The worst peice of exposition dialog in the history of television

[Bucky]

In his first season on NYPD Blue, Jimmy Smits (talking to a perp or crooked cop, tho I forget which) actually had to say the line, "You can kiss my French-Portuguese ass"--apparently this was the writers' "tough/cool" way of establishing the fact that his character wasn't Puerto Rican, since they already had one of those on the show.

[Blue_Tires]

1. i'll admit; i never 'got' nypd blue

granted, i only gave it a chance in its final 2 seasons, but the dialogue, plot mechanisms, writing, cinematography and characters made me sick to my stomach after a few episodes...I'm no New Yorker, but those people in the show just seemed so strange and alien when compared to the New Yorkers I know, like they were caricatures or something...

I just thought the show was bad because it was always trying to be too gritty and raw for its own good (and I admit upfront, I am a longtime hardcore cop show addict)...At least Ed McBain could take the basic elements and craft a much better story.

[Hissyspit]

2. I hated it. NYPD got all the attention & awards, all the while "Homicide:"

"Life on the Street," one of the best shows in the history of television (not counting the final two seasons) got terrible ratings.

[mduffy31]

3. It was sad

The way that Homicide just really died in the last two seasons. Especially when Andre Braugher left, they should have just stopped then.

[Hissyspit]

4. True, mduffy31, but if you think about it...

the decline in the show mirrored the growing shallowness of this country, a shallowness that would result in the Dubya years. The changes in "Homicide" reflected the changes in the social context.

I watch episodes of the "popular" cop shows of today (Law and Order, CSI, Without A Trace) and can recognize which episode of Homicide they are ripping off - when it was done first and better.

[Blue_Tires]

6. lol

i used to be able to do the same thing (watch cop shows and see which plot elements they lifted directly from Ed McBain books, back when I knew his books real well

[Starbucks Anarchist]

5. Amen.

Homicide was freaking brilliant.

All seven seasons are available on DVD for under $300, BTW. :thumbsup:

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

7. Amen to that. "Homicide" was just soo insanely good

it's a tragedy that it's not well known. It got incredibly dicked around with in the UK (it went out at random times, on random days sometimes with weeks between episodes and the final season never aired) whereas NYPD Blue was given a constant slot pretty much until the bitter end. It's currently enjoying a repeat from the start on a free digital channel, although that's also slightly erratic so I'm keeping an eye on the DVD sets.