Homicide Life on the Street - Seasons 1 & 2

Rating:
Summary: Most underrated crime drama ever...
Review: Fans of NYPD Blue and Law & Order should check out Homicide Life on the Street. Despite the rave critical reviews this series received when on NBC, it had a hard time capturing an audience and the ratings were unimpressive. I have always maintained and still maintain that Homicide was a better series than NYPD Blue or Law & Order. The cast is amazing, the episodes are incredibly well done, and the stories and plot lines are intense and intriguing. Crime drama fans owe it to themselves to check this one out!

Rating:
Summary: i knew it was good, but wow
Review: I'd forgotten just how many of the great episodes took place during the first two seasons. On this DVD you've got "Three Men and Adena," "Gone for Goode," and "Black and Blue," which are to my mind three of the best episodes I've seen. Most series take a season or two to really hit their stride, but "Homicide" was great from the get go. In fact as good as seasons three through five were, I'd have to say that I like the show best in these early episodes. When they started ignoring Ned Beatty to focus on Braugher's character it lost a little something, I liked Pembleton but Bolander was just as interesting to me, and it started to get a little gimmicky by season five or so. My only complaint about the DVDs is that the sound leaves just a little to be desired. Sure, sometimes I think they want it to be hard to hear, but there are other times where I think the sound is just a little murky for no real reason. Despite this little caveat it's still and excellent set.

Rating:
Summary: still the best d**n show on tv
Review: The show is less about solving the murders than about the characters. All interesting, all different. And Baltimore is one of the characters of the show. Fascinating like nothing I've seen before or since

Rating:
Summary: Homicide, Best in the Cop Genre
Review: Homicide is one of the very few cop shows that is character-driven, combined with great storytelling and superb acting all around. Others have mentioned the fine camera work and visuals and I agree that the gritty images lend themselves to this dark drama. The bonus materials are few and I must admit that the commentary on the pilot, "Gone for Good" was not as rewarding as I had hoped. Still, I bought this DVD set for the episodes themselves and I certainly wasn't disappointed. It is nice to watch the original uncut programs and the sound and picture are superior to the reruns I taped from cable. Homicide is not a who-dun-it mystery program. Often, we know who the killer is early in the show. The conflict comes as we watch these hardened Baltimore detectives struggle to obtain evidence, confessions and occasionally deal with the morality and immorality of man's inhumanity to man. Nor is Homicide a cut-and-dried affair where the cops always catch the bad guys in the end. Often, the murderer will escape justice, as best proven by Tim Bayliss's tracking of the murderer of Adena Watson. This is a major plot thread throughout the first season and will reappear as the series goes on. There is no graphic violence on this show, save the occasional sight of blood or glimpse of a dead body. Nor do we find any sex; no bare bottoms or breasts to help hype the ratings. This is probably why many like our anonymous friend from VA Beach don't care for the slow-moving plots and more realistic appearances of the characters on this program. One of the strengths of Homicide is it's ability to deal with racial issues in a realistic manner that isn't too preachy. Tokenism isn't one of this show's failings. There are several strong black characters in the show, but as we come to know and respect them, it is easy for us to look past their race and appreciate their unique characteristics. The true star of the show is Frank Pembleton (Andre Braugher) who rightfully won an Emmy for his performance at the time of his departure after the sixth season. His abilities are best demonstrated when Pembleton forces a confession from a man who is innocent in "Black and Blue." None of these characters are perfect. Some of the detectives are lazy, others are arrogant and others are just burned out. Yet, we can all appreciate them in spite of their weaknesses. The most powerful episode of the series is contained in the first season, "Three Men and Adena," in which Pembleton and Tim Bayliss (Kyle Secor) question a suspect in the murder of an 11-year-old girl. In these first two seasons, we come to know and love characters who won't last through the entire series run, including Steve Crosetti (Jon Polito), Kay Howard (Melissa Leo), Stan Bolander (Ned Beatty) and Beau Felton (Daniel Baldwin.) We also meet other characters who will remain as solid staples of the show including John Munch (Richard Belzer), Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) and Meldrick Lewis (Clark Johnson). With this top-notch cast, combined with authentic police stories and unique visuals, Homicide is truly a groundbreaking series. Any fan that respects the genre should own this DVD set, for it is television at its finest.

