Steven Bochco's provocative courtroom thriller began as a seasonlong investigation of one L.A. murder case. The series was originally intended by ABC to compete with NBC's 'ER,' and it should have been a big success: Exceptional acting and taut, gripping scripts won it critical accolades (but alas, not many viewers). When 'Murder One' returned for its second year, the number of storylines increased from one to three and Anthony LaPaglia replaced Daniel Benzali as lead defense lawyer.