This NBC police show was noted for its gritty depiction of life in the densely populated, less privileged streets of Baltimore, Maryland.
Episodes followed an individual murder case from report to resolution (sometimes), though catching criminals often took a back seat to the relationships among the detectives in the squad room, headed by black Italian Lieutenant Giardello (Yaphet Kotto from the James Bond movie Live and Let Die).
Mostly shot on location in Baltimore, the show had the look of a documentary reporting events as they happened, mainly because it used 16mm handheld film cameras.
Over the show’s seven seasons, a number of actors came and went, and there was a long list of guest stars, including Robin Williams (as a weepy widower), Jerry Stiller (as a struggling bartender with dreams of raspberry beer), Lily Tomlin, and many others who seldom worked on television.
Perhaps the best-known regular cast member was the intense Pembleton, whose questioning of suspects helped Andre Braugher win an Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
Belzer’s quirky Munch character moved to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and other shows after Homicide‘s demise.
In an unusual move, Homicide: Life on the Street aired a two-hour television movie in May 1999, wrapping up the show’s loose ends.
Based on Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon’s book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, the television series was produced by Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana.
Detective Stanley Bolander
Ned Beatty
Detective John Munch
Richard Belzer
Lt. Al Giardello
Yaphet Kotto
Detective Kay Howard
Melissa Lee
Detective Beau Felton
Daniel Baldwin
Detective Frank Pembleton
Andre Braugher
Detective Meldrick Lewis
Clark Johnson
Detective Steve Crosetti
John Polito
