Customer Reviews

NYPD Blue

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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 as Sipowicz's partner John Kelly. Whereas Sipowicz is a hot head, Kelly exudes cool and calm. He is passionate about what he does, but his anger boils beneath the surface where Sipowicz's explodes. It is this dynamic between the two that makes the pairing work as one of the best in TV cop show history. Other cast members include Sherry Stringfield as Assistant D.A. Laura Michaels who is also Kelly's ex-wife, Amy Brenneman as Janice Licalsi who is a police desk officer that is tangled up with the mob and carrying on an affair with Kelly, James McDaniel as Lt. Arthur Fancy who heads the department and is black. Sipowicz is also a racist which causes much tension between him and Fancy. Nicholas Turturro is Dt. James Martinez who is a new detective who struggles for acceptance on the job. Future series regulars, Gordon Clapp as Greg Medavoy, Sharon Lawrence as Assistant D.A. Sylvia Costas and Gail O'Grady as receptionist Donna Abandando all appear as recurring characters before all were made full time cast members in the season two. Actors like David Schwimmer, Michael Rappaport, Wendie Malik, Daniel Benzali, John Wesley Shipp and Bradley Whitford have guest roles. Season one of the show almost seems like a separate show all together due to the massive cast changes that occurred after the season. Mr. Caruso believed all the hype about him and made the mistake many actors who achieve success on a TV show, that they can become movie stars. Mr. Caruso left the show after four brief appearances in season two and never achieved the stardom that he seemed slated for. Sherry Stringfield left the show after the season to go to another show that would be even more popular, ER and Amy Brenneman also left the cast. For the one season that he was on the show though, Mr. Caruso created an indelible image and the show would continue on through the rest of the decade as one the most popular and well made shows on television.

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, Caruso's hair...all delivered vividly, with killer sound as well.
Oh yeah...this is great stuff.

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.

Well I received my season one NYPD DVD's this morning, watched 2 episodes already, I'm in TV heaven, it does'nt come any better than this(thats TV of course!).I thought Hill Street was the best but I think Bochco & co surpassed themselves with this, like other reveiwers I think the departure of David Caruso as the King of cool John Kelly was a big blow, (but to be fair Jimmy Smits as Bobby Simone in series 2 was a great replacement)
Dennis Franz is brilliant as Andy Sipowicz, but the shows greatess asset is its humanity, you care about the characters because you know they care, something clearly lacking in many movies and TV shows today, anyway starting to get a bit deep so better say goodbye to our American cousins,keep making great shows!

Now that this series has run to its conclusion, one can look back on it and analyze what we have seen with much more clarity. Does it rank up there with the best police television series of all time? Did it change considerably during the course of its run? Can we honestly say that it will stand the test of time?

There were other police series before and there will be others after...one of the best examples of this would be Hill Street Blues, in which Dennis Franz also had a role, which was ground breaking in its day but doesn't really stand the test of time now.

One could argue with Blue that it stands up more because it was still running original episodes until 2005. That, however, doesn't explain the first season of the series, filmed in 1993-94 and how, even today, it comes across as fresh as it did then.

Funny thing, though, it is the latter episodes that probably won't stand up...when the show became less about grit and the characters and more about the catch em and intimidate them in the interview room...in other words, it became more predictable.Not bad...just predictable.

In season one we're treated to the dark, below the surface leadership of Detective John Kelly, as portrayed by David Caruso. To imagine and think of what direction the show would have taken had Caruso stayed past episode four of season two would be pure conjecture. Here, though, it is apparent that this is his show. Dennis Franz makes a capable second lead, showing us much of what was to come, but it's Caruso's below the surface darkness that resonates in these shows.

The cast would change considerably in season two, but they were letter perfect in season one. I thought Amy Brennerman as Officer Janice Licalsi stood out more than some people gave her credit for. In the first three episodes alone, she goes to bed with Kelly, is told to kill him, kills the people who ordered her to kill Kelly and loses her father, who commits suicide. She would eventually be blackmailed by the mob and arrested for murder.

Franz as Sipowicz shows many of the traits we will become familiar with during the seasons to come, stubborn, racist, angry and sometimes out of control, it's fascinating to observe this character as played by one of the true nice guys on television.

Franz, of course, is the only original cast member to remain for the entire series run, though Gordon Clapp as Detective Medavoy shows up in episode three and throughout the first season...but not as a series regular.

I always found Nicholas Turturro's James Martinez a bit much but he also brought a wide-eyed energy to the show. Martinez is eager to learn from the best which, despite their differences, Kelly and Sipowicz are.

