Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent premiered last Thursday.

The series, adapted by CityTV, features cases that are 'ripped from headlines' from Canada's largest city, Toronto. It films in Toronto neighbourhoods and has a very Canadian cast and crew.

It is also part of a long-running network TV franchise that premiered back in 1990, and one that seems to have weathered the changes in TV as a medium, and changes in attitudes towards police and the justice system. 

Today, Vulture TV critic Kathryn VanArendonk on Law & Order's Toronto spinoff, and why the franchise still draws a big audience.