Homicide: Life on the Street

[trobrianders]

How is it this show doesn't have a dedicated thread? Aren't there re-runs at all? Anyhow now's your chance if you've never heard of it. Go look it up. You won't regret it.

One of its great cast just passed away and I'm sad about it. RIP Andre Braugher. His Detective Pembleton was one of TV's great great characters.



Or if you're in the UK then it's this one.

[Walter Kafka]

Better than the Wire. There, I said it.

[Batmon77]

Ground zero of a style.

[Zechs Merquise]

I said this in the Brooklyn Nine-Nine thread but it's more appropriate here - I spent some of my formative years watching and enjoying this show and just absolutely fell in love with Andre Braugher's acting, to the point that I would watch almost any piece of crap so long as Andre Braugher was in it.

But the show goes beyond just Andre Braugher and Frank Pembleton. It was such a high benchmark in crime shows, it had a great cast and such great writing and dialogue and it posited great philosophical and moral questions in a way you don't see in many crime shows today. It also made Baltimore a character. All these Baltimore shows (Homicide, The Corner, The Wire) really make you feel as if you know Baltimore even if you've never been there

In fact, I almost had a premonition of Andre Braugher's passing because I was thinking about this specific scene from the show, before I'd heard the news

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy-YpLJLG5M

Originally Posted by Walter Kafka

Better than the Wire. There, I said it.

The weaknesses of one are certainly the strengths of the other

[bootsy]

Originally Posted by Walter Kafka

Better than the Wire. There, I said it.

It's not. There I said it.

[principehomura]

I'm sure there was a thread or something about it, but can't find it anywhere.
Maybe there was a discussion on unpopular tv opinions.

I didn't recognize that Andre Braugher portrayed Pembleton

As for the show... yep, it's the daddy of 'The Wire' (and the son of 'Hill Street Blues'), but I never got too much into it.
As a classic procedural it was amazing, but it had a huge weakness to me and it was the characters: there wasn't a single likable one, and in the end it became a burden to watch. Especially because the authors seemed to enjoy to give more space to the most annoying.

[drb999]

Watching Braugher as Pembleton in the box interrogating was just a master class in acting. RIP Andre Braugher.

[Zechs Merquise]

Originally Posted by principehomura

As a classic procedural it was amazing, but it had a huge weakness to me and it was the characters: there wasn't a single likable one, and in the end it became a burden to watch. Especially because the authors seemed to enjoy to give more space to the most annoying.

Couldn't disagree more. Most of the characters (from seasons 1-5) had rough edges to them but were ultimately likeable and, more importantly, compelling. This wasn't a Sopranos or Wire where everyone's an *******.

Yes, the characters introduced in Seasons 6 & 7 were deeply irritating and they eventually took over and ruined the whole show. But I blame the executives who interfered with it for that.

[Walter Kafka]

The original cast of
Andre Braugher
Ned Beatty
Yaphet Kotto
Melissa Leo
Ned Beatty
Jon Polito
Richard Belzer
Daniel Baldwin

Can't be topped

[Zechs Merquise]

Originally Posted by Walter Kafka

The original cast of
Andre Braugher
Ned Beatty
Yaphet Kotto
Melissa Leo
Ned Beatty
Jon Polito
Richard Belzer
Daniel Baldwin

Can't be topped

I'd also add Reed Diamond, Michelle Forbes and Isabella Hoffman to that list.

I was also very disappointed when they cut Ned Beatty. He really worked as a foil to Richard Belzer's John Munch and Munch was never quite the same after he left

[BluVinyl]

Still disappointed Homicide is not out on BD, a great show. I still remember thinking the show was going to go downhill when he got a stroke, but great actor Andre Braugher made his recovery compelling. I thought his acting in the show was about as good as anyone I have seen in a series. If David Simon had ended the show a year or two earlier I would have ranked it about even with the Wire which is my second favorite show, but Homicide show did drag on a bit too long with less quality in the last couple of seasons.

