Andre Braugher joins Ray Romano pilot
Back in April, Allison reported that Ray Romano was working on a pilot for TNT. Romano is playing the lead, and now Andre Braugher has been added to the cast of Men of a Certain Age. The series, a dramedy along the lines of Sideways, focuses on lives of three middle-aged friends. Braugher will play Owen, a car salesman and family man. Ray Romano and Mike Royce (Everybody Loves Raymond) are writing and producing the show together.
I’ve been an Andre Braugher fan since Homicide: Life on the Street, and I’m excited to see him get a promising role like this. Braugher is more of a dramatic actor, but he’s definitely capable of getting some laughs. No word yet on who’s playing the third friend. The character has been described as an aspiring actor.
Men of a Certain Age was originally created for HBO and found a home at TNT after HBO passed on it. This move might turn out to be a positive thing for the series. TNT has some solid, popular dramas, and Romano’s pilot would fit right in. If the show is less like a sitcom and more like the grown-up comedy I’m expecting, I’ll be sure to give it a chance.
Homicide: Life on the Street - Bop Gun
(S02E04) Originally aired on January 6, 1994
It’s been named one of the top 100 shows of all time by Time. You can’t have a conversation about cop shows without mentioning it. Stacked up against other classics such as Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, the Law & Order franchise, The Shield, and The Wire, it often meets and sometimes exceeds. It’s arguably one of the top three police dramas ever made. And this was the episode where people really started to talk about Homicide: Life on the Street.
You might notice that I listed the episode number as S02E04 and be wondering, “wasn’t it the season two premiere?” Well… yeah it was. But it wasn’t supposed to be. After a critically acclaimed nine episode first season, hopes weren’t very high since ratings wise, the show tanked. Then it won two Emmys. Worth another season? Yeah, probably, but NBC execs were still cautious. Much like Seinfeld’s first season pick-up, Homicide: LotS only got a four episode renewal. It helped that Robin Williams had signed on to guest star in an episode, which ultimately ended up being penned by the source material’s author. Perhaps you’ve heard of him: David Simon. Despite the producers’ intention of the episode serving as the season finale, NBC pushed it to air as the premiere.
This wasn’t uncommon for NBC though. They shuffled around much of the first season and eventually made a ginormous blunder early on in season three when we found out that Jon Polito’s Detective Crosetti had died (via a comment made by another character) before Polito’s final episode aired. All because they switched around the intended episode order. I think they learned their lesson with that one.
Alrighty, back to “Bop Gun.” It’s hands down the best episode of the first two seasons and dictates renewal all by itself. Unlike the previous twelve episodes which drew from the larger, more exciting stories of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, “Bop Gun” was different. Simon focused on his book and instead picked out smaller details. Stuff he never got to elaborate on in the novel. The death of a tourist. The nonchalant attitude seasoned homicide detectives often take with their cases. The thing you have to remember is that all the previous episodes had just been ideas adapted by TV writers. This one was written by a guy who had spent a year of his life hanging out with homicide detectives. By default, it should be better. And it was.
Robin Williams guest starred (in an Emmy nominated role) as Robert Ellison, a husband and father, who took his family on vacation to visit Baltimore. The show also featured a young Jake Gyllenhaal, as Williams’ son Matt. While strolling the streets of Charm City, the family was accosted by three “yos” and Mrs. Ellison was shot and killed for not giving up her jewelry to the thugs. Because of the bad press that a dead tourist creates for the city, the case instantly became a red ball. This was only the second one the series tackled, the first red ball being Bayliss’ Adena Watson case from season one.
From there, we witnessed Ellison as he deteriorated into a man possessed with rage, juxtaposed with Daniel Baldwin’s unsympathetic Det. Felton. Despite the fact that the whole team played a role in cracking the case, the episode featured very little of Worden, Munch, Pembleton, Lewis, Crosetti, Bayliss, and Giardello. The bulk of the case was handled by Felton and his partner, Kay Howard (Melissa Leo). It was interesting though, because it was the first time we really saw partners divided on different sides of a case. Felton just wanted it to go down, regardless of who took the rap. Howard wanted to figure out who actually did it even if it alienated her partner.
