The Night Of

The Night Of is a 2016 American eight-part crime drama miniseries based on the first season of Criminal Justice, a 2008 British series. The miniseries was written by Richard Price and Steven Zaillian (based on the original Criminal Justice plot by Peter Moffat), and directed by Zaillian and James Marsh. Broadcast on HBO, The Night Of premiered on July 10, 2016 to critical acclaim. The first episode premiered on June 24, 2016, via HBO's on-demand services. The Night Of received 13 Emmy nominations, winning five, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for Riz Ahmed.

Starring

 * John Turturro as John Stone, a lawyer who represents Nasir Khan
 * Riz Ahmed as Nasir "Naz" Khan, a Pakistani-American college student accused of murdering a woman on the Upper West Side of New York City
 * Michael Kenneth Williams as Freddy Knight, an influential prisoner at Rikers Island
 * Bill Camp as Detective Sergeant Dennis Box, the lead detective on Nasir's case
 * Jeannie Berlin as Helen Weiss, a district attorney working on Nasir's case
 * Payman Maadi as Salim Khan, Nasir's father
 * Poorna Jagannathan as Safar Khan, Nasir's mother
 * Glenne Headly as Alison Crowe, a lawyer who represents Nasir Khan
 * Amara Karan as Chandra Kapoor, Alison's employee
 * Ashley Thomas as Calvin Hart, a prisoner at Rikers Island
 * Paul Sparks as Don Taylor, Andrea's stepfather
 * Sofia Black-D'Elia as Andrea Cornish, the victim
 * Afton Williamson as Wiggins, a police officer working at the 21st precinct
 * Ben Shenkman as Klein, a sergeant working at 21st precinct
 * Chip Zien as Katz, a pathologist
 * Paulo Costanzo as Ray Halle, financial adviser to Andrea and her mother
 * Ned Eisenberg as Lawrence Felder, a judge
 * Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones as Walker, a prisoner at Rikers Island
 * Glenn Fleshler as Judge Roth
 * Mohammad Bakri as Tariq, a taxi driver and Salim's colleague
 * Nabil Elouahabi as Yusuf, a taxi driver and Salim's colleague

Supporting

 * Frank L. Ridley as Jerry
 * Jeff Wincott as Lucas
 * Fisher Stevens as Saul, John's pharmacist
 * Lord Jamar as Tino
 * Ariya Ghahramani as Amir Farik
 * Syam Lafi as Hasan Khan
 * Max Casella as Edgar
 * J. D. Williams as Trevor Williams
 * Frank Wood as Harry, the medical examiner
 * Skipp Sudduth as Bell
 * Kevin Dunn as Danny Lang
 * Joe Egender as Cutler ("Cutty"), a drug dealer
 * Mustafa Shakir as Victor

Production
On September 19, 2012, it was announced that HBO had ordered a pilot based on the British television series Criminal Justice. James Gandolfini was set to star, Richard Price would write the project, and Steven Zaillian would direct. On February 19, 2013, HBO passed on the project. However, on May 13, 2013, HBO reversed course, picking up Criminal Justice as a seven-part limited series. After Gandolfini's death on June 19, 2013, it was reported that the miniseries would move forward in his honor, and that Robert De Niro was set to replace Gandolfini. On April 21, 2014, John Turturro replaced De Niro because of scheduling conflicts. On March 11, 2016, it was announced that the project would premiere in the middle of 2016 under the title The Night Of. Gandolfini retains a posthumous executive producer credit.

In July 2016, Steven Zaillian commented about the possibility of a second season: "We're thinking about it and if we come up with something we all feel is worthy of doing, we'll do it. This was designed as a stand-alone piece. That being said, there are ways of certainly kind of taking what it feels like and what it's about and doing another season on another subject." In April 2017, Zaillian again commented on the possibility of a second season, saying: "Listen, we would love to do it, and when I say 'we,' I mean [co-creator] Richard Price and myself. If we can come up with something that we fall in love with, we'll do it. If we don't, we won't." In August 2017, John Turturro talked about the possibility of returning for season two: "We've been talking. So we'll see. I would be very interested because I felt that character offered something really rich. I'm hoping that that will come to fruition."

In January 2020, John Turturro stated that new episodes of The Night Of are still a possibility: "We have a couple of ideas but we have to sit down and discuss them, so we're at that stage so that's good."

Critical reception
The Night Of received critical acclaim. On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 90 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim" based on 40 reviews. It has a score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 8.6/10 based on 88 reviews; its consensus reads, "The Night Of is a richly crafted, exquisitely performed mystery that will keep viewers enthralled and leave them devastated."

IGN reviewer Jesse Schedeen gave the entire miniseries an 8.9 out of 10 "Great" score, writing, "With only a couple of exceptions, this summer hasn't been the greatest when it comes to new TV series, which makes The Night Of's brief run all the more special. This limited series did little to shake up the formula when it [comes to] crime dramas, but it was distinguished by its amazing cast and the pervasive tension that drove the series from start to finish."

Ratings
In the United States, TV ratings grew over the course of its eight-episode run, with daily ratings tripling between the premiere and season finale. The premiere episode drew 2.1million viewers, before increasing to an average gross audience of 8.2million viewers on HBO.

In the United Kingdom, where it aired in September 2016, the first episode drew 468,000 viewers on Sky Atlantic. The show eventually drew an audience of 2.5million viewers across Sky's On Demand platforms.