The Verdict Nears for ‘Murder’

The verdict in the Jessica Costello murder trial won’t come in until tonight, but Steven Bochco already has launched an appeal.

Bochco, the co-creator and executive producer of “Murder One,” hopes to sway the jury of ABC executives not to give the death sentence to his legal drama after its season finale, which begins tonight with a two-hour installment at 9 p.m. and winds up Tuesday with a one-hour episode at 10 p.m.

“Murder One” should be spared despite its less-than-glowing ratings, said Bochco, the acclaimed producer of “NYPD Blue,” “L.A. Law” and “Hill Street Blues.” He compared the series, which has followed a single murder case all season, to classics such as “Hill Street Blues,” “Cheers” and “Seinfeld”; all struggled before hitting their stride with viewers after their first seasons.

He argues that “Murder One” has drawn an increasingly large, devoted audience during its last several episodes.

“I really, really want the show to come back,” Bochco said in an interview last week. “Certainly the second half of the season has been right on target from a creative point of view. It’s been terrific. We’re at the point now where people watching on a regular basis are totally hooked.”

He added, “The amount of mail I get on this show is totally out of whack with the ratings. I’ve gotten far less letters on far more popular shows. The audience is very committed, and it’s not just a passive involvement.”

It’s ABC that is passive at the moment. Even though the network is heavily promoting the final “chapters” of the drama, executives declined to discuss its prospects for next season, other than to say that “Murder One” remains a candidate for renewal. But the fact that ABC scheduled the season finale before the important May ratings sweeps, during which the networks put forth their most popular programs, is not an encouraging sign.

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“I’ve gotten no reading at all from ABC as to what they’re thinking,” Bochco said. “I have not gone to them. You can talk to them until you’re blue in the face, and they will still do what they’re going to do. There are so many factors involved. I just hope we can catch a break here. From Day 1, we have not caught a break.”

Some analysts believe “Murder One” is unlikely to return next season.

“I just don’t think it ever lived up to the hopes the network had,” said Joel Segal, executive vice president of national broadcasting for the McCann-Erickson advertising agency. “Moving it around didn’t help. The audience is devoted, but a very small one.”

Chris Neel, network supervisor for The Media Edge, a New York-based media buyer, agreed: “I don’t think it will be back, not because it didn’t catch on but because ABC would find it hard to put it anywhere. It was a fine show--typical Bochco--but all his shows can’t be hits.”

“Murder One” has undergone trial by fire almost since its premiere Sept. 19 in the potent “NYPD Blue” time period on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. Critics hailed it as the best new show of the season, but viewership had already begun to drop when it moved Oct. 5 to its regular time slot on Thursdays, opposite NBC powerhouse “ER.” The medical series clobbered the legal series, prompting ABC to pull “Murder One” out of the line of fire in November, and it didn’t return to the schedule until January, when it bumped heads on Mondays with CBS’ medical drama, “Chicago Hope.”

Although the fortunes of “Murder One” improved somewhat with the shift, the question of “Who Killed Jessica Costello?”--the fast-living teenage girlfriend of movie star defendant Neil Avedon--never caught the national imagination like the mystery of “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” did in the first year of “Twin Peaks” in 1990. The drama ranks 73rd for the season.

Some critics complained that the series didn’t live up to the promise of its first episode and found fault early on with the secondary plot lines, which were eliminated when the action moved into the courtroom. Others, however, say “Murder One” has gained momentum in its last several episodes. There have been more twists and turns in the case, and many fans have delighted in Stanley Tucci’s performance as the deliciously evil and astronomically wealthy Richard Cross, who is linked to everyone surrounding the murder case.

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In tonight’s episode, the jury reaches its verdict, and the two principal lawyers--defense attorney Ted Hoffman (Daniel Benzali) and prosecutor Miriam Grasso (Barbara Bosson)--appear on “Larry King Live” to discuss the outcome. On Tuesday’s finale, more surprises will be revealed as the case wraps up.

If the series returns, Bochco said, it would take on not one but two separate cases that would run consecutively next season so that viewers would not feel as intimidated if they missed an episode.

Bochco added that he would still remain heavily involved in the drama, even though he is producing a comedy, “Public Morals,” for CBS next season and has another deal to produce and write feature films.

“I am 100% committed to ‘Murder One,’ ” he said. “This show is so challenging, such great fun, like writing a novel. I would be every bit as involved as I was last season. I’ve gotten a special dispensation from the Time Fairy so that I’ll have 28 hours in each day.”