osecutors--two assistant DA's working under a DA--as they bargain with the defendant's lawyers and consider among themselves precisely what charges, and what penalty, they can reasonably propose (McConnell 19).
The job is the source and subject of the stories, and the private lives of the principals are at most throwaway elements in their conversation. This adds to the documentary nature of the show: "Even the camera work brilliantly enforces chilliness and distance" (McConnell 20).
The turnover on the show has been high, much higher than for most network shows, and cast members have left for different reasons. From the first, there have been six primary characters, three on the police side, three on the district attorney's side. Of the original six, only the District Attorney played by Steven Hill remains in the ninth season--and as some fans point out, technically he was not present throughout since the part was played by a different actor in the CBS pilot that was shown
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