Product Description

Studio: A&e Home Video Release Date: 10/28/2003 Run time: 1000 minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28214 in DVD
• Brand: A&E
• Published on: 2003
• Released on: 2003-10-28
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Running time: 1000 minutes

Amazon.com
If the first two seasons introduced one of the great television crime dramas, Homicide really came into its own during the third. Instead of the mere 13 episodes scattered between 1993 and 1994, NBC ordered up a full 20 for the 1994-1995 season. The entire terrific cast is back, with the exception of Jon Polito, whose absence is explained in the fourth episode ("Crosetti"). There are other changes, like the addition of Megan Russert (Isabella Hofmann) as shift commander. Aside from the fact that the mostly male staff now has a woman to report to (alongside Yaphet Kotto's Lt. Giardello), it turns out that Russert has a "history" with one of the detectives. Homicide always excelled in its exploration of racial and office politics; now sexual politics would become a bigger issue. Religion also comes to the fore as Pembleton (Andre Braugher) is finally forced to confront the loss of his faith while working on a case ("The White Glove Murders") involving several aid workers (episodes 1-3). Meanwhile, his partner, Bayliss (Kyle Secor), is coming to resemble the naive young rookie of the first two seasons less and less by the second... while getting to enjoy a little more romance than the rest of the squad--especially the hapless Meldrick (Clark Johnson). But all is not sturm and drang. Humor still finds a place in each episode and Munch (Richard Belzer) still gets many of the best lines. In the season premiere ("Nearer My God to Thee"), for instance, he tells Bolander (Ned Beatty), "There is no such thing as gratuitous sex. Gratuitous violence, yes... Sex cannot and will not ever be gratuitous." He could be describing Homicide itself, in which nothing is ever gratuitous, especially the sudden loss of human life, which is never--and should never be--treated lightly. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

Homicide, The Best Gets Better
The first two seasons of Homicide were great television. The third season surpassed the first two and cemented this police drama as one of the best ever on network television. Although NBC buried it in the Friday night graveyard and ratings were always low, we were still given superior writing, acting and production quality on a consistent basis. This dvd set contains a season of the same character-driven stories that makes Homicide what it is, but the plotting became a bit more tightly woven as compared to the previous seasons. The show starts out with the addition of LT. Megan Russert (Isabella Hofmann) as a new shift commander who must deal with a series of murders after only a week on the job. The White Glove Murders would be the first of two three-part stories during the season. They would also test Frank Pembleton's faith in God and humanity; a theme that would recur throughout the rest of his time on the series. We're treated to some touching and heartbreaking moments as well in such episodes as "Every Mother's Son," and "All Through the House." Racial tensions flair in, "Colors," as Pembleton and Bayliss clash when Tim's cousin shoots a Turkish exchange student on his front porch. The best example comes when we watch Meldrick Lewis struggle to accept the death of his partner in, "Crosetti." Many fans note the final scene of this episode as their all-time favorite from the series. The other major three-part story involves the shooting of Kay Howard, Beau Felton and Stan Bolander. The chase to track down the shooter is riveting and the final confrontation between Pembleton and a suspect in The Box is classic Homicide at its best. Other story lines running throughout the season include Beau Felton's troubled marriage and the efforts of three of the detectives to buy and open the Waterfront Bar. The original cast remains intact for this season, except for the departure of Jon Polito (Crosetti.) Unfortunately, this would be the last season for Ned Beatty (Bolander) and Daniel Baldwin (Beau Felton) until their reappearance in the Homicide movie.

As is the case with the previous dvd set, the sound is superior to that of the TV reruns and the picture quality is excellent. The commentary on the episode, "The Gas Man," is interesting and the bonus documentary was fun to watch for those of us who are diehard fans. The music lists and visuals of the board are also nice bonuses. One gets the feeling that the people putting this package together did some internet research along the way. Its nice to see that the episodes are placed in the correct story order so that events would flow smoothly. NBC wasn't so considerate when they aired the original series. I was disappointed to find no "play all" feature and unlike the last season, chapter breaks are not available between episodes. I'm also disappointed to find that A&E didn't include the previouslies at the beginning of each episode. Still, this is an excellent package and well worth the price.

Episode List:
*Nearer My God to Thee 1
*Fits Like a Glove 2
*Extreme Unction 3
*Crosetti
*The Last of the Watermen
*A Model Citizen
*Happy to be Here
*All Through the House
*Nothing Personal
*Every Mother's Son
*Cradle to Grave
*Partners
*The City That Bleeds 1
*Dead End 2
*End Game 3 (Guest star Steve Buscemi
*Law and Disorder
*The Old and the Dead
*In Search of Crimes Past
*Colors
*The Gas Man (Guest star Bruno Kirby)

Ho-Ho-Ho Homicide
A full season of "Homicide" must have seemed strange in the fall of 1994. In the previous 18 months, NBC aired just 13 episodes of the show, in what seemed to be 13 different time slots. Oddly enough, even though I lived in Baltimore at the time, I didn't watch a single moment of the series -- I didn't come to it until years later, when nearly half the original cast was gone, and when I had long since forsaken Charm City for the American gothic of Toledo, Ohio.

