Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410220046
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TOM SHALES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
It's highly doubtful ``NYPD Blue'' will continue to have no butts about it, even though the season premiere lacks them. Dennis Franz, the chunky chubster who plays Det. Andy Sipowicz, reportedly will bop about in the buff on a future episode.
NBC, meanwhile, is bringing back a cop show that some of us feel is better than even the exceptional ``Blue'': ``Homicide: Life on the Street,'' which aired only sporadically last season and returns Friday with the first part of a gripping three-parter about a murderer who preys on Catholic women.
Reader advisory: We are assuming part three is as gripping as parts one and two. NBC supplied only the first two episodes for preview, thus leaving your patient TV critic to twist anxiously in the wind. ``Homicide'' seems to have been tidied up and slicked down since it last appeared, but this is still a heartbreaking, nerve-wracking, spine-tingling example of utterly superior television.
As much of the civilized world knows, actor David Caruso, who plays Det. John Kelly, is leaving ``NYPD Blue'' after only a few episodes this season over a salary dispute. It appears Caruso got disgustingly greedy. A few lines of dialogue on the season premiere sound as if they apply more to Caruso than to the character he plays - like when a sleazy TV reporter offers Kelly $100,000 to tell his story on the air.
When Kelly turns him down, the reporter suggests he should ``start lookin' at new sources of income.''
I, for one, will not miss Caruso. His muttery whispery baritone drives me batty, as does his preeningly pretentious performance. Caruso is due to be replaced by Jimmy Smits, formerly one of the stars of ``L.A. Law.''
Troublingly enough, ``NYPD Blue'' continues to endorse unlawful and unethical behavior by the police. Kelly lies on the witness stand as the tiresome case of girlfriend Det. Janice Licalsi (Amy Brenneman) drags on and on. When a drunk shouts abuse at him in a bar, Kelly not only forces the man out onto the street, but gratuitously punches him in the stomach.
Sipowicz encounters a wife-beater as he leaves the precinct station. ``You're gonna listen to me, or I'm gonna smash your head through that window,'' the detective growls. Then he threatens to kill the man and throw his body in the river. ``NYPD Blue'' is hugely flawed, yet still riveting.
Even so, NBC's ``Homicide,'' from executive producer Barry Levinson, seems to have much more texture and complexity. The season premiere starts with the cops sitting around watching a sex scene on TV; it could be a sequence from ``NYPD Blue.'' Bolander (Ned Beatty) scoffs, ``Is that real? Come on,'' and Munch (Richard Belzer) replies, ``It's television. It's not supposed to be real.''
New to the superb cast is Isabella Hofmann as Lt. Megan Russert, who runs the murder investigation; additional bodies are found in the second episode. Unfortunately, adding Hofmann gives Yaphet Kotto, as Giardello, less to do, and his character appears to have been made more lovable and less tough.
As the cops search for clues and the killer, they also tumble over obstacles in their personal lives. Beth (Mary B. Ward, in a tremendously affecting performance) has thrown her cop-husband Beau (Daniel Baldwin) out of the house, but almost instantly wants him back. Munch, meanwhile, is involved in the purchase of a restaurant with two fellow cops, and things do not go smoothly.
Most explosively, Pembleton (Andre Braugher) clashes with redneck cop Roger Gaffney (Walt MacPherson) in scenes that all but scorch the screen. Braugher is one of the most sensationally intense actors ever to work in a TV series; he never has a weak moment. The season premiere ends with a shocker surprise of a smooch.
``NYPD Blue'' gets all the hype and hoopla, but ``Homicide'' remains the more fascinating piece of work. Viewer advisory: Don't miss it.
Washington Post Writers Group
by CNB