winter).

Emmy winners Dick Wolf (Law & Order, Chicago Fire), Dan Cutforth & Jane Lipsitz (Top Chef, Time of Death) and Tom Thayer (Hitchcock, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee) serve as executive producers on both series, with Cold Justice expert Kelly Siegler also serving as an executive producer on the new show.

“This new Cold Justice series on sex crimes is about the healing that can come for survivors and their loved ones when an assailant is finally brought to justice,” said Siegler. “But it’s also about the bravery it takes for survivors of sexual assault to come forward and tell their stories, which in turn helps investigators close cases that can prevent the assailant from abusing others”.

TNT’s Cold Justice premiered in September 2013 and follows former prosecutor Kelly Siegler and former crime-scene investigator Yolanda McClary as they look into murder cases in which the trail to find the culprit has gone cold. Since the show’s premiere, Siegler and McClary have assisted local law enforcement in securing a total of 19 arrests, 10 criminal indictments, four confessions, three guilty pleas and two convictions.