It's an absolute treasure having this show on DVD now, available at my beck and call. While the Seasons 1/2 box set did not last very long, I worked my way methodically through the 20 episodes of Season 3. What was so important about my senior year of college that I was not watching this show on Friday nights?

The producers put their agenda right on the table in the season premiere. "Homicide" in its earlier episodes established itself as the cop show with no gunfights and no car chases. The character with the most active social life in those years was rotund Stan Bolander (Ned Beatty). The teaser for the Season 3 premiere (which, as was the norm, featured some of the detectives' best bickering and bantering) features Munch (Richard Belzer) ridiculing a TV soap opera. The episode then ends with the revelation that Detective Felton (Daniel Baldwin) has been carrying on a torrid affair with newly-appointed Lieutenant Russert (Isabella Hoffmann).

However, even that change in the show's game plan was not a brain-dead concession to network standards. The opening three-episode arc also features infrequent glimpses of Felton's weird, child-like wife, and pulls the plug on the affair. Center stage in these three episodes is Frank Pembleton (Emmy-winning Andre Braugher) and his crisis of faith after a series of religious-inspired murders.

The cast change for Season 3 featured the unfortunate exit of Jon Polito, whose Detective Crosetti (the Lincoln assassination conspiracy theorist) was a signature character the first two years. However, he's not just pushed aside without explanation. Crosetti's suicide lingers over the squadroom for half the year, with two entire episodes devoted to the aftermath of his death. "Crosetti", the episode where Bolander and Munch fish his body from the Chesapeake, features a tour-de-force performance by Clark Johnson as Detective Lewis, Crosetti's partner, trying to come to grips with the news.

Yaphet Kotto replaces Crosetti as the show's signature character -- someone you wouldn't find anywhere else on television. The African-American police lieutenant who played by the book was already an ancient TV cliche by the time "Homicide" came along. Kotto (and the writers) actually did something with this stereotype. Here we see Kotto not just threatening his detectives (Felton), but laughing at them, too (Bayliss and Munch). He plays politics with his superiors, and loses his cool when he's a victim of skin-tone racism. And, best of all, on one Sunday morning ("Last of the Watermen"), he runs into Munch in a city laundromat. And ignores him.

Other notable episodes:
-"Every Mother's Son", where Pembleton investigates the death of a teen at the hands of another teen. Never a show to settle for typical right-wing cop show sentiment, "Homicide" instead shows how the mothers (accidentally) befriend each other.
-"The City that Bleeds", the start of a three-episode run detailing the shootings of Bolander, Felton and Howard.
-"End Game", or The One with Steve Buscemi. Second only to "Three Men and Adena" (Season 1) for Pembleton's best interrogation in The Box.
-"All Through the House". It's Christmas in Baltimore. Bolander gets overly pious over the squadroom tree, Bayliss tries to hustle Giardello at a game of hearts, and Munch has to babysit with the precocious son of a slain street-corner Santa Claus.
-"A Model Citizen". Everyone gets something to do, from Bayliss's creepy romance with crime-scene artist Emma Zoole, to Munch's efforts at taking an alcohol-awareness class, to Felton receiving more bad news about his marrage. "Homicide" was always noteworthy for its use of alternative and hip-hop music on the soundtrack. This one ends with "Hurt", years before Johnny Cash made it cool again.
-"The Gas Man". The season (and, at the time, nearly the series) finale, focusses entirely on Bruno Kirby as a released convict stalking Pembleton. The DVD also features commentary by writer Henry Bromell and director Barry Levinson. Together with the Season 3 featurette, narrated by Daniel Baldwin, these DVD extras give you all the behind-the-scenes dirt. It's a shame that we only got one commentary track, but it is a good one.

Best Show on TV - Ever
It's so refreshing to be able to watch these shows now after NBC so rudely (and stupidly) took them off the air. Seeing these again, I remember what drew me to the show initially: the poetry. The screenplays after the first two short seasons just get better and better and you realize that you're getting to know these people for all their faults and weaknesses, and loving them for the wonderful things they do and say. Unfortunately I think this is what ultimately led to its demise; most TV watchers don't want to think or listen, and you can't appreciate the show unless you're willing to stop what you're doing and PAY ATTENTION. Although I am a life-long Law & Order fan because you get to see both sides, the police investigations and the trials, I think that Homicide succeeds on a higher level by showing what "truth" is as opposed to "justice". Frank Pembleton's struggle with this juxtaposition really comes alive in season 3 and it colors all the relationships in the squad room, not just his life. And what a shame that no one from the cast is appearing in a mainstream TV vehicle worthy of their talents. If you haven't seen the shows, or haven't seen season 3, get this set. It was definitely the most amazing show ever to be shown on television.