NYPD Blue


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

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About

Amid controversy about Steven Bochco's intent to produce network television's first "R-rated" series, NYPD Blue premiered on ABC in September 1993. The innovative police drama survived a serious onslaught of protest to emerge as a popular and critically acclaimed series. Blue (as it was sometimes promoted) deliberately tested the boundaries of broadcast restrictions on partial nudity and adult language. Praise for the show's finely crafted storytelling and engaging style soon overtook initial condemnations of its occasional flashes of skin and salty dialogue. By the end of its first season, NYPD Blue had revived Bochco's reputation as a risk-taking producer of "quality television."

As a gritty, downbeat cop drama filmed against a backdrop of urban decay, the program was seen as a return to form for Bochco, who had co-created the groundbreaking Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law. Attempts to repeat the success of his law and order shows faltered (Bay City Blues, Cop Rock, Civil Wars) until Hill Street writer-producer David Milch teamed with Bochco to revitalize the genre once again. Arguing that the networks had to compete with cable TV for the adult audience, the producers persuaded ABC to approve content previously forbidden. The pilot episode concluded with a dimly-lit lovemaking scene. While mild by motion-picture standards, its partial male and female nudity stirred controversy.

Three months before the debut of such "blue" material, ABC screened the pilot for affiliates and advertisers. Although Bochco agreed to trim fifteen seconds from the sex scene, adverse reactions threatened the show's broadcast run. Conservative watchdog the Rev. Donald Wildmon and his American Family Association (AFA) led a national campaign against NYPD Blue, calling on affiliates not to air the program and on citizens to boycott products advertised during the show. A quarter of ABC's 225 member stations preempted the first episode.

Despite the unprecedented number of defections, Blue scored well in the ratings. Most blackouts had been in small markets (representing only 10-15% of potential viewers); Wildmon's campaign provided extra publicity in larger ones. Furthermore, NYPD Blue maintained its large audience, leading most advertisers and affiliates to cease their opposition. By the end of its first season, ABC's new hit drama survived a second round of attacks from the AFA and won endorsements from Viewers for Quality Television, the People's Choice and Emmy awards, and most reviewers.

After all the hype about sex, violence, and profanity, what viewers and critics discovered was a compelling series that was "adult" in the best rather than worst sense. It was mature and sophisticated, not libertine. Instead of inserting racy language and showy sex for the sake of sensation, this story of career cops featured complicated human characters. Charges of excessive violence also proved unfounded. As a new round of protests against TV violence circulated in 1993, critics tagged this latest bete noire of television as a prime offender. Yet, particularly for a realistic police show, NYPD Blue seldom depicted violent acts. When it did, it tended to dramatize the terrible consequences of such actions. (Eventually, ABC responded to public and congressional pressures by adding an advisory announcement, though it did not mention violence: "This police drama contains adult language and scenes with partial nudity. Viewer discretion is advised.")

Again like Hill Street, NYPD Blue excelled with a potent combination of writing, acting, and directing. The look of the show was both realistic and stylized. New York City location shooting made the show's feel for big-city street life palpable, while the jumpy editing and nervous, hand-held camera movement (already a convention of the genre) heightened the dramatic tension of scenes in the precinct offices, the place where an ensemble of characters' lives intertwined. Unlike the innovative police drama to which it is often compared, Barry Levinson's Homicide, NYPD Blue kept its stylistic flourishes in check, letting actors control scenes. In fact, actors familiar from past Bochco productions, Charles Haid, Eric Laneauville, Dennis Dugan, Jesus S. Trevino, often directed episodes.

But it was another set of alumni from the Bochco stock company who stood out above the ensemble cast. Dennis Franz emerged as the scenery-chewing mainstay of the show, reinventing his seedy, sharp-tongued Norman Buntz character from Hill Street Blues as Detective Andy Sipowicz. The lesser known David Caruso quickly became a star and sex symbol playing Sipowicz's partner, John Kelly, a throwback, red-headed Irish cop. Early in the show's run Caruso received more publicity, largely because he was the first of the male leads to do a nude scene. However he left NYPD Blue at the start of the second season to pursue a movie career. L.A. Law star Jimmy Smits replaced Caruso as Sipowicz's new partner, Bobby Simone. The series' smooth transition into a successful new phase testified to the storytelling skills of Milch, Bochco, and their collaborators.

Individual episodes introduced new cases for the detectives of New York's 15th precinct and blended them with ongoing melodramatic storylines about personal relationships. Entanglements of professional and personal affairs were always imminent as every detective in the precinct became romantically involved with a co-worker (usually during a divorce): Sipowicz with assistant D.A. Sylvia Costas, Kelly with Detective Janice Licalsi, Gregory Medavoy with office secretary Abandando, and detectives Martinez and Lesniak with each other.

