Lifestyle
Groundbreaking police drama 'Homicide: Life on the Street' is finally streaming
The cast of Homicide: Life on the Street, led by Andre Braugher and Kyle Secor.
NBCUniversal
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NBCUniversal
If you were too young to watch NBC’s groundbreaking police drama, Homicide: Life on the Street when it first debuted in 1993, you may wonder why there’s still so much fuss about the show more than three decades later.
That’s because so much of what Homicide presented was stuff you just didn’t see on network television back then: shaky, kinetic camera work; working stiff police detectives cracking jokes at gruesome murder scenes instead of solemnly vowing justice; serialized stories that arced over several episodes; heart-rending killings that never got solved. It was a cop show without gun battles or car chases, with a bracing shot of street-level realism, filmed mostly in Baltimore.
TV fans can step back in time Monday, when NBCUniversal rights a longtime injustice and makes all seven seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street available on its streaming service, Peacock – along with 2000’s Homicide: the Movie. There’s a total 122 episodes, plus the TV movie.
One person glad to see these episodes finally arrive on streaming is Tom Fontana, who served as executive producer and showrunner for Homicide, helping develop its singular storytelling style.
He wasn’t directly involved with bringing the series to Peacock, though Fontana says he and fellow Homicide producers Barry Levinson and Gail Mutrux had been bugging the company to put the show online for years.
“We could never understand why they [didn’t do it sooner],” adds the producer, who created the prison drama Oz, HBO’s first original drama series, and most recently co-created the AMC drama Monsieur Spade. “We kept getting different reasons from different NBC executives.”
In a tweet in June, Homicide producer and writer David Simon – a former Baltimore Sun cops reporter who wrote the book the show was based on, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets – hinted that music rights were central to the delay.
Word is that NBC has managed to finally secure the music rights necessary to sell Homicide: Life On The Streets” to a streaming platform. Andre, Richard, Yaphet, Ned, and so many others who labored on that wonderful show on both sides of the camera will soon regain a full share…
— David Simon (@AoDespair) June 17, 2024
In an emailed statement to NPR, NBCUniversal noted that it took “many years” for NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution and Universal TV to secure the rights and clearances needed and to remaster the series for HD and 4K, noting the HD versions will be available Monday with the 4K version to follow. The show’s crossover episodes with another classic NBC police drama, Law & Order, will not be included on Peacock. But the episodes on streaming will include “most” of the original music.
Resurfacing groundbreaking 1990s TV
Watching Homicide episodes reveals a series seriously ahead of its time, created by Paul Attanasio and focused on recreating Simon’s incisive look at the city’s murder police.
Here, viewers were introduced to The Box, the interrogation room where detectives often solved cases by cajoling confessions from suspects, like canny used car dealers pushing wary customers to sign on the dotted line.
Or The Board, a large, dry-erase display with every detective’s name, followed by the case number and last names of the murder victims in the crimes they were working – solved cases written in black, open cases in red. “You look up there, you know exactly where you stand,” says Yaphet Kotto’s world weary, Italian African American squad leader, Al Giardello. “About how many things in life can you say that?”
The Homicide series was where Simon learned to write TV scripts before creating his own groundbreaking shows for HBO, including The Wire. Fontana recalls, “I remember saying to [Simon], on the first day, ‘You know how in a newspaper article, you have to answer who, what, when, where in the first paragraph? TV writing is the opposite; you put off answering those questions as long as you possibly can.’…I think that was probably the only really good advice I gave him.”
Fontana’s notes to Simon may also explain why the structure of Homicide’s episodes were so unusual for network TV. Characters didn’t directly say what was happening every moment, unlike so many police procedurals back then, which seemed to fear confusing audiences. Fontana says they would stick little “easter egg” style moments in episodes – with little regard for whether the audience understood them or not. In one story, for example, a man accused of racism seems to perceive color differently watching a TV set.
Given that viewers couldn’t watch the episodes on demand, or stop and rewind to catch things they might have missed, it was a bold choice. It also meant Homicide emerged as a series perfect for streaming, made long before streaming platforms actually existed.
The cast of Homicide: Life on the Street.
