Homicide – Life On The Street (TV Box One, Seasons One & Two)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: B-     Episodes: B

 

 

Barry Levinson began his career as a writer, in particular writing with Mel Brooks, on films like the underrated High Anxiety, but then he co-wrote …and justice for all (1979), which turned out to be a classic with an unforgettable performance by Al Pacino.  It began his path onto a directing career, which has included four autobiographical films, and additional hits like Rain Man, The Natural, Bugsy and even Disclosure.  However, the Baltimore-centered creator took on very serious subject matter (like Sleepers) and brought this aspect of his work to TV.

 

The resulting show, Homicide – Life On The Street, became the most important police drama since Hill Street Blues and is a TV cult classic at least.  Debuting after the 1993 NFL Super Bowl, it had a short first season, then NBC (in one of their few inarguable showings of wisdom) renewed it.  This first DVD boxed set offers the first two seasons on four DVDs, 13 shows in all.  Levinson used his clout to assemble an exceptional cast, including Yaphet Kotto (misspelled on all four slender DVD cases in the slideboard case) as the head of the detective unit, Ned Beatty, John Polito (The Coen Brothers’ Miller’s Crossing), Daniel Baldwin, Richard Belzer, Clark Johnson, Melissa Leo, Kyle Secor, and the actor who put the show over the top: Andre Braugher.  This show did for him what St. Elsewhere did for Denzel Washington, though Braugher has not yet had the commercial success.  Certainly, the talent is there in excess.

 

The series instantly became known for its distinctive camera work, noticeably hand-held, but it was not senseless “nervous” camerawork you would find in a Woody Allen film.  Instead, it was a way for the show to become uniquely involved with the characters on the show.  This lent intimacy to the lives of the detectives, those whom they served, and the exceptional teleplay writing in story, plot, and dialogue made this not-so-simple camerawork worth the effort.  The characters are made to be three-dimensional, something rarely seen to this degree these days on TV of any kind, so once you start watching the series, it is easy to get involved and stay that way.

 

Levinson even directed the pilot, but the show had several fine directors.  This included Martin Campbell, who had much TV experience already, and was soon to depart to helm Goldeneye, the 1995 revival of the James Bond franchise.  Gwyneth Paltrow’s father Bruce Paltrow was also a savvy veteran, having previously shot episodes of St. Elsewhere, so he added dimension to the show.  Stephen Gyllenhaal, who helmed the impressive Robin Williams’ guest shot “Bop Gun” may now be known as the father of two of the best young actors in Hollywood (son Jake and daughter Maggie have some fine work already under their belts, including the incredible Donnie Darko), but he is also a VERY capable filmmaker.  Other directors include Michael Lehmann (Heathers is still a much-admired theatrical film among several he has made), Nick Gomez, Alan Taylor, Peter Markie, Wayne Ewing, Chris Menual, and John McNaughton.

 

The writing heart of the show is Tom Fontana (also a St. Elsewhere alumnus), Levinson’s “partner in crime”, and James Yoshimura.  Though there are other talented writers who also added greatly to the show (Noel Behn, David Mills, Frank Pugliese, Jorge Zamacona, David Simon (who wrote the book the series is based on) and series creator Paul Attanasio), Fontana and Yoshimura laid-out the show in “tele-terms”.  All this talent behind and in front of the camera lands up meshing together in a way we rarely se in any medium, which always makes this show fascinating to watch.

 

The full screen image and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo are above average.  The image looks fair, but not as impressive as was hoped for.  This is still better than watching it on TV, VHS, or Cable, but sometimes only marginally so.  The image has too much digititis pixelization from being over-tampered with in the transfer, causing softness and smearing where there does not need to be any.  The sound is not bad for the age of the show, and in Pro Logic playback has a warmer, more bass-like sound.  Some may find this a bit too muddy and distorted, so the viewer will have to experiment before making a final choice.  Also, the dialogue is a bit too much in the center channel, but there is ambient sound and non-spillover sound in the surrounds when the dialogue plays back.

 

Extras include a Levinson/Fontana commentary on the opening episode, “Gone For Goode”, promos for the show during Super Bowl XXVII, decent cast & crew biographies (all Disc One), Homicide – Life at the Start interview with Levinson and Fontana on Disc Two, a tie-in episode of American Justice called “To Catch a Killer” on Disc Three, and a listing of all the songs used throughout these shows on Disc Four.

 

When the show came out, it did not have strong ratings, and some who watched even found trouble keeping up with it.  Now, a decade after its debut, it is recognized as the groundbreaker that it is.  Homicide – Life On The Street went on for several more seasons, because NBC was smart enough to realize it found a small, literate and affluent audience as had St. Elsewhere, even running a few seasons longer.  As things went on, the show continued to remain interesting, which we’ll look at as future volumes are issued on DVD.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo