Rating: 
Summary: Worth The Wait!
Review: Okay, the extras are sparce, but at least they're on DVD, and the shows are in production order, instead of air time order, so new viewers will be be able to see how the story develops and builds to climax the way the creators meant it to be.Buy this disk. You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: This review for Homicide obsessives only...
Review: THE REST OF YOU GO BUY THIS DVD! As a long-time Homicide:LotS fan, I've waited and waited, hoping the show would come out on DVD. Well, here it is, I bought it the day it came out and I'm very, very happy with it. My only disappointment is that A&E video is producing the thing. A&E has done some very annoying things with their television series DVDs. First of all, they tend to be toward the high end price wise. As well, they released The Prisoner in separate two disc sets then, after a year, released the whole series in a box set which came to be about $...cheaper than buying the separates. Tough luck for all of us who started buying the initial releases. So, what have they done with Homicide? Well, this bit will only annoy the most obsessive of us fans but here it is. When season one was originally broadcast, NBC moved episode 3 to the end of the season. The entire ep takes place in the squad room over one, long graveyard shift. "Night of the Dead Living" remains one of the highlight eps for fans but NBC was afraid it was too static for the masses and moved it for fear of losing audience. Unfortunately, moving the episode shattered continuity with two major storylines. To try to help with this discontinuity, NBC added some on-screen text to the opening shot: "One hot night last September". A&E has resequenced this ep into the original lineup- but left the stupid on-screen text. So there it is - I suppose there could be other complaints - why not anamorphic wide-screen? Why not 5.1 audio? But what the heck, Homicide is here, on DVD. Get thee to your DVD player and feast on the first 13 eps of our favorite show!
Rating:
Summary: Homicide is my only religion
Review: This show is so good, I want to put the DVDs in a safe deposit box. The acting is amazing. The casting is amazing. The cinematography is amazing. The plots are amazing. Buy this DVD set!
Rating:
Summary: The Show That Wouldn't Die
Review: While the main reviewer notes that NBC supported the show for 7 years, they would have had a much easier time, and gained a much bigger audience had the show been blessed with a better time slot when it originally aired. Fridays at 10pm was just devastating for a show whose core demographic was young adults. Where did NBC think they would be on Friday nights. Sitting at home watching television? Or out on the town? You be the judge. I got a satellite dish to pick up the east coast feed 3 hours earlier so that I wouldn't have to miss an episode, that's how good it was. It is a testament to the quality of the show that it was able to last as long as it did. There was very little that Homicide didn't provide. The writing was first rate. It was fascinating to see the characters' progress over the years. Even minor characters were well developed. It didn't rely on violence, as many crime shows do, resting instead on the personalities of the investigators and the suspects. I'm glad somebody finally listened and is releasing this remarkable series on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: the best writing on television
Review: If you like to escape into a swirl of fantasy and improbable events, then stay away from this gem. Without a single doubt, the best television show ever. There is not "beatiful" people, or twists and turns that make a soap opera look like childs play. This show is honest, real and dramatic, which is th epoint, isn't it? The cast is the best ensamble cast since Barney Miller or Hill street Blues. The writing makes you want to burst into tears and laughter in the same breath. Andre Braugher is the best of the best in this series and i await every film appearnce he does. He is a fantastic actor who is under used. Please, i beg the powers that be, make the whole series available, including the segments that are intertwined with law and order.
Rating:
Summary: Waited a long time for this
Review: I just received Homicide - Life on the Street, seasons one and two as a birthday gift. What a GREAT GIFT!! I have viewed all 4 DVDs already. I have been waiting for them to offer the show on DVD for many years. I used to watch the re-runs on Court TV until they moved it to 1:00 a.m. I used to write to Court TV asking them to either air the show during a reasonable hour, or to offer DVDs to purchase. Finally, somebody listened. I think that over the years Homicide was truly one of the greatest shows. It was great to see Crosetti again. You can't help but giggle over his obsession with Lincoln; The Adena Watson Case; I could go on and on, but I think all of the shows were great. This set is truly worth every penny. I hope that we will not have to wait too long for the other seasons.
Rating: 
Summary: First class Television, second class DVDs
Review: Homicide, IMHO, is one of the best TV shows ever created. The first two seasons in particular are so special and brilliantly executed, I'd put any of the episodes up against any other hour of TV ever made. Needless to say, I had high hopes for the DVDs. Unfortunately, these DVDs appear to suffer from a serious lack of loving. They feel like they were thrown together without being given the treatment a show of this caliber deserves. The single commentary track on the first episode, while interesting, is very sparse. Levinson and Fontana state that it's been a long time since they had seen the episode and, as a testament to how good the show is, seem to be much more interested in watching the episode than commenting on it. The single interview with Levinson and Fontana really doesn't add anything that wasn't touched on in the commentary. Admittedly, I had high hopes for this DVD collection, and I do feel let down. I'd recomend it to anyone who loved the show as much as I did, but for those with only a mild interest, it doesn't give you much over watching the episodes on TV.
Rating:
Summary: At last!
Review: Had to run out & buy this the day it came out. I used to watch this show every week, and then most nights on Court TV until it moved to 1 am. I've only had time to watch the first disc so far, but the picture and sound were great, the price wasn't too outrageous, and the extras have great promise (my favorite is the song listings). If only subtitles had been included, this set would be perfect. Bring on the third season!
Rating:
Summary: ARRESTING CAST AND PRODUCTION VALUES MAKE FOR THE BEST!
Review: Just the facts, ma'm: "Homicide: Life on the Street" is the best damn cop show in TV history. Period. End of story. The evidence: this must-have DVD collection, containing all the arresting grit and grime and jittery camera work and jarring jump cuts, of the show's first two seasons. Brought to the small screen by Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana and Paul Attanasio, the series boasts one of the a tight, razor-sharp cast --- headed by Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher and Yaphet Kotto --- that helped redefine police dramas ... and then rewrite that definition over and over again. The special tracks are a welcome addition, including in-depth interviews with Levinson and Fontana, cast and crew bios, pilot episode commentary, even the Super Bowl XXVII commercials. Book it! Now.
Rating:
Summary: A modern-day "Playhouse 90."
Review: I give NBC tremendous credit for keeping this show on the air in the first place- even if its air times were sporadic and its fate had to be suspended across every summer before the executives decided to keep it for one more season. It wasn't a typical detective drama- not even close. There were not a lot of car chases or erroneous soap opera plots. The mundane of the precinct office and its eccentric inhabitants were the real stars of the show. The shows were character studies, frequently only focusing on one or two leads per hour- which made for a lot of story telling across the large ensemble cast. Because its setting was in East coast Baltimore and not sunny L.A., I think there was even a bit of grit about the show. Lead characters were not all pretty or thin and had flaws. And though some have criticized the series' excessive use of hand-held camera and jump-cut editing, I think that gave the performances a more spontaneous, breathless appearance. One could imagine this series being shown fifty years ago at the time of "Studio One" or "Playhouse 90" when live TV dramas were the norm- crude in appearance, but sleek in dialogue and high on theatrical dexterity. (Witness episodes featuring Clark Johnson and a suicidal Reed Diamond on a sailboat; or guest Vincent D'Onofrio mono-a-mono with Andre' Braugher while lying crushed under a subway train; or an entire episode dedicated to the graveyard shift in the middle of a hot sticky summer, with no working air conditioners.) This show made stars out of not only Braugher but Richard Belzer, Kyle Secor, Melissa Leo, and Daniel Baldwin, to name a few. I'm glad I witnessed it on network television and will be first in line to grab the DVD.
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