Homicide – Life On The Street (TV Box Three, Season Four)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: B- Episodes: B
That a
show as good as Homicide – Life On The
Street made it to a third season is impressive, especially because it was
on the upswing artistically and managed to do this in the 1990s, when
commercial TV went in its current downward spiral. The show was actually becoming richer, though
the absence of Ned Beatty was unfortunate.
Also at
this point, the show just moves, and does so with such smoothness and
spontaneity that it is even harder than before to stop watching. There is a real pride in what everyone behind
and in front of the camera is doing and wow, does it come through here. They had something to be proud of from
episode one, but with success comes confidence and everyone was able to break
into their positions by now. That is
also what makes a TV series a classic.
With so
many cop shows, including so many bad ones and formula ones, it is hard to be
distinguished, but Homicide – Life On
The Street was about people and not some false sense of warmth and
conformity that most shows ask of their audience in a disturbing blind faith
that goes beyond suspension of disbelief.
Every character is fully developed in a way few shows of any kind manage
and by this third season, the series succeeded more than just about any in
American television. That is why they
are so rewatchable and their arrival on DVD is particularly great.
The full
frame image is still having some of the softness troubles demonstrated by the
previous box sets, but this is still the best of the three for image
quality. The digititis is less severe,
though it foils the presentation somewhat, yet it is still an improvement over
the original broadcast quality as were the previous sets. The camerawork is more enjoyable as a result,
especially as they moved away from the nervous camera cliché just enough. As for the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, it again
plays back decently with Pro Logic type surrounds, but this time, the surrounds
sound more naturalistic. They are still
limited, but the sound overall is just good enough to edge out the previous box
sets.
Extras are
mostly isolated on DVD #6, including a documentary on this fourth season, as
was the case with the previous box sets, song listings on all six DVDs for
those interested, cast and crew biographies pretty much repeating the previous
boxes on DVD #6 as well, and a commentary on The Hat episode by actor Clark Johnson and writer Anya Epstein on
DVD #4; a strong and funny show that guest stars Lily Tomlin. This is on par with the extras from the
previous boxes and all worth the time of the viewer again. And did I mention how good the shows play
without the commercials?
- Nicholas Sheffo