[Zechs Merquise]

Yeah I really can't recommend the 7th season for anything other than completeness. The 6th was almost as bad but Andre Braugher definitely saved it.

The movie is a must watch. They sidelined almost all the crappy characters from season 6 & 7. Unfortunately it's not available on the UK set, same with the Law & Order crossovers the first of which (Charm City) is probably one of the best Law & Order episodes

Originally Posted by BluVinyl

If David Simon had ended the show a year or two earlier

David Simon didn't create the show (and was therefore not responsible for those decisions) He wrote the book the show was based on, and then later he came to work on it as a writer and story editor and eventually producer, but it was not 'his' baby, as such

[principehomura]

Originally Posted by Zechs Merquise

Couldn't disagree more. Most of the characters (from seasons 1-5) had rough edges to them but were ultimately likeable and, more importantly, compelling. This wasn't a Sopranos or Wire where everyone's an *******.

Yes, the characters introduced in Seasons 6 & 7 were deeply irritating and they eventually took over and ruined the whole show. But I blame the executives who interfered with it for that.

Of the main there's not a single one I grew fond of. Giardello, Pembleton and maybe Melissa Leo were just ok to me. The others I didn't like.
Then there was a bunch of characters that I really counldn't stand (that I remember Gaffney, Barnfather), and in the end decided to drop it.

[Zechs Merquise]

Originally Posted by principehomura

.Then there was a bunch of characters that I really counldn't stand (that I remember Gaffney, Barnfather), and in the end decided to drop it.

You're not supposed to like Gaffney or Barnfather. Gaffney in particular is an incompetent detective, malignant racist and bully. He's almost a strawman of people who seem to fail upwards in the police department.

But then, as I recall, you thought nu-Frasier was good, must watch, TV, so...

[principehomura]

Originally Posted by Zechs Merquise

But then, as I recall, you thought nu-Frasier was good, must watch, TV, so...

so I must be a moron because I don't have the same taste as you

[Zechs Merquise]

Originally Posted by principehomura

so I must be a moron because I don't have the same taste as you

I didn't say you were a moron.

You do have shit taste though. Sorry

[sprout1883]

Originally Posted by Zechs Merquise

Yeah I really can't recommend the 7th season for anything other than completeness. The 6th was almost as bad but Andre Braugher definitely saved it.

The movie is a must watch. They sidelined almost all the crappy characters from season 6 & 7. Unfortunately it's not available on the UK set, same with the Law & Order crossovers the first of which (Charm City) is probably one of the best Law & Order episodes

David Simon didn't create the show (and was therefore not responsible for those decisions) He wrote the book the show was based on, and then later he came to work on it as a writer and story editor and eventually producer, but it was not 'his' baby, as such

In the UK you should search out the Australian release Complete Series Special Edition as this comes with The Movie. It's technically region 4, but i beleive it is region free. That what I purchased and at least for me it plays on my laptop.

It doesn't have the Law and order episodes but has the recaps before the start

[Zechs Merquise]

Originally Posted by sprout1883

In the UK you should search out the Australian release Complete Series Special Edition as this comes with The Movie. It's technically region 4, but i beleive it is region free. That what I purchased and at least for me it plays on my laptop.

It doesn't have the Law and order episodes but has the recaps before the start

I mean, I have the US set (the original A&E US set) which comes with everything, but that might be one for people in the UK who've never seen the show and want to get into it

[BluVinyl]

It looks like it is finally coming to streaming since NBC has gotten the music rights to the original songs. Hopefully this will lead to an HD upgrade and BD release. https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movi...on-1235041713/

[theusher]

‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ Finally Gets Streaming Home at Peacock

One of the more critically acclaimed dramas of the past 30 years has at last found a streaming home.

Starting Aug. 19, Peacock will feature Homicide: Life on the Street. All seven seasons and 122 episodes of the former NBC show, as well as the series-wrapping Homicide: The Movie from 2000, will be available, remastered for HD and 4K viewing.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv...ck-1235953551/