True Blue

by David Milch, Bill Clark

The creator of NYPD Blue teams up with the cop who inspired the series to reveal the real-life stories that form the basis for the popular series and to provide a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a weekly police drama. Reprint.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Writing, Memoir, Tv, Biography

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

Reviews

[Sean Carlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike most behind-the-scenes media tie-ins, this chronicle of the development of the groundbreaking police series NYPD Blue and the personal friendship that formed between its creator, David Milch, and his muse, technical consultant Det. Bill Clark -- hence the double meaning of the book's title -- comes straight from the horse's mouth, offering a candid, often fascinating, sometimes unflattering look into the creative process. I referenced True Blue heavily in my recent essay "Forget It, Jake, It's Tinseltown: A History of Hollywood's Hero Detective."

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written by David Milch, the great television writer, and Detective (and later writer-producer) Bill Clark, the decorated NYPD homicide investigator who supplied the true life stories on which episodes of the landmark series NYPD BLUE were based.

Clark's (italicized) first person accounts tell the true stories of the crimes. Photo inserts depicts some of the criminals and crime scenes. Milch reveals the process of how these true stories were fictionalized for television, shaping the first year of the series. The best way to read the book is with the Season One DVD on hand.

I do believe that decades from now NYPD BLUE will be remembered as perhaps the most important work of dramatized literature from our era, surpassing even THE SOPRANOS and MAD MEN, and Milch will be respected as a great artist much as Shakespeare, Dickens, Zola, Sinclair Lewis, and Saul Bellow are today. Dennis Franz' performance as Detective Andy Sipowicz, a character loosely based on Clark, is already recognized in its own time as one of television's most memorable. Inside the industry, so are the writers.

This little book will become an important source for informing future students about the (often challenging) creative process behind-the-scenes of the show. It is also a fascinating collaboration because the co-authors are so opposite: the former Yale lecturer with a history of substance abuse problems, and the tough Viet Nam vet who both inspired the writer and protected him from himself.

In the November 1989 issue of Harper's, Tom Wolfe rote an essay called STALKING THE BILLION-FOOTED BEAST A literary Manifesto for the New Social Novel. He argued that realism, and a journalistic-like attention to detail could uniquely capture the energy of the great metropolis and provide the "petits faits vrais", the verisimilitude, which are essential for the greatest effects literature can achieve. Any journalist, scholar, or cop will tell you that first-person accounts from reliable witnesses yield the most valuable truth. David Milch understood this when writing the prose and poetry of the series, and Bill Clark provided the telling details which made it all ring true.

Bill Clark continued to assemble his former police colleagues each year and find the most compelling stories for adaptation by an equally impressive team of writers led by co-creator Milch and Steven Bochco. This book tells the story of the year when it all began. Believe me, there's a lot more to it than the year spent negotiating which expletives can be used, and the whys and wherefores of David Caruso being written out at the end of the first season.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, but light, entertaining read about one of my favorite shows.

[RJB · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of two books I have actually returned for a full refund.

[Taylor Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not at all what I expected but overall I found it to be a very interesting read. What I expected: case studies of the real cases they used to create the stories of NYPD Blue. What I got: the making of the first two seasons and selling the show to The network.

At first I was disappointed. Recently I read a book about true stories of Law & Order episodes and really liked reading the cases of the episodes I remembered watching. This book had very little of that actually. However, I enjoyed reading about some of the cases Detective Bill Clark worked on and reading about the challenges of working with Caruso (something I had a little previous knowledge about but didn't know much of the story).

Overall, not a bad read but I wouldn't likely pick it up again.

Also, on a side note. I think it's really stupid to write a book about the making of a series when it's in the second or third season. I found myself wanting to know more about why other actors left the set and how they contributed to the show. This did not affect my rating though. I can't fault the published book for not being written later.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Misleading and horrible. Instead of "True Blue: The Real Stories Behind NYPD Blue" it should be titled "The Making of NYPD Blue with a Few Stories Thrown In". That's what this is.
I don't care who decides how many curse words can go in the show and where. I don't care who and how they decided who gets what role. I wanted REAL STORIES BEHIND NYPD BLUE and that is NOT what I got.
I "read" until about pg. 109 and quit. During those over one hundred pages I read exactly two stories on what a show was based on and each consisted of a few paragraphs at best.
Lastly, the writing is only just better than "sucks". I'd have been pissed to no end had I paid even a quarter for this crap.

[Oraynab Jwayyed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book as I watched NYPD reruns and enjoyed hearing the story behind each show. It's news to me that a Bronx Detective, Bill, helped write the plots to many of the shows, which were based on real cases. Aside from a few tweaks, many of the shows are as they happened, as unfortunate as many of them were. The only setback to the book is that at times it just dragged on and on, especially in the beginning. But, for the most part, I'm glad to have come across the book and it will definitely remain among my collection.

[Dana King]

A dual memoir in some ways, as Milch details the first few seasons of NYPD Blue from his perspective, including bits of Clark’s career and telling how they were spun into episodes. A quick, entertaining, and educational read that shows several sides of Milch’s character. Oh, and David Caruso is apparently a real tool.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by one of the producers of NYPD Blue, along with a former NYC police detective, this book gives a bit of the inside scoop on what went on during the creation of the acclaimed television series. The book ends shortly after the arrival of Jimmy Smits, so readers wanting to know more are left wanting. A quick read, but recommended for fans of the show.

[Chad Harberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since Audience channel started showing reruns of one of my all-time favorite shows -- NYPD Blue -- I decided to finally read this companion book written during the first few seasons. It is excellent. Some of the real cases from the NYPD were used all the way into season 12 of the show.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read. My disappointment, I was looking for more of the stories about NYPD cops. There were some here but much of the book was about the show, the actors & the main writer. Also the book doesn’t cover the whole series but basically the first two seasons.

[Rhonda D. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A look at the events behind the making of the first several season of NYPD Blue. Interesting, but not well written.

[Edie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had some interesting cop tales as well as NYPD Blue gossip, but a disappointment as it got off on strange stories of little value IMHO.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book.

[Michele Tanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you were a fan of the show, this is an interesting read.