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NBCUniversal
‘A community of detectives’
The new episodes retain the show’s signature look in screeners provided by Peacock; songs by Miles Davis and the band Bleach seem to appear intact. Still, there is one longtime fan of the show who won’t be watching the new episodes on streaming: Fontana himself.
“I’m told the show holds up really well, but I’m not brave enough to watch it again,” he says. “I think the show feels real because we were talking about a community of detectives. And we didn’t want them all to sound like Dick Tracy or whatever. ”
Everyone from Oscar winner Melissa Leo to legendary indie film director and Baltimore institution John Waters appeared on the show. Robin Williams guested in a landmark episode called “Bop Gun,” playing the husband of a woman killed while they were visiting the city, horrified to overhear detectives joking about her murder with the easy familiarity of those who work close to death. (Williams’ appearance, Simon later wrote on his website, likely saved the show and cemented his TV writing career).
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Vincent D’Onofrio also pops up in an episode Fontana cites as one of his favorites, called “Subway,” playing a man pushed onto a subway platform and pinned between the platform and the train. As the episode progresses, he slowly realizes he will die the moment they move the train car away.
Catching up on the work of departed acting legends
Perhaps best of all, fans can now see a long line of powerful actors who have since died – performers who delivered some of their best work on Homicide – including Kotto, Ned Beatty, Jon Polito, Richard Belzer and Andre Braugher.
Braugher shone as Det. Frank Pembleton, a hotshot known for closing cases by pushing suspects to confess in The Box. “What you will be privileged to witness is not an interrogation, but an act of salesmanship – as silver-tongued and thieving as ever moved used cars, Florida swampland or Bibles,” he tells a rookie observer in Homicide’s first episode. “But what I am selling is a long prison term. To a client who has no genuine use for the product. ”
NBCUniversal says fan reaction over the deaths last year of Belzer and Braugher – beloved actors whose later work included Law & Order: SVU and Brooklyn Nine-Nine – “was just another indicator that we should continue on our path” to bring Homicide to streaming now. Fontana notes it doesn’t hurt that Netflix also recently saw success with episodes of older series such as USA Network’s Suits and Showtime’s Your Honor, hinting that NBC’s Peacock might also benefit from elevating a classic series the company already owns.
But ask him why people are still interested in the show, about 25 years after the series ended, and the notoriously modest Fontana comes up short. “I’ve been trying to figure it out,” he says. “It’s unfortunate that the stories we told are still relevant. But it might engage a younger audience, because they can say, ‘Hey, prejudice, and misogyny and inequality are still part of day to day life.’”
Mara is a single mother of two in Minnesota. She and her family have depended on SNAP benefits to make ends meet.
Caroline Yang for NPR
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Caroline Yang for NPR
Although Mara is unemployed, she is busier than ever.
When she is not taking care of her two children, Mara is at her desk applying for jobs. She is surveying her belongings to see what she can pawn off to buy toiletries. Or she is sifting through bills, calculating which ones can wait and which need to be paid right away.
Soon, Mara, a single mom in Minnesota, may have another task on her busy schedule: figuring out how to afford food for her and her family.
That’s because of new work requirements for people receiving aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP or food stamps.
“It would be so beyond hard” to lose SNAP benefits, Mara said. “Without SNAP, there’s no funds for food.” Mara asked for her last name to be withheld given the stigma tied to receiving government assistance. She is also worried that speaking publicly will affect her chances of getting a job.
Previously, SNAP recipients with children under 18 were exempt from work requirements mandating that recipients work, volunteer or participate in job training at least 80 hours a month. But now, under President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that exemption only applies to those with children under 14 — which is how old Mara’s youngest child turned in December.
“It would be so beyond hard” to lose SNAP benefits, Mara said.
Caroline Yang for NPR
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Caroline Yang for NPR
The Trump administration has argued that the mission of the nation’s largest anti-hunger program has failed.
“SNAP was intended to be temporary help for those who encounter tough times. Now, it’s become so bloated that it is leaving fewer resources for those who truly need help,” the White House said in a statement in June.
But policy experts say the SNAP changes do not fully take into account the unique challenges faced by single parents like Mara or the sluggish job market in many parts of the country. They argue that losing food assistance will only create more barriers for recipients struggling to find work.
