tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post1346368922919320838..comments2024-03-28T18:01:28.997-04:00Comments on What's Alan Watching?: Seventeen years ago tonight... 'Homicide' was bornAlan Sepinwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388147774725646742noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-14486830842783461352010-04-13T22:40:30.221-04:002010-04-13T22:40:30.221-04:00Long live the Fontanaverse! Too much to say about ...Long live the Fontanaverse! Too much to say about H:LOTS! I am currently blogging all the episodes - and tomorrow's entry starts the City That Bleeds 3 parter - and I am still in awe of the brilliance of the writers, namely James Yoshimura, David Mills (RIP) and Henry Bromell, the directors Tims Hunter and Van Patten and of course Simon for providing the source material.<br /><br />The only quibble is regarding Braugher. He's spectacular to be sure, but in reviewing the episodes from the distance of 15 years, I'm finding some sublime moments of subtle craftsmanship from Johnson, Baldwin and Leo that went unnoticed the first time around. <br /><br />And while the golden age of Lewis is often assumed to start with the partnering of him and Kellerman, I think some of Johnson's finest moments come in seasons one and three, particularly in Crosetti, Cradle to Grave, Rockets Dead Glare and Night of the Dead Living. <br /><br />This was a great entry!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-47686960092514401282010-02-03T02:43:36.846-05:002010-02-03T02:43:36.846-05:00My wife and I loved this show like no other. I was...My wife and I loved this show like no other. I was astonished that it was passed up year after year by the usual awards.<br /><br />We made several trips to Baltimore because of it: a couple times to see an annual charity show the cast would put on, and finally when they had a prop sale after its cancellation. I am proud to say that I am the owner of Luther Mahoney's shoes, watch, and pinkie ring.Count Screwloosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00198518952654618266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-698092753526045342010-02-03T01:13:49.060-05:002010-02-03T01:13:49.060-05:00Wonderful to see this blog post and all the intere...Wonderful to see this blog post and all the interesting comments as I started recording the reruns for my 75 year old Mother a few weeks ago. She said she wasn't sure if she would still like it after all this time. Told me today that Yes!, she still loves it. Amazing isn't it?<br /><br />I was into NYPD Blue at the time so missed much of HLOTS. Thankfully it's on Netflix. Peoples comments on episodes not to be missed, and the book recommendation, is most helpful.<br />Thank you all.Angelanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-65723069683205418332010-02-02T10:23:15.459-05:002010-02-02T10:23:15.459-05:00Don't know if anybody's still reading this...Don't know if anybody's still reading this thread but...<br /><br />Saw the ad on tv last night - after the Superbowl this year UNDERCOVER BOSS! (or something like that)<br /><br />wow, how far we've fallen.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06336003200003462670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-65257512742273116452010-02-02T03:21:31.872-05:002010-02-02T03:21:31.872-05:00My all-time favorite TV show.
And I second the re...My all-time favorite TV show.<br /><br />And I second the recommendation for David Simon's book, <i>Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.</i> The chapter devoted to the medical examiner is just incredible.Rob S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07331286524477806963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-62070898130124687102010-02-02T00:40:36.901-05:002010-02-02T00:40:36.901-05:00One of my favorite post-Season-Three episodes is F...One of my favorite post-Season-Three episodes is For God and Country, the second half of a two-part crossover with Law & Order. It's really instructive to watch both halves, because the Law & Order half is very much a Law & Order episode - earnest, spare, very focused on the case of the week, without much room for humor or pathos - but the Homicide half is something else entirely. You get to see inside Pembleton's mind, for one thing, in the form of red-tinted flashbacks with a gospel soundtrack. You get to see all the New York and Baltimore detectives getting trashed in the bar together, trying to figure out how many divorces they have among them. You get to see Bayliss drunkenly hitting on the pretty lawyer from New York. You get to realize very slowly that this five-years-old church bombing is Pembleton's version of Adena Watson, and at the end you see the one thing that could possibly make Pembleton cry. <br /><br />And the amazing thing is that it all works. It doesn't come across as a gimmick, like other crossovers; in a way, the show just seems more like itself than usual. It's Homicide turned up to eleven, as if instead of making Homicide accessible to Law & Order fans the writers decided to bombard them with everything about Homicide that made it better than Law & Order.Katynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-39668236630766225762010-02-01T22:26:27.260-05:002010-02-01T22:26:27.260-05:00I actually missed most of the first two HLOTS seas...I actually missed most of the first two HLOTS seasons when my cockeyed cop show quota was being filled by NYPD Blue, but I know I did admire the Robin Williams episode. I think it was when I stumbled on the alt.tv.homicide usenet group that I really got into it. And boy, was it a joy to get into. This was a show that: <br /><br />- had the courage to play out its two long-term investigations (Adena Watson and Gordon Pratt) as exercises in futility; and whatever you thought of the Mahoney story, Kellerman's arc went very much against cop show tropes;<br /><br />- cast Yaphet Kotto as the Stern Black Lieutenant, but then gave the finger to that stereotype by making him a Sicilian (modeled on the real Lt. Gary D'Addario) and having him veil his imperatives in excessive politeness as forceful as any thundering; <br /><br />- build its first sexual tension storyline around Ned Beatty, for God's sake;<br /><br />- reveled in unpolished textures: the unglamorous (initial) cast, the triple-jump-cut editing, the grain of the film, the lack of gunfire until (I think) late in Season 3, and even the sickly bleat of the phones;<br /><br />- had a wealth and variety of black characters whose stories sometimes involved race, but never just that;<br /><br />- treated us to silent images and extended conversations that played like music, as well as music that returned the favor;<br /><br />- and gave fiction and reality a mobius-strip twist when a criminal fleeing real Baltimore police surrendered to HLOTS actors who were filming a scene, and a later episode contained a documentary film in which the show's fictional cops chased a suspect who surrendered to actors being directed by co-creator Barry Levinson.