Even with so many couples, male characters dominated NYPD Blue. Their tough-guy machismo, however, was always tempered by a caring side. Rather than playing to good cop/bad cop stereotypes, Sipowicz, Kelly, Simone, and their fraternal colleagues exemplified that emerging archetype of nineties television: the sensitive man. Like TV cops of the past they were moral, yet hard enough to crack down on criminals. To this "guy" image the men of NYPD Blue added a dimension of sensitivity. Here were sentient cops. The replacement of the Cagneyesque John Kelly with empathetic widower Simone heightened this aspect. These were working men concerned with emotion. The boys in Blue had feelings and discussed them, with both their professional and romantic partners. Women's roles, even nominally feminist ones, tended only to be supportive of men's and lacked depth.

As with other Bochco productions, NYPD Blue leavened its mixture of police drama and soap opera with comic relief, often interjecting moments of irreverent, even scatological, humor. The show's controversial uses of nudity and language often played at this level. Naked bodies appeared in awkward, comic scenes as well as erotic ones. And writers seemed self-conscious in inventing colorful, funny curse words for Sipowicz to spew at criminals.

Whatever the length of its run, NYPD Blue made history with its breakthrough first season. While not a model for commercial imitation, the series proved that risky, adult material could be successfully integrated into network television programming.

-Daniel G. Streible

CAST

Detective John Kelly (1993-1994)................ David Caruso

Detective Andy Sipowicz ............................Dennis Franz

Lieutenant Arthur Fancy ........................James McDaniel

Laura Hughes Kelly (1993-1994).............Sherry Stringfield

Officer Janice Licalsi (1993-1994).......... Amy Brenneman

Officer/Detective James Martinez ..........Nicholas Turturro

Assistant District Attorney Sylvia Costas (1994-1999).......Sharon Lawrence

Detective Greg Medavoy (1994-2005)................ Gordon Clapp

Donna Abandando (1994-1996)................... Gail O'Grady

Detective Bobby Simone (1994-2004)............... Jimmy Smits

PRODUCERS

Steven Bochco, David Milch

PROGRAMMING HISTORY

ABC

September 1993-August 1994   Tuesday 10:00-11:00

October 1994- Tuesday 10:00-11:00

FURTHER READING

"Alan Brydon Reveals Why His Video is Set to Record Every NYPD Blue Episode." Campaign-London (London), 10 March 1995.

Brodie, John. "ABC Affils Ponder: How Blue is Blue?" Variety (Los Angeles), 21 June 1993.

Coe, Steven. "Wildmon Targets NYPD Blue." Broadcasting & Cable (Washington, D.C.), 28 March 1994.

Cole, Lewis. "NYPD Blue." The Nation (New York), 25 October 1993.

Elliott, Stuart. "Controversy May Sell, But Only a Few Marketers Took a Chance With NYPD Blue." New York Times, 23 September 1993.

Flint, Joe. "NYPD: Clearance Blues." Broadcasting & Cable (Washington, D.C.), 23 August 1993.

Goodman, Walter. "Good Cop, Bad Cop: Which is Real?" New York Times, 23 February 1995.

Jankowski, Gene F. "Something to Lose." Broadcasting & Cable (Washington, D.C.), 13 September 1993.

Jensen, Elizabeth. "Crusade Against ABC's NYPD Blue Goes Local." Wall Street Journal (New York), 6 October 1993.

Leonard, John. NYPD Blue. New York, 13 September 1993.

McConnell, Frank D. "NYPD Blue." Commonweal (New York), 8 October 1993.

Meisler, Andy. "A Writer Moves Beyond the Notion of Demons." New York Times, 26 October 1993.

Miller, Cyndee. "Advertisers in Middle of the Battle Over Blue." Marketing News (Chicago), 9 May 1994.

O'Connor, John J. "NYPD Blue." New York Times, 21 September 1993.

Rapping, Elayne. "Cops, Crime, and TV." The Progressive (Madison, Wisconsin), April 1994.

Rensin, David. "Steven Bochco." TV Guide (Radnor, Pennsylvania) 14-20 August 1993.

Schmuckler, Eric. "Bochco Speaks: The Creator of NYPD BLUE Talks About Why He Made the Show So Racy, and Why He is Unwilling to Make Major Content Changes." MediaWeek (Brewster, New York), 2 August 1993.

Scully, Matthew. "NYPD Blue." National Review (Washington, D.C.), 20 September 1993.

Seibel, Deborah Starr. "Jimmy Smits Hits the Streets Of NYPD Blue." TV Guide (Radnor, Pennsylvania), 12-18 November 1994.

Wolcott, James. "Untrue Grit." The New Yorker (New York), 4 October 1993.