James McDaniel's Lt. Arthur Fancy is the show's other enduring character and it is clear that he and Sipowicz don't care very much for each other (that crack about going out for ribs was typical of their relationship)but recognize that, on some level, they need to work together.

Sherry Stringfield's Laura Hughes Kelly is good as the reason for a lot of John Kelly's problems...it was the job that tore their marriage apart.

We also see the Medavoy-Donna Abandando dance, the downfall of Andy Sipowicz Jr. and the beginnings of Sipowicz's relationship with Sylvia. We also see his ongoing battle with alcoholism and the other demons that possess him.

It's unfortunate that Caruso left after a mere 26 episodes, but he made his mark and later admitted he made a big mistake. He thought he could sign his own ticket for a big screen career after that, but it never materialized. Only when CSI:Miami came along was he able to resurrect his career.

It's disappointing that only this and season two have been released...and there seems to be nothing on the horizon for seasons three onward. But, if this is all to be released on DVD, they have released Blue at it's best, a collection no fan should be without.

I never watched NYPD Blue before, but I have heard so many good things about this show that I finally had to breakdown, buy the DVD box sets (seasons 1 & 2) and watch from the beginning. Wow! I now know what all the hype was about and I can certainly see why this show is still going on and has won so many awards. Great writing, great acting, and this show certainly pushed the boundries as to what can be shown on television. The show handled the unexpeted departure of Caruso very well - replacing his character with Smits. I can't wait until season 3 comes out!

When I heard the first season of NYPD Blue was coming to DVD, I was very excited. Not only is it still the best season in the history of the show, but it may just be the best season of any show on television. NYPD Blue helped revitalize the Drama genre on prime-time television.

It set a new precedence for quality, combining realistic compelling storylines with brilliantly developed characters. David Caruso and Dennis Franz gave absolutely stellar performances throughout the entire season.

Despite the older seasons still being played heavily in syndication, this high-quality commercial-less DVD is a must for fans of the show.

For years my Tuesday nights revolved around this show. Then, sometime around the time they got yet another pair of gorgeous, yet totally colorless, female detectives, and yet another "Loo" and the show became totally a police procedual (I have to think budgetary cuts had to make dispensible anything outside the station house and exteriors filmed on an already established studio backlot), I gave up on it, and switched to the now supremely edgier and better written (and acted and directed) The Shield. That said, there were those years were the cooler talk at my place of work revolved around NYPD Blue, and it was never better than in its first, groundbreaking season. Forget the hype about the nudity and language: what made this show so great was its portrayal of complicated, fallible people--truth be told, men--doing a immensely difficult job. Kelly and Sipowicz were such compelling figures because they were basically decent men in a world where decency didn't necessarily solve the cases they had to deal with. Who could forget Kelly telling then young detective Martinez how far he would violate a suspect's rights to get a confession. It was brilliant drama, as we find ourselves confronting our own ambivilence about civil rights when they come to criminals. And who could forget that moment when a grieving couple whose son has been murdered look at a pigeon on a rooftop and speak of how that's the little boy's spirit come back to them. And Andy Sipowicz--angry, drunken, violent, racist Andy--saying that he could see the light around the pigeon and yes, it had to be the boy come back. Television didn't, and doesn't, get better than this. We all know that NYPD Blue should have ended years before it did (although that would have denied us the opportunity to see a great actor like Dennis Franz at work), but for this first season, and at least two more seasons, there was no better acted, written, directed drama on television. This is a box set worth having.

NYPD Blue was a groundbreaking drama that aired on ABC from 1993 to 2005. The acting was first-rate, especially by David Caruso, Dennis Franz, and Amy Brenneman. David Milch and Steven Bochco created a series that was for adults and, yes, it did include adult language and partial nudity. The characters were three-dimensional and complex, not cardboard, as the last reviewer stated. The ratings (not "rateings") were excellent for the pilot episode, and they continued to stay strong throughout season one. Many intelligent people were fans of this series, and to call anyone who watched the series "stupid" simply shows how limited the previous reviewer's intelligence really is. NYPD Blue was a quality drama series, not junk. Maybe the previous reviewer should review a DVD on how to spell correctly instead of an excellent police drama.

Agree with another reviewer about this being the show's best season. The stories were fantastic, the acting top-notch, and Caruso perfectly embodied the noble Irish NYC cop with an intensity that left the show with a giant emotional hole once he departed.