The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in investigating cold cases, usually homicides.

Through the flashbacks, the show examined many issues related to 20th century history, including racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, abortion, and police brutality.

The show was distinguished by double casting, in which the characters and witnesses would flash back and forth in the scene representing them as they looked at the time of the crime and in the present day.

[3] A Japanese remake of the series, Cold Case: Shinjitsu no Tobira (コールドケース 〜真実の扉〜), set in Yokohama, was broadcast on cable network WOWOW Prime from October 22, 2016, to December 24, 2016.

[8][7] Company Star Media produced Russian adaptation of the series (broadcast in Russia under the title Detective Rush) named Without Prescription.

[10] In 2005, John Finn, Kathryn Morris and Jeremy Ratchford appeared in a satirical promo on the Irish-language television station TG4.

[13][14] Cold Squad fans accused the American series of copying the Canadian program's basic premise and characters.

In November 2003, the law firm O'Donnell & Schaeffer confirmed it agreed to represent the Cold Squad producers, who claimed the CBS series was a copy of their own hit show.

The Globe and Mail reported that Meredith Stiehm, the American series creator, attended a TV writing seminar at the Canadian Film Centre in 2002 where the Cold Squad concept was discussed.

O'Donnell lawyer, Carole Handler stated: "Our clients are very concerned about many striking similarities and have retained counsel to investigate the situation and, if necessary, to take appropriate action.

After the program's debut in 2003, the show was not released on DVD or Blu-ray due to licensing issues related to the use of contemporary music in each episode.

In May 2020, the Roku Channel in the United States released all episodes of Cold Case to stream for the first time, in a high-definition digital format, with full subtitles and all contemporary music from the original CBS broadcasts left intact.

All seasons of Cold Case are also available to stream on Amazon Prime in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Latin America and India.

A soundtrack CD was released in 2008 by Lakeshore Records, featuring incidental music composed by Michael A. Levine from the first four seasons, as well as the song 300 Flowers, sung by Robbyn Kirmsse.