Pilot

Behind The Blue Wall
With the fact that the show has been on for ten seasons and the proliferation of gritty and realistic programming now on TV (especially on HBO which has no restrictions), one can forget the power and shock of NYPD Blue when it premiered in 1993. David Bochco insisted that ABC allow him to use minor profanities and brief nudity to create a more realistic portrayal of the lives of New York City cops. While several stations balked at the show and refused to carry it, the show was an instant success. What really made the show so interesting was not the language or nudity, but the well written shows and first rate acting. Bochco veteran Dennis Franz plays alcoholic detective Andy Sipowicz, who was only supposed to be in the first episode, whose character is gunned down and nearly dies. Mr. Franz is superb as the volcanic Sipowicz and was rewarded with the first of his four Best Actor Emmys for the season, but the real star of the season is David Caruso. Mr. Caruso is simply magnetic...

Now I understand why David Caruso thought he could be a major star.
I had never seen any of the early NYPD Blues episodes with David Caruso until now. In fact I never wanted to see them because I had never found Caruso to be an attractive or particularly talented actor and wondered why he had the conceit to leave NYPD Blue so early in his career. After watching his charismatic and convincing performance as John Kelly I now understand. This whole first season of this groundbreaking show somehow made me wistful for a time gone by.

Yes. It's that good.
What a joy to be able and revisit this show. I clearly recall the uproar it caused when it premiered, and it's still pretty provocative lo these ten years on.
If you follow the show, Dennis Franz has created one of the greatest characters in the history of television. Sipowicz is one for the ages, and seeing the tortured man in the initial episode, unable to know what we know...he calls his (unbeknownst to him) future wife a "p***y little b***h" within the first minutes of the first episode, for example...it's a bit like going back in time.
Again, looking at that first episode. The cast includes, of course, the outstanding David Caruso (you can't take your eyes off him when he's onscreen...now he's on CSI: Miami), Amy Brennemann (Judging Amy), Sherrie Stringfield (ER), Nicholas Turturro, James McDaniel, Daniel Benzali, even David Schwimmer (Ross from Friends)...is a delight. The video transfer is eye-popping. The crisp yellows of the NY taxis, the cool blues in the station,...

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