Before There Was Batman, There Was 'Gotham' (Premiers Tonight)

With a reputation synonymous with law and order, Commissioner James Gordon is one of the crime world's greatest foes. Everyone knows the name. But what is known of Gordon's rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? And what did it take to navigate the layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world's most iconic villains - the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker?

Gotham is the origin story of the great DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (The Mentalist, Rome), this one-hour drama follows one cop's rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil and chronicles the genesis of one of the most popular super heroes of our time. Brave, earnest and eager to prove himself, the newly minted detective Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is partnered with the brash, but shrewd police legend Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), as the two stumble upon the city's highest-profile case ever: the murder of local billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne.

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At the scene of the crime, Gordon meets the sole survivor: the Waynes' hauntingly intense 12-year-old son, Bruce (David Mazouz), toward whom the young detective feels an inexplicable kinship. Moved by the boy's profound loss, Gordon vows to catch the killer. As he navigates the often-underhanded politics of Gotham's criminal justice system, Gordon encounters imposing gang boss Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), and many of the characters who will become some of DC Comics' most renowned, enduring villains, including a teenaged Selina Kyle/the future Catwoman (Camren Bicondova) and Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor).

Although the crime drama follows Gordon's turbulent and singular rise through the Gotham City police department, it also focuses on the unlikely friendship Gordon forms with the young heir to the Wayne fortune, who is being raised by his unflappable butler, Alfred (Sean Pertwee) - a friendship that will last them all of their lives and will play a crucial role in helping the young boy eventually become the crusader he's destined to be.

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