This programme used to be one of Channel 4s premier American imports with a primetime scheduling spot. Now, as it enters its umpteenth series, it languishes in a mid-week post midnight ghetto. On its appearance ten plus years ago it breathed new life into the TV tec genre. It burst onto the scene like a lean mean prizefighter, with its gritty scripts and nausea inducing camerawork, it seemed intent on bludgeoning every opponent in front of it. Now, the programme looks like a paunchy heavyweight, still capable of holding its own in the ring, but more interested in getting to the bell without getting hurt rather than trying to mix it with the opposition.
NYPD Blue is looking distinctly middle aged. The jerky camera work is now restricted to the scene setting establishing shots and Dennis Franzs Sipowicz, once an alcoholic, prostitute shagging, pistol whipping cop has metamorphosised into a mildly grouchy father figure.
When the programme began he was one half of one of the greatest TV tec partnerships. Franz was paired with David Carusos John Kelly, so tightly wound it looked he would explode at any given moment. The tension was palpable: giving the show a sense of unpredictability few other cop shows have been able to match.
Admittedly subsequent shows have pirated the NYPD Blue formula making the original look pass: however there has been an undeniable mellowing in the programme. It all started to go wrong when Sipowicz kicked the bottle sometime around the second or third series: now he didnt have the excuse to do all the things we used to love him for.
<*dv_0*> The departure of Caruso was also a blow from which the show has never really recovered. His replacement, played by Jimmy Smits, was a more conventional, less interesting character. The following series offered diminishing returns culminating in the weakest period in the shows history, where Sipowicz not only found love with an implausibly attractive woman; he reconciled the relationship with his estranged son and started a new family. Cue horrific scenes of Sipowicz reading his son bed time stories. Bleurgh!
<*dv_2*> Just as it looked like NYPD Blue was about to turn into the Cosby Show, someone realised what was going wrong. Contented family man Sipowicz equals boring show. Snarling, resentment fuelled Sipowicz equals good show. Following this revelation Sipowicz was promptly widowed; his son shot dead and his partner died of cancer. Hooray! However, despite giving Sipowicz every opportunity to hit the bottle again, he has born these burdens with stoic resilience. Damn!
But you dont have to look this deep to see where else the rot has set in. Where once glamour was eschewed for grimy sets and interesting looking character actors: the programme now looks like an audition for the Bold and the Beautiful.
<*dv_1*> It is also looking increasingly desperate in trying to regain its old edge. In the new post 9/11 series, Sipowicz has suddenly become a racist; making a few anti-Muslim remarks, and most recently anti-Hispanic. Its as if we are supposed to forget that Sipowiczs, last but one partner, was, er, Hispanic.
The only other original character in the show is Detective Greg Medavoy whose disappearing stutter is almost as remarkable as Gareth Gates. There has been quite a turnover of cops in the programme with more resignations than a Tory government. They are the lucky ones; Sipowicz has buried his last two partners. That Sipowicz calls his current partner `kid is probably less to do with his new paternalistic role in the show than the fact he probably wont be around long enough to make it worth the effort trying to remember his name.
<*dv_3*> Despite these criticisms NYPD Blue remains a hell of a lot better than the majority of cop programmes on TV. Just that now it not only competes against other cop programmes like CSI, Law & Order and The Shield, it has to compete against how it used to be and that is the toughest comparison of all. |