<br /><br />If you're the kind of TV viewer who reads the comments on Alan's blog, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy watching HLOTS from the beginning. If you like the first 5 seasons, you'll probably be able to find dramatic wheat among the season 6-7 melodramatic chaff. If there's a Wire-shaped hole in your life, this look at complicated Baltimore cops ought to help ease that. But for anyone who's a fan of HLOTS or The Wire, I'd really recommend getting Simon's original nonfiction book. You'll find great writing, and innumerable "holy @#$%!" moments where you see the real versions of events, characters, and references from the shows. It's like a print-based DVD commentary track, filling in some allusions and expanding the Homi-Wire-verse into stories even juicier than the fictional ones.<br /><br />But that's just my eleven cents worth. See for yourself.BobCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-55229736580133165132010-02-01T21:58:30.338-05:002010-02-01T21:58:30.338-05:00I agree that the Pembleton episode was great, but ...I agree that the Pembleton episode was great, but for me - the 5th episode where pembleton and bayliss go after the guy they think killed adena watson is one of the best, absolute best, scenes in television http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRpAXKKITvUatdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10021658144495696510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-50922969677623432202010-02-01T21:45:21.336-05:002010-02-01T21:45:21.336-05:00As long as we're recounting favorite episodes,...As long as we're recounting favorite episodes, "Full Moon" -- Lewis and Kellerman at the seedy motel -- was always a favorite.<br /><br />Music and acting by the Rev. Horton Heat, too.Otto Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14051682366565874144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-15012431388158413652010-02-01T21:12:17.884-05:002010-02-01T21:12:17.884-05:00I don't even remember why I watched the pilot,...I don't even remember why I watched the pilot, but I did, and the show has remained my favorite drama series ever (and yes, I have seen and loved "The Wire").deznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-53422944968213732542010-02-01T20:09:11.121-05:002010-02-01T20:09:11.121-05:00And don't forget, even waaaay back then, there...And don't forget, even waaaay back then, there was that damn man once again - TV's very own Observer... Zeljko Ivanek :-)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08832514378406993907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-47635718128188878212010-02-01T19:59:55.160-05:002010-02-01T19:59:55.160-05:00Anyone who has Time Warner in NYC who's intere...Anyone who has Time Warner in NYC who's interested in watching random Homicide episodes, go to channel 89 ("Cntric").Trilbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11231714243694621645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-55280390843100704892010-02-01T19:33:44.024-05:002010-02-01T19:33:44.024-05:00I just finished watching Season 5 of "The Wir...I just finished watching Season 5 of "The Wire" on Friday night, and I'm completely interested in watching at least the first 3 seasons of "Homicide: Life on the Street."<br /><br />I was a freshman in college when this show started, so not only was I more focused on school, but I also didn't bother to watch the Super Bowl this initially aired after, since I don't like either the Bills or Cowboys. Had I first seen this show back then, I think I would have been a viewer.<br /><br />By the time I got out of college, those that I knew watched it, liked it but all said that the first 3 seasons were great, but it wasn't the same, so it really wasn't worth watching.<br /><br />Now that shows like this are easily available to start watching from the beginning, I like to take advantage of that. Thanks for all of your great TV recommendations and reviews.Rebecca Jillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18262004084187699127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-28447607298453136432010-02-01T19:31:53.246-05:002010-02-01T19:31:53.246-05:00I agree; I had forgotten about "Kaddish"...I agree; I had forgotten about "Kaddish". What a great episode!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-86934035510158615352010-02-01T19:24:27.424-05:002010-02-01T19:24:27.424-05:00The earlier episodes were the best, but the later ...The earlier episodes were the best, but the later ones were pretty great. <br /><br />Homicide was also the first big break for the great Edie Falco who had a short arc as Eva Thormann, the wife of an officer who was shot.eyeball Witnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-74599175697997157302010-02-01T17:08:51.417-05:002010-02-01T17:08:51.417-05:00it's been mentioned above already, but here...it's been mentioned above already, but here's the link to the end of "Crosetti".<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7r2B6zFNuw<br /><br />(skip to 09:00 if you must)<br /><br />It kills me every time when Pembleton is standing there. The look on G's face when he sees him...Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17949754711696086866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-37303284881148165392010-02-01T15:11:59.489-05:002010-02-01T15:11:59.489-05:00Bigelow, unsurprisingly, did a hell of a job direc...Bigelow, unsurprisingly, did a hell of a job directing the action in the shootout sequence in "Fallen Heroes," but, like everything else about the Mahoney story, it bore so little resemblance to the show that Homicide used to be that it just disheartened me.Alan Sepinwallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03388147774725646742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-57454962137055813052010-02-01T15:03:43.243-05:002010-02-01T15:03:43.243-05:00I'll agree with the general consensus here, wh...I'll agree with the general consensus here, which is that the first 3 seasons are untouchable, 4-5 still pretty entertaining, 6 spotty with moments of high brilliance, and 7 being more bad than good. The coda in The Movie with Bayliss and Pembleton is unbelievable, though.<br /><br />One highlight from Season 6: the two-part finale "Fallen Heroes" directed by Kathryn Bigelow.Chatterboxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02083649015218981193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-37728916856915493372010-02-01T13:08:39.262-05:002010-02-01T13:08:39.262-05:00I started watching the reruns on Centric about six...I started watching the reruns on Centric about six weeks ago. Instantly hooked, I bought the (aforementioned) box set off Amazon.com -- $65 for the entire series on 35 well-packaged discs is a total steal. Still in what many consider the show's halcyon period, but it's more than worth the plunge.Bryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16297840974851341659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-4286256925517713802010-02-01T12:37:08.682-05:002010-02-01T12:37:08.682-05:00I'm glad they got to do "Homicide: The Mo...I'm glad they got to do "Homicide: The Movie" to wrap things up, but I thought it was a bit much how they managed (or tried to manage) fitting every character who'd been a regular into the storyline. It's all a little rushed, a little choppy, a little too simplistic But...<br /><br />The reason that movie exists, to me, is for the last act. The movie's story wraps up with about fifteen minutes to go, giving us one final, long, rich scene between Pembleton and Bayliss, giving us a real sense of closure to their relationship, Bayliss' storyline from season 7 and the series as a whole. It's tonally different from the rest of the movie and just beautifully written.<br /><br />(Yes, I have the complete series in the file cabinet packaging. Could you tell?)David J. Loehrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03730376433424754068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-47679041607899893962010-02-01T12:13:44.255-05:002010-02-01T12:13:44.255-05:00If you have the DVD's, listen to the commentar...If you have the DVD's, listen to the commentary track on the first episode. It is one of the best such tracks I've heard and gives a good summary of why the show was so revolutionary. Get out of the studio and onto the street, and use lots of handheld cameras. I can't remember if they drew the comparison themselves, but it struck me as very similar to what the French New Wave directors did and was almost as shocking and refreshing to audiences. <br /><br />From season 5, "Kaddish" has always been one of my favorites.paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-64974854121976660382010-02-01T11:24:36.984-05:002010-02-01T11:24:36.984-05:00I would definitely encourage anyone who is debatin...I would definitely encourage anyone who is debating about watching the show to do so. I definitely enjoyed S1-3 more than the rest of the series but even with all the goose eggs in the rest of the series, it was still a pleasure. <br /><br />I have to also comment on "Subway", a very taunt and heartbreaking episode. <br /><br />I recall writing my dissertation at the time. My reward for writing x amount of hundred of pages consisted of going out with friends for an hour or two and watching HLOTS and NYPD Blue in particular.JanieJonesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-85471840039954364892010-02-01T10:34:25.549-05:002010-02-01T10:34:25.549-05:00Homicide has 3 distinct periods:
- Season 1-3
- Se...Homicide has 3 distinct periods:<br />- Season 1-3<br />- Season 4-5<br />- Season 6 to the end<br /><br />Although the series did change significantly as of season 4 (departure of Daniel Baldwin and Ned Beatty & addition of Reed Diamond), season 4 (and 5 ) still has many memorable episodes culminating in the amazing finale where Pembeleton has a stroke. Season 5 also see the addition of Michelle Forbes. Season 4 & 5 were also some of the funniest.<br /><br />Of course starting at Season 6 and the arrival of Jon Seda it became pretty painful...Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08613086789936790358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-74588548093649512622010-02-01T10:20:18.876-05:002010-02-01T10:20:18.876-05:00Wow - has it really been that long? Put me in the ...Wow - has it really been that long? Put me in the minority of people that take Homicide over NYPD Blue (though, BOTH are great and enduring shows) - it certainly wasn't as good in the later seasons but I thought it was just as strong as later seasons of Blue (but that's an argument that can go on forever and even I flip flop on depending on my mood)<br /><br />For those of you wondering whether you should watch it - definitely yes- I watch it whenever it's on - it's not dated at all and having seen the Wire will not at all effect your enjoyment.<br /><br />There are 4 shows in which I saw the premier episodes where I can remember when and where I was when I watched them. This one, Hill Street Blues, Cheers and Lost.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06336003200003462670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-53161375851071419012010-02-01T09:57:39.781-05:002010-02-01T09:57:39.781-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06336003200003462670noreply@blogger.com