I’m very excited that “Homicide: Life on the Street” will be released on Peacock on August 19th.
I was obsessed with this show when it first aired, and again after it ended, when it was in syndication. I’m also frustrated by the price of eight seasons of DVDs of the best police procedural ever aired.
Fans of “Homicide: Life on the Street” who don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars have had few options until now, with the deaths of stars like Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer and Andre Braugher , it feels like this drama is already an outdated drama.
Homicide: Street life may be old, but it’s not out of date
This gritty series aired in the pre-smartphone era
“Homicide: Life on the Street” takes place in the late 1990s and is based on a book about a real-life Baltimore homicide detective written by David Simon.
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Whenever I watch videos on YouTube, I get that pre-cell phone feeling.
Detectives sometimes have to find a pay phone to call precincts, which shows how quickly technology has changed over the past 30 years.
If you like Raymond Holt , you’ll be excited about Andre Brower
Brower’s Frank Pembleton makes Homicide special
“Homicide: Life on the Street” airs on Peacock, meaning a generation of viewers who know Andre Brauger as Raymond Holt on “Brooklyn 99” will discover him What an amazing character as Frank Pembleton.
Pembleton may have been Holt’s cousin. He takes life and work very seriously, and endures having to be paired with a rookie cop who’s a little too eager to be his friend.
Pembleton and Bayliss’ partnership is one of the things I’m most looking forward to revisiting. Brower left after Season 6, and Season 7 was less exciting in his absence.
But the best Pembleton story happened in season three, when he suffered a stroke during an intense interrogation.
Rather than succumb to TV drama clichés of miraculous cures, Pembleton struggled for several episodes after a stroke with garbled speech and an inability to function the way he wanted.
The storyline didn’t last long enough—eventually, the writers decided audiences needed action hero Pembleton back—but it showcased some of Brower’s best work and provided a realistic depiction of stroke recovery.
As an added bonus, Homicide: Life on the Street is the first series to feature Detective John Munch, played by Richard Belzer.
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Munch is at his most conspiratorial and unhinged here, but despite the horrific things he sees every day, he never sacrifices his empathy.
If you liked Munch in “Special Victims Unit” or “The Wire,” consider “Homicide: Life on the Street” a prequel. Now that Richard Belzer is dead, the more Munch archives we get, the better.
Murder: Life on the Street coming to Peacock means another seven years for Monk!
Incidentally, for fans of the Dick Wolf show, Chicago PD’s Jon Seda also played a cop on the show in later years Said it was a great discovery.
There are countless wonderful storylines
My favorite is Bayliss’ coming out story
There are many wonderful stories that I remember years later, but the one that had the biggest impact on my youth was Bayliss’s coming out story.
Yes, Tim Bayliss came out as bisexual towards the end of Homicide . Television’s first attempt at a gay kiss came in the late 1990s.
One of the big issues with LGBTQ+ representation on TV so far is that there are too few bisexual men on TV, but The Homicide is an exception that I’m forever grateful for.
Betty Bayliss (Tim Bayliss) feels awkward and different, trying to be someone he’s not before deciding to accept himself, which is priceless as a trans viewer who doesn’t know how to explain who I am.
Bayliss’ series-long storyline about a case he couldn’t solve, the shooting of Luther Mahoney and the cover-up storyline that lasted for several seasons, and the show’s choice of actors who fit their roles rather than just those of supermodels determination…
There are many reasons why I’m excited about Homicide: Life on the Street coming to Peacock.
What about you, TV fanatic? Do you also like Homicide: Life on the Streets? Do you plan to watch it once it launches?
Hit the comments and let us know!
“Homicide: Life on the Streets” will begin streaming on Peacock on August 19, 2024.