Episode List:
*Gone for Good (series pilot/premiere)
*A Ghost of a Chance
*Night of the Dead Living
*Son of a Gun
*A Shot in the Dark
*Three Men and Adena
*A Dog and Pony Show
*And the Rockets Dead Glare
*Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
*See No Evil
*Black and Blue
*A Many Splendored Thing
*Bop Gun (guest star Robin Williams)

Rating:
Summary: SLOW START BUT WORTH HAVING
Review: Having started watching the show in its 3rd season its great to be able to see these early episodes which shed light on the later shows. Homicide is probably one of the best shows ever to run on TV. These early episodes are good, building the characters, setting the stage for latter episodes. Howerver, I do have a few criticisms. First of all some of the episodes are a bit slow to develop and almost drag on. Secondly the color and sound leave a lot to be desired. The color is very dull and the sound muffled at points. As for the extras they are rather thin. However, it is great to have this magnificent series finaly on DVD and to see the terrific characters in there embyonic stage. Definitly worth buying.

Rating:
Summary: The REAL Deal!!!!
Review: Good TV is very hard to come by.When it is available in a season by season format it can be ecceptional.This series exceeded that.The much anticipated DVD package has arrived-it is also very very good.The enigma of Homicide;Life on the Street had been tabbed "the best show no one is watching"lasted seven seasons.Evolving almost every season without any letdown in the power of the series.This is something that just don't happen(you have to admit BJ was no Trapper John).In the set there are no episodes that seem to rise above the other which means they are all good.Personally I am a Pembleton fan(Andre Braugher in the box is as good as it gets),but now have recalled what a favorite Crosetti is(John Polito).Distributed by A&E in a classy forum I very highly recomend this package.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Cop series ever
Review: I hated to see this series cancelled. The incredible acting by a great cast made the whole show believable. This was not a fast paced series that tried to lure you in with lots of car chases and shootouts. Instead it made you think about the crimes and empathize with the Cops daily lives. Good director, sets, and music are certainly present. If you enjoyed series like Hill Street Blues and Law & Order you should find this worth owning. A great price for two seasons on DVD.

Rating:
Summary: new life for homicide
Review: Don't get me wrong, Homicide is a 5 star show, unfortunately this DVD is plagued with poor image quality and some sound glitches. As well it would have been nice to have more commentary from the creators. I like to get more incite into how the show was created and so forth. Besides the image flaws it's nice to have the show finally on DVD. If you do like the show I recommend the set.

Rating:
Summary: Homicide a Religious Experience
Review: If I might add to all the comments concerning the brilliance of the writing, acting and production of this series, Homicide had probably the most authentic portrayal of the role of religion in character's lives of any show on television except for maybe the Simpsons. Not only is there the titanic battle between good and evil in each episode, there are also glimpses throughout the series of the role religion plays in the lives of the main characters (particularly Crosetti, Pembleton and Bayless). It was not namby-pamby sentimentalism, but a way for people to make sense of an ugly, hostile, brutish world. There are those moments where religious fanatics are portrayed as nut cases, but that is part of religion too. For those who say television is a moral wasteland, I say watch this show and see how powerfully, provocatively and honestly religion can be portrayed.

Rating:
Summary: The best police show - ever
Review: Most people easily dismiss the greatness of this show. What initially threw people off is David Simon's approach: everything we've seen in film/tv up to this show has been a lie about how police actually operate.

You see the tension level by looking at "The Board" - too much red (unsolved cases) means the frustration is up on the squad. Black (closed cases) is the color that means success. The homicide division consists of Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) and his detectives that run the gamut of personalities: From the jaded and cynical Det. Munch (Richard Belzer), the older "close-to-retirement" Det. Bolander (Ned Beatty), the aggressive, dedicated and solitary Det. Pembleton (Andre Braugher - the most underrated actor ever) coupled with rookie Det. Bayliss (Kyle Secor) - who never gets over the failure of his first case as a Detective.

There are very few gunfights - the energy is drawn from the drama. You experience "the box" - where Detectives will do what it takes to obtain the confession legally (but not necessarily ethically). This show draws you into the dark side of police work and extremely dark comedy - where in the episode "Bop Gun", Det. Felton (Daniel Baldwin) is overheard by the parent (Robin Williams) of a slain child talking about how much overtime he'll make on this case.

I can't wait until the rest of the episodes are out - including the famed "The Subway" episode, which has been called the finest hour ever on television.