Karen Sisco

The series was created by novelist Elmore Leonard, based on a character he had previously used in several written works as well as the 1998 film adaptation Out of Sight.

Before the TV series, the character Karen Sisco appeared in the 1996 short story 'Karen Makes Out' and the 1996 novel Out of Sight, which was adapted into the 1998 film.

In the 1998 film Out of Sight, Karen Sisco was played by Jennifer Lopez and her father Marshall Sisco was played by Dennis Farina, whereas the TV series cast Carla Gugino and Robert Forster in those roles respectively.

Scott Frank, who had been Oscar-nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for Out of Sight, served as an executive consultant on the series.

In 2012, Carla Gugino reprised a version of her role in a third-season episode of Justified, playing a character now called 'Karen Goodall' rather than Karen Sisco, because FX did not own the rights to the Karen Sisco character or her stories; in this appearance she had been promoted to Assistant Director of the Marshals Service and had married and divorced, keeping the surname Goodall.

The series debuted on ABC on October 1, 2003 but was canceled after just 7 aired episodes, with the remaining 3 episodes burned off in late-night slots during spring 2004.

Karen Sisco aired in the same time slot as the 14th season of NBC's Law & Order, drawing less than half that show's audience early on and eventually less than one third of its viewership before cancellation.

In 2013, TV Guide included Karen Sisco in its list of 60 shows that were 'Canceled Too Soon'.