Gift NYT article here (hopefully w/o email requirement like WaPo)

Homicide’ Is One of the Best TV Shows Ever. And It Is Finally Streaming (on Peacock)

...The show is set in Baltimore and feels true to time and space in a way network cop shows no longer do. Everything is kind of grimy, yellowing before our eyes from the omnipresent cigarette smoke and general neglect, and you can hear how deflated the cushions on the chairs are at the precinct house...

...The term “cop show” is frequently synonymous with “formulaic,” but “Homicide” is anything but. Some crimes stay with the show for its entire run, others for only an episode, and the depth and detail of all the one-off characters is unflagging, even when the show meanders a bit in later seasons. Andre Braugher’s performance as Frank Pembleton, the brilliant detective wrestling with his faith and purpose, is often the highlight, but all the acting here is top-notch. A symphony requires many instruments...

And of course, the late Richard Belzer

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"I drank WHAT?" (Socrates)

I couldn't wait
I got the DVD set several years ago
My Favorite show ever

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Compact 9mm Just my $0.02

I loved the book and then loved the first couple of seasons before the network decided to make it more or less a clone of "Law and Order." Too bad, they got rid of the good actors and story lines as the years went on.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

First one I got hooked on as a regular viewer. The reason I still watch the old cop shows today. NYPD Blue is the other of the same era, equal acting, writing, directing. Also period correct.

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Heavily armed old man.

It was several years after NYPD Blue went off the air before I started watching network TV shows again.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

As a young man, I worked for Roadway Express out of the Baltimore terminal managing city P&D drivers (early 70's). When I first watched "Homicide" when it was a new show ....Yep ... that's "Bawlmer" all right !

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Y. B. Ord & A. Ree

I especially loved that show, because I grew up in Baltimore and recognized so many of the settings they used.

Andre Braugher, sad to say, is "the late Andre Braugher." I always liked his intensity and precise diction in his roles over the years.
Their lieutenant in the show, Yaphet Kotto is gone as well.

I do believe we're getting old, as these guys were our contemporaries.

Yes, alas. I just remembered that a while ago and hadn't got around to amending my post. And Braugher was only 61.

Right about "getting old", too, darn it!

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"I drank WHAT?" (Socrates)

Great show.

What a great cast of characters, and I mean "characters". They were able to capture the dynamic of the squad room while at the same time being very believable as capable "murder police" detectives. Who can forget the mystery of Adena Watson and the Araber and how it tortured the guys.

Looking forward to seeing it streaming. Since my VCR crapped out I haven't been able to watch episodes on my VHS boxed set!!

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"Stay Frosty"

An amalgamation of excellence.

The episodes were gritty and almost distasteful at times. Once begun, it was almost like being witness to some horrible event like a car spinning out of control on the freeway- you just can't look away till it's over.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

My cousin is a 30+ year ER Doc at a Baltimore hospital. She's seen lots of people with holes in them and has some very interesting stories.

I spent 30 years in the Baltimore City Fire Department, from 1974 to 2004, most of it in West Baltimore. Homicide was a great show, and perfectly captured the situation in Baltimore.

(Footnote: Some folks, upon learning what I did for a living, ask me if I've ever watched "The Wire", which takes place in the part of the city where I worked. I tell them I don't need to watch The Wire...I lived it.)

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Where Law Ends, Tyranny Begins

Was a great series. But even better is "The Wire", also taking place in Baltimore. I put "The Wire" right up there with "Band of Brothers", "The Sopranos" and "Breaking Bad" as the best shows ever made for TV.