The timeline for implementing the new SNAP policy varies based on state and county. In Mara’s home state of Minnesota, recipients who don’t qualify for an exemption or meet work requirements will be at risk of losing assistance as early as April 1. Others may have more months depending on when they next need to certify they are eligible for benefits.
Over 100 job applications
Mara imagined she would have a job by now.
It was August when she was let go from her part-time administrative assistant role due to her workplace restructuring. Since then, Mara estimates that she has applied for over 100 positions. She has also attended job fairs and taken free workshops on resume writing.
She has been working since high school, she said, but “ I’ve never been out of work for more than one month, so it’s very difficult.”
Mara spends time working at the computer at CareerForce, a resource for job seekers in Minnesota, on March 4.
Caroline Yang for NPR
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Caroline Yang for NPR
Although she misses her old job, Mara said it didn’t pay enough to support her and her kids, so she relied on SNAP benefits.
Many recipients are part of the low-wage labor market, where job security is often unpredictable and turnover tends to be high, according to Lauren Bauer, a researcher at the Brookings Institution who has studied SNAP extensively.
“SNAP is supposed to be there to help people smooth that and not let the bottom fall out when they experience job loss,” she said. “And this policy doesn’t account for that at all.”
Mara’s lowest point came in November when the government shutdown led to disruptions in SNAP benefits. Not only was she searching for a new job, but she was constantly figuring out where to get her family’s next meal.
“I might be looking for food stuff during the day when I should have been looking for a job,” she said. “Then, I’m trying to make up that time in the evening after my kids go to bed.”
During the pause, Mara turned to food banks, which revealed other challenges. First, food pantries do not always provide enough for an adult and two growing teenagers, she said. Second, they often lack gluten-free foods, which is essential for her daughter who has celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes digestive problems if gluten is consumed. Gluten-free products tend to be more expensive.
If Mara loses access to SNAP again because of the new work requirements, she fears another stretch of long days spent looking for the right food and enough to feed her family.
“I would be so reliant on looking for food shelves or food banks,” she said. “There would not be time to even live.”
“We’re going to see increases in poverty. We’re going to see increases in food insecurity”
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that roughly 2.4 million people will lose food benefits in a typical month over the next decade as a result of the new SNAP requirements — including 300,000 parents like Mara with children 14 or older.
Gina Plata-Nino, the SNAP director at the nonprofit Food Research & Action Center, says many of the affected recipients will be single mothers who make up a majority of single parent households in the U.S. She added that the changes target a group that often lacks or struggles to afford a support system to help care for their children.
“How can they have a full-time job when they need to pick up their children [for] various activities?” she said. “And they are working — just not enough hours because they need to be there present for their children.”
Mara shops for groceries at a local discount grocery store.
Caroline Yang for NPR
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Caroline Yang for NPR
The new law also imposes work requirements on veterans, homeless people, young adults aging out of foster care, and able-bodied adults without dependents from ages 55 to 64.
It also toughened the criteria for waiving work requirements for recipients in areas with high unemployment. Previously, there were multiple ways to determine a weak labor market and secure a waiver. Now, it only applies to places with an unemployment rate above 10%. (Alaska and Hawaii have a different measure.)
For those who fail to meet the work requirement, SNAP provides assistance for up to three months within a three-year span. But Bauer from the Brookings Institution argues that it is not enough and the impact of SNAP changes will be widespread.
“We’re going to see increases in poverty. We’re going to see increases in food insecurity. We’re going to see increasing strain on the charitable food sector,” she said.
Mara holds her favorite anchor ring, which carries the inscription, “God for me provide thee.”
Caroline Yang for NPR
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Caroline Yang for NPR
As anxiety hangs over her head, Mara tries to put on a brave face for her children. She does not want them to worry, explaining that her recent struggles have reminded her how tough life can get as an adult.
“I remind them it’s not their responsibility and they’re not accountable for me or for what’s happening,” she said. “I say, just know you get to be a kid.”
Dylan Dreyer
Savannah Will Likely Come Back … Just Not Sure When
Published
TMZ.com
Dylan Dreyer is giving a small update on her embattled “Today” co-host, Savannah Guthrie, as the search continues for Savannah’s mom, Nancy — telling TMZ she does believe she’ll likely return to the show at some point.
