Homicide: Life on the Streets—The Unofficial Companion

by David P. Kalat

Intelligent writing, intense characters, a dark sense of humor, innovative editing, and complex Life on the Street has raised the caliber of television police Life on the Street is addictive television. Each week we watch to see who Detective Pembleton will spar with in "the Box," or what conspiracy theories Detective Munch will be espousing as the truth, but more than anything we tune in to see the gritty reality that makes this show the best police drama to ever grace the small screen. There aren't any car chases, rarely any shootouts, and sometimes the cases don't get solved. Instead, these detectives keep their clothes on, have a relentlessly morbid sense of humor, and catch the criminals because they have brains, not necessarily brawn. In other words, they're real. Life on the Street, The Unofficial Companion by David P. Kalat--the first and only full-length guide to this Emmy Award-winning and three-time Peabody Award-winning television series--brilliantly captures the essence of this groundbreaking show.You'll Learn filmmaker Barry Levinson's decision to bring Homicide to television instead of making a film of David Simon's novel A Year on the Killing Streetsthe behind-the-scenes anecdotes about cast regulars, including the onscreen clutches that led to offscreen romancesthe producers' many battles with the network suits over poor placement in the schedule, and the series' repeated trips to the land known as hiatuscast casualties--why they left or were let gothe esteemed cast--including Andre Braugher, Ned Beatty, Daniel Baldwin, and Yaphet Kotto, among others--the characters they've created, and their beyond-Homicide careersseason-by-season critiques of each episodeRevealing, resourceful, and thoughtful, Life on the Street, the Unofficial 0Companion is a must-have for any fan!

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Tv, Crime

353 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 15, 1998

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

1) First there was the non fiction book Homicide : A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon. He was a crime reporter who wangled a year long assignment “embedded” (as they later called it) in Baltimore’s homicide department. This book is a five star true crime classic.



2) Then there was a tv show Homicide: Life on the Street (rather groanworthy subtitle) which lasted from 1993 to 1999 and was constantly brilliant, constantly rated by all critics, and constantly got poor ratings. Some of the stories and characters were from David Simon’s book.


3) Then there was this (“unofficial”) guide which is excellent fan fodder and came out before the final 7th series. Reading it has inspired me to commence a marathon REWATCH which involved a trip to the loft and an exhumation of the DVD BOX SETS I got many years ago and a checking of my dusty unused dvd player and a changing of the remote control batteries. Wow! Retro technology! Yes, it still works. (Random note : all that “DVD Extras” material they used to add I guess is now consigned to landfill since the demise of dvds.)

4) Bizarrely, then there was a graphic novelization of David Simon’s book by Philippe Squarzoni which came out in 2023 – it’s really great.




*

Aside from chronicling and celebrating this pre-Wire wundershow, David Kalat glumly and waspishly recounts the running war between the show’s producers and the network, NBC. Ned Beatty explained why he left the show : “It wasn’t about the money. I loved it in the beginning. Some of it was the best thing I’d ever done. But it got to the point where they wanted to see people get shot and car chases and all that. Which is not what homicide detectives really do.” So yes, the front office was pushing that line (e.g. demanding less ugly men and more sexy women on the show) and yes, the show did sometimes wander into lurid tabloid evil-twin serial killer territory, to their shame, but mostly they didn’t and with a dream cast including Andre Braugher and Melissa Leo they stuck to their grimy uncomfortable truth telling week in and week out.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best. TV. Show. Ever.

[Lo · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was really difficult giving a book about the greatest television (besides Barney Miller) of all time two stars, but there it is.

Hahah, Barney Miller.

I guess I tire of hearing "Gritty" and "realistic" used to describe this series. I suppose those are accurate, but doesn't anyone have a fucking thesaurus???

So using that as a framework means it only goes bad, boring and cliched places.

[Krissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars, rounding up to four.
Earlier this year, my husband and I did a rewatch of Homicide: Life on the Streets. Some of the episodes we'd never seen before. So this book was useful as a recap of each episode, with trivia about each episode.
I do wish, though, that the author would have delayed publishing the book until after the final episode (in the 7th season, plus the TV movie) aired. This book goes about halfway through the sixth season, and then stops. I think this was an unfortunate choice on the author and the publishers' parts.

[Robert Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite all-time TV shows, so that drags the rating up a notch.

Not just an episode guide and synopsis, this gives a pretty good background on the production, actors, and episodes. Downside, it ends mid-season 6. (Not sure if the Kindle edition is at all updated.)

There are some nice details on the behind the scenes struggles to get support and renewals from NBC. Would like to have seen some more details on what went into making each episode. But, since this is an "unofficial" guide, it's not like the author had special access. Seems like most of what he's gleaned is aggregated from other interviews and internet of the day.

As a precursor, in my opinion, to some of the much lauded drama of the subsequent decade, it would be nice to see someone tackle the show comprehensively, with new interviews of cast, creators, TV execs, guest stars. A deeper look at the show and some of its themes, especially in light of recent contentious relationships between Baltimore PD and the public they serve.

Probably not a mainstream market for it, I guess. Would make a interesting subject for an academic, I suppose.

[Orin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very useful book for one who is tearing through the DVDs at a breakneck pace. It's too bad that is cuts off in the middle of season six. It's been very useful to watch the series on one screen and then research the cast on IMDB on the second screen.