How NYPD Blue’s emotional storytelling, timeless scenes and, yes, innocence continue to resonate 30 years on.
Aww, dang it, I’m crying again. I always cry. Gets me every time. NYPD Blue, by a mile the best police procedural there’s ever been. Maybe the best TV of any kind there’s ever been.
I found the show again, revived on Disney Plus, and bought a subscription just to see if it stood the test of time after its heyday in the ’90s. Pull the same trick again.
I was fearing the worst. Think what’s happened since – The Wire, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, CSI, Happy Valley, House. High def. 16:9. Netflix. Game of Thrones. Wifi. iPhones. Call of Duty. TikTok. Real life. Everything else, all the time, relentlessly.
Stand the test of time? Yup. And not just for its efficient story-telling licks, the power of the scripts, the characters – that very noughties blend of the bad, the flawed and the magnificent – but the production values too. It looks fresh, 30 years on, all that jittery camera work and fly-on-the-bloodstained-wall styling. The ageing, the hint of snow and video pixels, only adds to the authenticity.
NYPD Blue hoo
So what has got me crying again?
Could be any moment but it’s this tiny moment. Season 4, Episode 20 and the peerless Greg Medavoy, the stumbling, bumbling, stuttering loveable downbeat goof with the allergies and the angsty personal life. Before this episode, the lady he’d courted (he’s definitely a courter rather than a dater) turned out to be a lesbian. That’s Abby.
So he’s rebuffed by Abby, yes, but kindly. By way of weird compensation, he’s invited to provide the means by which the Kathy and Abby can have a baby. Now he’s frightened. What about first night jitters when the ovulation alarm sounds? Him, clutching his plastic bag of dirty mags, seeking out a dark culvert. And he’s just off the back of a case of child rape so he’s riled, confused, angry in his futile, misplaced bee-in-a-bottle way.
But proud also. To be Their Guy.
The call comes. So he sets himself up in the office john to proceed, breaks off to confront a colleague who’s been stealing quarters from his coffee jar – his life a mess too – then he gets going again before racing across town to meet up with Abby and Kathy outside the clinic. He proudly presents the paper bag like it’s Christmas.
“It seems like there’s a pretty good amount of semen in there. I, I thought of a pun on the way over… emission accomplished.”
Gritty angels
He’s prouder of the pun than the specimen.
Abby kisses him on the cheek and says, earnestly: “I pray our baby will be as sweet as you. And gentle. And good. We’re so honoured that you’re his father.”
Dammit, here come the waterworks.
Earlier in the show, a child-rape miscarriage, five Ecuadorians murdered in a nightclub in an apparent robbery gone bad, Simone stepping over his own line to work undercover with the FBI. There’s grim stuff everywhere, met with the moral outrage and anger at the futile stupidity of failed enterprises.
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If you remember NYPD Blue, or read about it, you’ll hear words and phrases like “gritty” and “moral ambiguity” and “challenging” and “character flaws” and “nudity” but what I want to say is: innocence. They’re like children, these fragile detectives, protecting what they have, clinging on.
Or maybe teenagers, all puffed up, thinking they know it all, but who are then struck down repeatedly, by the casual, pointless savagery, and the hopeless miseries of the broken. Not cynical but disappointed. New York lets them down and they never quite recover.
You sob, I sob
In the midst of it all mayhem, I remember the sweetness. The pure innocent sweetness of people who have seen more than most and cannot be reconciled to it as a way of life. They can knock a perp into a confession in the holding pen but are clueless about the myriad chambers of the heart.
When a certain someone dies in the fifth episode of Season Six, I sobbed heart-racking sobs. It was the saddest thing ever. I mean, ever. Not going there again.
But I’ve got some episodes to go before then.
Back to “Emission Accomplished”.
Challenged by Diane Russell about what that bulky rustling thing is in his pocket, Medavoy, with a world of excuses at his fingertips, looks nonplussed then terrified – but saves the day with his quick thinking and swift diversions. “Oh er, that’s a specimen jar. Yeah, they, er, just want to test if I got several infectious diseases.” Nailed it.
Gordon Clapp. That’s who played Greg Medavoy from first to last. He won an Emmy in 1998. Hope he’s doing OK. He’s a minor hero of mine.
NYPD Blue: What you need to know
Facts
- Creation and Development of NYPD Blue:
- Created by Steven Bochco and David Milch.
- Premiered on September 21, 1993, and concluded on March 1, 2005.
- Known for pushing the boundaries of network television with its realistic portrayal of police work, strong language, and mature themes.
- Cast:
- Dennis Franz starred as Detective Andy Sipowicz, a central character throughout the series.
- Other notable cast members included David Caruso (John Kelly), Jimmy Smits (Bobby Simone), Kim Delaney (Diane Russell), and Mark-Paul Gosselaar (John Clark Jr.).
- Controversy:
- The show was controversial for its use of nudity, profanity, and its depiction of violence, which led to debates and pushback from some audiences and conservative groups.
- Despite the initial controversy, it was praised for its bold and realistic approach to storytelling.
Figures
- Seasons and Episodes:
- NYPD Blue ran for 12 seasons.
- A total of 261 episodes were produced.
- Awards and Nominations:
- NYPD Blue won 20 Primetime Emmy Awards out of 84 nominations.
- Dennis Franz won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Andy Sipowicz.
- The show also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama.
- Ratings:
- The series premiere drew 22.1 million viewers.
- The show’s popularity peaked in the mid-1990s, consistently ranking among the top 20 shows in the Nielsen ratings.
- The highest-rated episode was “Lost Israel: Part 2” (Season 5, Episode 8), which drew 23.0 million viewers.
- Production:
- Filmed primarily in Los Angeles, with some scenes shot in New York City to capture the authentic atmosphere of the setting.
- Known for its handheld camera work and tight close-ups, which contributed to its distinctive visual style.
- Legacy:
- Influenced many subsequent police dramas with its realistic and character-driven storytelling.
- The character of Andy Sipowicz, played by Dennis Franz, became iconic, often cited as one of the greatest TV characters of all time.
- Cultural Impact:
- Helped to change the landscape of network television by pushing the envelope in terms of content and style.
- Its success demonstrated that audiences were receptive to more mature and complex storytelling on primetime TV.