You can see how Homicide: LotS inspired Simon to eventually create The Wire. He went on to write and produce numerous episodes of this show, but it started with this one. Little things stood out. The interrogation scene was superbly done, a classic prisoner’s dilemma and a plot device that Simon used countless times in his later creation. For those that were quick enough to catch it, the episode even featured a quick cameo by former Baltimore detective Gary D’Adarrio. He went on to guest star in later seasons of Homicide: LotS as Lt. Jasper and The Wire as Gary DiPasquale. But that’s nothing special. Numerous actors/former cops made the jump from one show to the other, most recently (and unexpectedly) John Munch.
“Bop Gun” started a trend though. From there on out, every episode was good in its own right. You never felt dissatisfied, like you had deprived yourself of a Friday night out on the town by staying in and watching Homicide: LotS. It was good. It still is. Got any other episodes that ranked up there for you? Besides this one, I can really remember my jaw hitting the floor the first time I saw the season five ep “Prison Riot.” Now that was an amazing hour of television.
Robin Williams to guest on SVU
It feels like a sweeps moment — a big name star guesting on a long-running show. But it’s not set for sweeps. It is, however, a special occasion and a reason to do something festive. So, on April 29, Robin Williams will make a guest appearance on Law & Order: SVU in part to celebrate the 200th episode of the intense NBC crime drama.
The Oscar-winning actor (for Good Will Hunting) is no stranger to television, as we all know. Till the day he dies, he’ll be Mork. Na-noo, na-noo. As an alien from the planet Ork, Robin Williams was catapulted from obscure comic actor to overnight sensation thanks to the Garry Marshall sitcom Mork & Mindy. It was the beginning of a stellar career.
But Robin Williams is also no stranger to drama. He studied drama at Julliard under John Houseman and performed Shakespeare as a young actor. On TV, he was also Emmy nominated for a dramatic turn on Homicide: Life on the Street.
For this L&O: SVU, he’ll be play an engineer becomes an agent for radical change, challenging authority, when his peaceful life is turned upside down by tragedy. L&O: SVU executive producer Neal Baer describes Williams’ storyline as “powerful and complex.” Baer collaborated on the script with co-exec producer Amanda Green. “We can’t imagine anyone else doing this role,” said Baer.
John Munch strikes again!
So who saw this past Sunday’s episode of The Wire? If you did, then you probably saw the quick little cameo by Richard Belzer as a bar patron near the end of the episode. After I watched it, one question came to mind: was he playing John Munch? According to this NPR article, he was. However, the basis for the logic was subtle and only a serious TV buff would have picked up on it. Not even I caught it and I’m a huge Wire and Homicide fan.
At one point during his conversation with the bartender (as Clark Johnson’s character Gus Haynes walked by) Munch mentioned that he owned a bar once. Now if you recall, in the later seasons of Homicide, Munch did own a bar. Here’s where it gets interesting though. Do you remember who he owned the bar with? Detective Meldrick Lewis… played by Clark Johnson. Crazy, huh?
Anyway, here’s the real point of this post. With this appearance on The Wire, Belzer has now played Munch on eight different programs. That’s insane! The only other characters to come close to that are Norm and Cliff (George Wendt and John Ratzenberger) from Cheers with seven distinct appearances each. Read on for more…
Where else have you seen John Munch? Here’s the list:
- Homicide: Life on the Street
- The X-Files
- Law & Order
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Law & Order: Trial by Jury
- The Beat
- Arrested Development
- The Wire
I think what surprises me the most is that he’s never guested on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Or for that matter, an episode of The Simpsons. Regardless, it’s still pretty impressive.
UPDATE: Make that ten different series. According to this USA Today post dated 8/5/07, Belzer has played Munch on The Simpsons as well as Sesame Street. Hilarious. [Thanks to Nate for the tip!]