Homicide: Life on the Street was an
American television police procedural series chronicling the work of a fictional
Baltimore Police Department homicide unit. It ran for seven seasons on the
NBC network from 1993 to 1999 and then was followed by a 2000 TV-movie that served as a
de facto series finale. The series was based on
David Simon's nonfiction book
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, and many characters and stories used throughout the show's seven seasons were based on individuals and events depicted in the book (Simon would also use them in his own series for
HBO,
The Wire). Although
Homicide features an ensemble cast,
Andre Braugher (who portrayed
Det. Frank Pembleton) eventually emerged as the series' breakout star.
The bulk of the show's first-run episodes aired on Fridays at 10 PM EST on NBC. The HBO series
The Wire is considered by many to be a spin-off of
Homicide: Life on the Street, as it is set in Baltimore, based on other writings by David Simon, features several of the same actors, and occasionally featured
cameo appearances by
Homicide characters.
Overview
Homicide: Life on the Street was adapted from
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, a non-fiction book by
Baltimore Sun reporter
David Simon, based on his experience following a
Baltimore Police Department homicide unit. Simon, who became a consultant and producer with the series, said he was particularly interested in the demythification of the American detective. Although detectives are typically portrayed as noble characters who care deeply about their victims, Simon believed real detectives regarded violence as a normal aspect of their jobs.
Simon sent the book to film director and Baltimore native
Barry Levinson with the hopes that it would be adapted into a film, but Levinson thought it would be more appropriate material for television because the stories and characters could be developed over a longer period of time. Levinson believed a television adaptation would bring a fresh and original edge to the police drama genre because the book exploded many of the myths of the police drama genre by highlighting that cops did not always get along with each other, and that criminals occasionally got away with their crimes. Levinson believed an adaptation would have a fresh and original edge.
Levinson approached screenwriter
Paul Attanasio with the material, and
Homicide became Attanasio's first foray into television writing. The series title was originally
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, but NBC changed it so that viewers would not believe it was limited to a single year. The show was renamed
Homicide: Life on the Street, in part because they believed the use of the term "life" would be more reaffirming than the term "killing streets".
The opening theme music was composed by Baltimore native, Lynn F. Kowal, a graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
