Queens Supreme Explained

Genre:Dramedy
Creator:Kevin Fox
Director:Keith Samples
Jace Alexander
Adam Bernstein
Bill D'Elia
Michael Fields
Stuart Gillard
Jefery Levy
John Patterson
Matthew Penn
David Platt
Tim Robbins
Paul Shapiro
Rick Wallace
Starring:Oliver Platt
Robert Loggia
Annabella Sciorra
L. Scott Caldwell
Marcy Harriell
James Madio
Composer:Douglas J. Cuomo
Chris Hajian
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:13 (10 unaired)
Executive Producer:Julia Roberts
Kevin Fox
Deborah Schindler
Aaron Spelling
Erwin Stoff
E. Duke Vincent
Marjorie David
Keith Samples
Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas
Producer:Stephen Godchaux
Steve Rose
Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas
Linda McGibney
Daniel and Peter Thomas
Editor:James Y. Kwei
Vanessa Procopio
Tom Swartwout
Location:Flushing, Queens,
New York
Long Island City, Queens,
New York
Cinematography:Ron Fortunato
Tony C. Jannelli
Camera:Chaim Kantor
Peter Nolan
Runtime:60 minutes
(with commercials)
Company:Shadowland Productions
Revolution Television
Red Om Films
Spelling Television
Eye Productions
Channel:CBS

Queens Supreme is an American courtroom dramedy television series created by Dan and Peter Thomas, which aired on CBS from January 10 to January 24, 2003. The series had a strong cast and considerable financial backing, especially from Julia Roberts's Shoelace Productions, Spelling Television and Revolution Studios; however, poor ratings forced its cancellation after three episodes.

Premise

The series starred Oliver Platt as New York judge Jack Moran who, with his equally eccentric and colorful colleagues, presides over court cases at the real-life Queens Supreme Court in Long Island City, Queens.

Characters

Production

The idea for the series came about when two New York attorneys, twin brothers Dan and Peter Thomas, were discussing courtroom stories based on their shared experiences in Queens while on a plane flight to California in 2001. One of the passengers, a Hollywood producer, was sitting next to them and mentioned that they could be the basis for a television series. Indeed, the producer brought the idea to screenwriter Kevin Fox who later successfully pitched it to CBS. Fox was initially hesitant in becoming involved, feeling there were too many courtroom dramas already, but agreed after spending time at the New York Supreme Court himself.

The project was helped along by Dan's wife Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, head of Red Om Films (a subsidiary of Julia Roberts' production company Shoelace Productions) and a partner in Joe Roth's Revolution Studios, who was then looking for film and television products to develop. Her involvement was partially responsible in bringing such a high-profile cast and crew to the series.

The television pilot was filmed at both the Long Island City and New York State Supreme Courthouses by actor Tim Robbins in mid-August 2002 and 12 episodes were eventually ordered by the network. A midseason replacement for Robbery Homicide Division, Queens Supreme premiered on January 10, 2003, alongside Presidio Med in the prime-time Friday night timeslot.

Sources