Cop a Plea - Distaff Side Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cold Case

Kathryn Morris played the only female detective on Philadelphia's homicide squad. On "Cold Case", which ran from 2003 to 2010, Lilly was assigned to follow up on old unsolved cases, some over a decade old. Over time witnesses move or forget or die, and evidence may disappear; this makes solving old crimes very difficult.

Answer: Law and Order

S. Epatha Merkerson played Lieutenant Van Buren, tough working-mother in charge of a large New York City precinct on "Law and Order", one of TV's longest running scripted shows. Ms. Merkerson first appeared on the show in its second year, i.e., 1991, and continued her role until 2010 when the show went off the air.

Answer: T.J. Hooker

Heather Locklear is a very familiar face to TV watchers, appearing on the small and large screens since the 1980s. Before her role as Sammy Jo in "Dynasty" and prior to her stint as Amanda Woodward on "Melrose Place", Heather appeared in "T.J. Hooker" as Officer Stacy Sheridan, opposite William Shatner. The show ran from 1982 to 1986.

Answer: NCIS

Chilean born Cote de Pablo began playing the tough Israeli Mossad agent Ziva David in Season 3 of "NCIS" in 2005, and continued the role until she left in Season 11 in 2013. Ziva and Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) developed an intimate relationship on the show. Cote has since been in a TV miniseries, "The Dovekeepers", and a TV movie in 2016.

Answer: 21 Jump Street

Holly Robinson Peete first gained recognition when she appeared on the police show "21 Jump Street", where she portrayed Officer Judy Hoffs. The plot centered around an undercover police unit with young officers posing as students who fought crimes occurring in and around school.

The program also gave another young actor his start, i.e., Johnny Depp as Officer Tom Hanson. It ran from 1987 to 1991.

Answer: Police Woman

Going back to another era, we find Sergeant Pepper Anderson as an undercover cop in the Los Angeles Police Department's Criminal Conspiracy Unit. Angie Dickinson was one of TV's first female leads in a crime show, and she got to pose as hookers, inmates, etc, all to catch the criminals. "Police Woman" ran from 1974 until 1978. Prior to that, Angie could be seen in films like "Rio Bravo" and "Dressed to Kill".

Answer: The Closer

Moving to a more recent crime procedural, we have Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson in the Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. Brenda has an uncanny ability to get criminals to confess and to solve some of LA's most difficult cases, earning her (and the show) the title of "The Closer". "The Closer" ran from 2005 to 2012. Sedgwick has also appeared in many films, e.g., "Phenomenon" and "Born on the Forth of July".

Answer: Mod Squad

Anyone remember that "cool" police show from the late 1960s, "The Mod Squad"? Predating "21 Jump Street", the show featured three young people who had been in trouble with the law and were recruited to an undercover squad (a recurring theme) in San Francisco to avoid incarceration. Peggy Lipton played Julie Barnes who (along with Pete and Linc) was assigned to catch criminals who preyed on the young.

The show aired from 1969 to 1973. Peggy was also on "Twin Peaks".

Answer: Without a Trace

"Without a Trace" (2002-2009) was a show about a special unit of the FBI that dealt with missing persons in New York City. We are shown the urgency of finding these lost people before they become victims, and the tragedy of those not found in time. Poppy Montgomery played Detective Samantha Spade (no relation to Sam in "The Maltese Falcon"). Poppy later played Carrie Wells, a former police detective, in the TV series "Unforgettable".

Answer: CSI

After "China Beach", Marg Helgenberger assayed the role of Catherine Willows on one of TV's first criminal forensic procedurals, "CSI: Criminal Scene Investigation". The crime drama showed how a special Las Vegas police unit investigated and solved cases in the lab by using forensic evidence; it was a precursor to other programs like "Bones" and "NCIS". "CSI" ran from 2000 to 2015, with Marg leaving the show after the thirteenth season.