July 22 (2024-07-22) – September 9, 2024 (2024-09-09)
61st Street is an American legal drama television series created by Peter Moffat that premiered on AMC on April 10, 2022. A second season was produced;[1] however, in January 2023, AMC decided against airing it.[2] In May 2023, The CW acquired the series,[3] rebroadcasting the first season in the US on July 22, 2023, on The CW app exclusively and then airing it on linear TV in October 2023.[citation needed] The second season premiered on July 22, 2024.[4]
Premise
Moses Johnson, a promising, black high school athlete, is swept up into the infamously corrupt Chicago criminal justice system. Taken by the police as a supposed gang member, Johnson finds himself and his lawyer Franklin Roberts in the eye of the storm as police and prosecutors seek revenge for the death of an officer during a drug bust gone wrong.
In February 2019, AMC began development on 61st Street which was created by Peter Moffat who is executive producing alongside Michael B. Jordan and Alana Mayo.[24] In October 2019, AMC greenlighted the series and gave it a two-season order,[25] with each season consisting of eight episodes.[26] Series star Courtney B. Vance serves as an executive producer.[27]
Casting
In January 2020, Courtney B. Vance, Tosin Cole and Bentley Green were cast in the series.[26][28] In May 2020, Eric Lange was cast in the series.[29] In February 2021, Holt McCallany replaced Lange; and Aunjanue Ellis, Killian Scott, and Andrene Ward-Hammond were cast in the series.[30] In March 2021, Jerod Haynes was cast in the series.[31] In May 2021, Mark O'Brien replaced Killian Scott as Officer Logan in the series.[32]
Release
The series was originally set to premiere in 2021.[26] The premiere was delayed and it premiered on April 10, 2022.[33] The second season of the series had already been filmed, but was dropped by AMC as part of cost-cutting measures announced in December 2022.[2] In May 2023, The CW acquired the series.[34]
The second season premiered on July 4, 2023 on Australian streaming service Stan.[35]
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 69% approval rating with an average rating of 6.2/10, based on 16 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "61st Street is situated smack dab in a clichéd zip code of television drama, but terrific performances by Courtney B. Vance and a strong supporting cast provide some local attraction."[36]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 66 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[37]
