Homicide: Life On The Street - Season 1 (4 Discs)

This is easily the highest quality television drama to ever be produced from the US or anywhere else for that matter. Forget NYPD Blue, forget CSI, forget The Shield, and dare I say it forget Hill Street Blues. They're all good in their own right but not a scratch on HLOTS.

Filmed on location in Baltimore with no soundstages (the first two seasons used an actual morgue before the actors got too sick being in there) the show had the grittiest edge of any television show using 100% hand-held camera work, not using glamorous supermodels to play the detectives (at least not till the slip in the final season) this show achieved a new level in authenticity. And yet next to this the characters portrayed and the way they act is almost theatrical at times making for a nice contrast. The interrogations in particular are often like watching poetry in motion because along with realism of mumbled lines and characters talking over each other, there is a very clear arena where almost anything… more »

This is easily the highest quality television drama to ever be produced from the US or anywhere else for that matter. Forget NYPD Blue, forget CSI, forget The Shield, and dare I say it forget Hill Street Blues. They're all good in their own right but not a scratch on HLOTS.

Filmed on location in Baltimore with no soundstages (the first two seasons used an actual morgue before the actors got too sick being in there) the show had the grittiest edge of any television show using 100% hand-held camera work, not using glamorous supermodels to play the detectives (at least not till the slip in the final season) this show achieved a new level in authenticity. And yet next to this the characters portrayed and the way they act is almost theatrical at times making for a nice contrast. The interrogations in particular are often like watching poetry in motion because along with realism of mumbled lines and characters talking over each other, there is a very clear arena where almost anything goes "the box" the place where the show really happens, the heart if you will. Some of the most memorable scenes have occurred in the room, and the intensity and intelligence of the dialogue "God is greater that that which we can imagine, we can not imagine God therefore God exists" is the selling point of the show. So rare are car chases and shootouts in this show that when they do occur it is a very intense experience.

The actors are sensational; Richard Belzer, Clark Johnson, Kyle Secor, and Yaphett Kotto are incredible. But the awards for the best have to go to Andre Braugher who managed to portray an entirely different black cop to Clark Johnson's and was entirely mesmerizing for the six seasons he was present each season bringing something new and interesting to the character. And the other unsung great of Homicide, Reed Diamond, who effectively portrayed the slow erosion of Det. Mike Kellerman from nice good guy cop, to a completely dirty cop.

Homicide is intelligent, dark, and humorous in places, often touching, sometimes depressingly human in its display of man's often-casual attitude to murder. More than that it is a character driven show rather than narrative, and these are the more memorable of shows on television, interesting a complex characters like Jon Polito's conspiracy nut, who was secretly suicidal, Crosetti or the workaholic (only woman in the squad) Det. Howard. The characters lie, they cheat, the change their opinions and as in real life it isn't a big deal. An incredible success which was about ten years ahead of it's times.

I got this first season because of the David Simon link, being a big Wire fan I thought this would be interesting as it's set in B'more too.

The first thing that hits you is how much of this show is in the wire, the murder board, the cops tricks to get confessions and about half of the cast but significantly younger, a young valcek was the weirdest but there are so many.

Then you start to notice people from OZ and the sopranos, guest appearances by major stars.

Essentially it is like the wire just focussing on the Homicide unit (stating the obvious I know) but it has the documentary style of the shield, the shaky camera work, the final scene set to a cool piece of music.

As for sons of anarchy there is an episode about halfway through season two which Kurt Sutter must have been watching one day when he decided to write sons.

Once you get over the fact that it looks a bit dated it is genuinely funny and you quickly become invested in the characters. Ok so… more »

I got this first season because of the David Simon link, being a big Wire fan I thought this would be interesting as it's set in B'more too.

The first thing that hits you is how much of this show is in the wire, the murder board, the cops tricks to get confessions and about half of the cast but significantly younger, a young valcek was the weirdest but there are so many.

Then you start to notice people from OZ and the sopranos, guest appearances by major stars.

Essentially it is like the wire just focussing on the Homicide unit (stating the obvious I know) but it has the documentary style of the shield, the shaky camera work, the final scene set to a cool piece of music.

As for sons of anarchy there is an episode about halfway through season two which Kurt Sutter must have been watching one day when he decided to write sons.

Once you get over the fact that it looks a bit dated it is genuinely funny and you quickly become invested in the characters. Ok so it may not be quite as slick as some of the more modern shows but it has it all where it counts, I was not aware of this show when it originally aired but I wish I had been as i can only imagine it was seriously ground breaking in it's style and content which would account for the awards. Definitely worth checking out.