We caught Dylan leaving NBC Tuesday afternoon, and she said while she thinks Savannah will come back, the timing is totally unclear — adding everyone at the show is simply giving her the space she needs because they care about her so much.
TMZ.com
Dylan also reflected on Savannah’s emotional visit to the “TODAY” studio last Thursday, saying the hug they shared was something they both really needed in that moment.
Catch the full clip — Dylan says the visit was incredibly emotional, adding Savannah clearly wants to get back to some sense of normal life … she just doesn’t quite know how yet.
Still, Savannah managed a few smiles during the brief stop by the studio, doing her best to keep moving forward during an incredibly tough time.
TMZ.com
As we reported, Nancy was taken from her Tucson home in the middle of the night on February 1. She was last seen entering the house just before 10 PM on January 31 after dinner with her daughter Annie and Annie’s husband, Tommaso Cioni.
Kevin Kline plays actor Richard Bean, and Laura Linney is his sister-in-law Kristen, in American Classic.
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David Giesbrecht/MGM+
American Classic is a hidden gem, in more ways than one. It’s hidden because it’s on MGM+, a stand-alone streaming service that, let’s face it, most people don’t have. But MGM+ is available without subscription for a seven-day free trial, on its website or through Prime Video and Roku. And you should find and watch American Classic, because it’s an absolutely charming and wonderful TV jewel.
Charming, in the way it brings small towns and ordinary people to life, as in Northern Exposure. Wonderful, in the way it reflects the joys of local theater productions, as in Slings & Arrows, and the American Playhouse production of Kurt Vonnegut’s Who Am I This Time?
The creators of American Classic are Michael Hoffman and Bob Martin. Martin co-wrote and co-created Slings & Arrows, so that comparison comes easily. And back in the early 1980s, Who Am I This Time? was about people who transformed onstage from ordinary citizens into extraordinary performers. It’s a conceit that works only if you have brilliant actors to bring it to life convincingly. That American Playhouse production had two young actors — Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon — so yes, it worked. And American Classic, with its mix of veteran and young actors, does, too.
American Classic begins with Kevin Kline, as Shakespearean actor Richard Bean, confronting a New York Times drama critic about his negative opening-night review of Richard’s King Lear. The next day, Richard’s agent, played by Tony Shalhoub, calls Richard in to tell him his tantrum was captured by cellphone and went viral, and that he has to lay low for a while.
Richard returns home to the small town of Millersburg, Pa., where his parents ran a local theater. Almost everyone we meet is a treasure. His father, who has bouts of dementia, is played by Len Cariou, who starred on Broadway in Sweeney Todd. Richard’s brother, Jon, is played by Jon Tenney of The Closer, and his wife, Kristen, is played by the great Laura Linney, from Ozark and John Adams.
Things get even more complicated because the old theater is now a dinner theater, filling its schedule with performances by touring regional companies. Its survival is at risk, so Richard decides to save the theater by mounting a new production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, casting the local small-town residents to play … local small-town residents.
Miranda, Richard’s college-bound niece, continues the family theatrical tradition — and Nell Verlaque, the young actress who plays her, has a breakout role here. She’s terrific — funny, touching, totally natural. And when she takes the stage as Emily in Our Town, she’s heart-wrenching. Playwright Wilder is served magnificently here — and so is William Shakespeare, whose works and words Kline tackles in more than one inspirational scene in this series.
I don’t want to reveal too much about the conflicts, and surprises, in American Classic, but please trust me: The more episodes you watch, the better it gets. The characters evolve, and go in unexpected directions and pairings. Kline’s Richard starts out thinking about only himself, but ends up just the opposite. And if, as Shakespeare wrote, the play’s the thing, the thing here is, the plays we see, and the soliloquies we hear, are spellbinding.
And there’s plenty of fun to be had outside the classics in American Classic. The table reads are the most delightful since the ones in Only Murders in the Building. The dinner-table arguments are the most explosive since the ones in The Bear. Some scenes are take-your-breath-away dramatic. Others are infectiously silly, as when Richard works with a cast member forced upon him by the angel of this new Our Town production.
Take the effort to find, and watch, American Classic. It’ll remind you why, when it’s this good, it’s easy to love the theater. And television.
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