Homicide: Life on the Street

Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police drama television series that showed the daily work of officers in a made-up version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit. The show ran for seven seasons and 122 episodes on NBC from January 31, 1993, to May 21, 1999. It was created by Paul Attanasio and was based on the book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon.

The series featured many actors, but Andre Braugher became very famous for playing Detective Frank Pembleton. The show received many awards and was highly praised. It won the TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama in 1996, 1997, and 1998. It also was the first drama to win three Peabody Awards for Drama in 1993, 1995, and 1997. Over the years, it was named one of the best television shows of all time by TV Guide and TIME magazine.

Production

Homicide: Life on the Street was based on the book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon. Simon wrote about his time following a real homicide unit in Baltimore in 1988. He thought real detectives see violence as part of their normal work, not something sad.

Simon sent his book to Barry Levinson, who thought it would make a great TV show. Levinson brought in Paul Attanasio to write it. The show aimed to show police work in a realistic way, without the usual exciting stories. It used handheld cameras and was filmed in real locations in Baltimore.

The show started with low ratings but was kept on because of good reviews and awards. It ran for seven seasons and was popular for its realistic look at police work and its many storylines in each episode.

Characters

Recurring cast members

Homicide had many recurring characters who joined the main cast. Wendy Hughes played Carol Blythe, starting in Season 1. Ami Brabson portrayed Mary Pembleton from Seasons 1 to 6, and Željko Ivanek played Ed Danvers in Seasons 1 to 7. Clayton LeBouef acted as Captain, later Colonel, George Barnfather for all seasons. Ralph Tabakin was Dr. Scheiner for every season. Other recurring actors included Gerald F. Gough, Lee Tergesen, Sean Whitesell, Michael Willis, Sharon Ziman, Judy Thornton, Herb Levinson, Gary D'Addario, Walt MacPherson, Harlee McBride, Rhonda Overby, Kristin Rohde, Laurie Kennedy, Mary B. Ward, Christopher Meloni, Erik Dellums, Mekhi Phifer, Hazelle Goodman, Ellen McElduff, Austin Pendleton, and Jason Stanford.

Notable guest appearances

Many famous actors appeared on the show. Steve Allen, Lewis Black, Wilford Brimley, Steve Burns, Steve Buscemi, Bruce Campbell, Joan Chen, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jeffrey Donovan, Tate Donovan, Charles Durning, Charles S. Dutton, and many more made important guest roles. Robin Williams stood out for his role as a grieving father, and Steve Buscemi played a suspect in one episode.

Some celebrities had fun, short roles. Director John Waters appeared twice, once as a bartender and again as a prisoner. Jay Leno dropped by a bar for a quick drink. Journalist Tim Russert played himself, arguing with his "cousin" on TV. Film director Barry Levinson also acted in an episode.

The Mayor of Baltimore (Kurt Schmoke) and the Governor of Maryland (Parris Glendening) appeared briefly at a memorial for a character who died in duty.

Episodes

Main article: List of Homicide: Life on the Street episodes

This television show had many episodes that told stories about police officers solving crimes. You can find a list of all the episodes if you're interested in learning more.

Plot

Seasons 1 and 2

The first season introduced many detectives who worked in a special police unit in Baltimore. These detectives included Frank Pembleton, Stan Bolander, Kay Howard, Meldrick Lewis, John Munch, Tim Bayliss, Beau Felton, and Steve Crosetti. They were led by Lieutenant Al Giardello.

Season 3

In the third season, some characters changed. Detective Steve Crosetti was no longer part of the show. A new character, Lieutenant Megan Russert, joined the team. This season also showed the last times we saw some detectives, including Felton and Bolander.

Seasons 4 and 5

During the fourth and fifth seasons, more detectives left the team. Two detectives, Felton and Bolander, were given time off from their jobs. One decided to retire, and the other was sadly killed while working secretly. New detectives joined, including Mike Kellerman. Some favorite characters, like Kay Howard, also left the show during these seasons.

Season 6

The sixth season said goodbye to some familiar faces, including Kay Howard, Frank Pembleton, and the medical examiner Julianna Cox. New detectives, Paul Falsone, Laura Ballard, and Stuart Gharty, joined the team.

Season 7

In the final season, Frank Pembleton and medical examiner Julianna Cox were not regular characters anymore. New faces included Detective Rene Sheppard and Giardello's son Mike, who worked with the FBI.

Homicide: The Movie

Main article: Homicide: The Movie

In the year 2000, a TV movie called Homicide: The Movie was made after the series ended. In the movie, Lieutenant Al Giardello was running to be mayor and was hurt during an attack. This brought back all the old and new detectives to solve the problem together.

Crossovers

Homicide: Life on the Street executive producer Tom Fontana and Law & Order creator Dick Wolf became close friends in the 1980s while working as writers in the same building on the series St. Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues.

In the 1990s, they did a small crossover between their shows. Law & Order NYPD Detective Mike Logan (Chris Noth) delivered a fugitive to Homicide: Life on the Street's Detective Frank Pembleton in the episode "Law & Disorder".

This idea was popular, and many more crossovers happened in later years.

Ratings

Awards and nominations

Home media

New Video (through A&E Home Video and NBC Home Entertainment) released all seven seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street on DVD in Region 1 between 2003 and 2005. The television film Homicide: The Movie was released on DVD in Region 1 by Trimark Pictures on May 22, 2001. A&E Home Entertainment also released a complete series set in special packaging on November 14, 2006, and later re-released it in regular packaging on October 20, 2009. FremantleMedia managed the distribution rights for all seven seasons internationally.

On April 5, 2017, Shout! Factory acquired the rights to the series in Region 1 and re-released Homicide: Life on the Street - The Complete Series on DVD on July 4, 2017.

In Australia, Region 4, the DVD releases matched those of Region 2. These were distributed by Roadshow Entertainment. The Complete Series collection was distributed by Shock Entertainment and packaged similarly to the Region 1 releases with Series 1 & 2 and Series 3 through to 7. Via Vision Entertainment obtained the rights and released 'The Complete Series (Special Edition)' boxset in May 2021 in the same format as the Shock releases.

On June 17, 2024, producer David Simon announced on Twitter that NBC had secured music rights, allowing them to sell the show to a streaming service. On July 22, 2024, NBC announced the show and movie would be available on Peacock in 4K, and it officially arrived the following month. As of March 2025, it is also available to stream on both Prime Video, iTunes and Tubi.

Spin-off series

The show led to a spin-off called Homicide: Second Shift. This was shown only online and did not have the main cast from the original show. It followed detectives who worked the second shift, after the main television detectives had finished their day.