Highlights
Dennis Franz on the character of "Andy Sipowicz" on NYPD Blue
15:58
Steven Bochco on negotiating with ABC's Bob Iger on the boundaries of nudity for NYPD Blue
06:01
David Milch on co-creating NYPD Blue with Steven Bochco
05:11
Lesli Linka Glatter on working with David Caruso and Dennis Franz on NYPD Blue
02:59
Elodie Keene on working with Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits, and producer David Milch on NYPD Blue
03:47
Paris Barclay on directing NYPD Blue
03:39
Who talked about this show

Paris Barclay

View Interview
Paris Barclay on directing NYPD Blue
03:39
Paris Barclay on directing and later producing NYPD Blue
14:51
Paris Barclay on directing NYPD Blue
03:39

Steven Bochco

View Interview
Steven Bochco on negotiating with ABC's Bob Iger on the boundaries of nudity for NYPD Blue
06:01
Steven Bochco on creating, casting and producing NYPD Blue
13:08
Steven Bochco on why he chose to "push the envelope" on NYPD Blue
01:15
Steven Bochco on creating and producing NYPD Blue with David Milch 
06:11
Steven Bochco on dealing with ABC on the boundaries for language and nudity on NYPD Blue
08:02
Steven Bochco on the dialogue of NYPD Blue and working with David Milch
03:13
Steven Bochco on NYPD Blue castmembers Nicholas Turturro and David Caruso
02:10
Steven Bochco on his day-to-day role producing NYPD Blue
02:45
Steven Bochco on negotiating with ABC's Bob Iger on the boundaries of nudity for NYPD Blue
06:01

Peter Boyle

View Interview
Peter Boyle on his role on NYPD Blue
01:32
Peter Boyle on guest-starring on NYPD Blue when David Caruso left the series
01:00

Dennis Franz

View Interview
Dennis Franz on the character of "Andy Sipowicz" on NYPD Blue
15:58
Dennis Franz on bringing authenticity to his role on N.Y.P.D. Blue
00:27
Dennis Franz on working on NYPD Blue
14:12
Dennis Franz on the collaborations and chemistry on NYPD Blue
13:15
Dennis Franz on working on NYPD Blue
21:00
Dennis Franz on the character of "Andy Sipowicz" on NYPD Blue
15:58

Lesli Linka Glatter

View Interview
Lesli Linka Glatter on being hired to direct NYPD Blue, and on the style of the show
03:07
Lesli Linka Glatter on working with Steven Bochco and David Milch on NYPD Blue
01:24
Lesli Linka Glatter on directing nude scenes on NYPD Blue
01:27
Lesli Linka Glatter on working with David Caruso and Dennis Franz on NYPD Blue
02:59
Lesli Linka Glatter on collaborating with Steven Bochco and David Milch on NYPD Blue and Brooklyn South
01:28
Lesli Linka Glatter on working with David Caruso and Dennis Franz on NYPD Blue
02:59

Walon Green

View Interview
Walon Green on going to write for NYPD Blue for Steven Bochco and David Milch as David Caruso was leaving the series
04:53
Walon Green on writing the first NYPD Blue episode with Jimmy Smits as "Bobby Simone," "Simone Says"
04:53
Walon Green on NYPD Blue and ABC Standards & Practices
01:07
Walon Green on NYPD Blue winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama in 1995, and on leaving the show after one year
01:03

Elodie Keene

View Interview
Elodie Keene on directing episodes of NYPD Blue, and on adjusting to the very different style of the show
03:49
Elodie Keene on working with Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits, and producer David Milch on NYPD Blue
03:47
Elodie Keene on Gregory Hoblit and David Milch's respective contributions to NYPD Blue
01:24
Elodie Keene on Bill Clark, a former member of the New York City Police Department and a producer of NYPD Blue
02:51
Elodie Keene on Steven Bochco dealing with network censorship issues surrounding the language and nudity on NYPD Blue
03:00
Elodie Keene on working with Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits, and producer David Milch on NYPD Blue
03:47

David Milch

View Interview
David Milch on co-creating NYPD Blue with Steven Bochco
05:11
David Milch on the look of NYPD Blue
01:26
David Milch on collaborating with Steven Bochco on NYPD Blue and dealing with the network
04:51
David Milch on how NYPD Blue differed from other cop shows
01:10
David Milch on David Caruso as "John Kelly" on NYPD Blue 
04:39
David Milch on his writing process for NYPD Blue
04:21
David Milch on his dialogue, also known as "MilchSpeak" and the language of NYPD Blue
04:36
David Milch on network interference with NYPD Blue
01:20
David Milch on using real-life stories on NYPD Blue
01:01
David Milch on Jimmy Smits joining the cast of NYPD Blue as "Bobby Simone"
00:35
David Milch on the production of NYPD Blue
01:07
David Milch on favorite episodes of NYPD Blue
01:43
David Milch on Jimmy Smits leaving NYPD Blue
00:59
David Milch on exiting NYPD Blue and how he felt about the show after he left
01:45
David Milch on the legacy of NYPD Blue
00:56
David Milch on winning Emmys and other awards for NYPD Blue
03:15
David Milch on co-creating NYPD Blue with Steven Bochco
05:11

Mike Post

View Interview
Mike Post on writing the theme for NYPD Blue
05:56

Lee Rich

View Interview
Lee Rich on shows he likes
00:19

Richard Schiff

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Richard Schiff on getting cast for a guest starring role on NYPD Blue
05:46

David Shore

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David Shore on writing for NYPD Blue
02:05

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