Title: 
Nypd Blue (DVD) Review

Word Count:
572

Summary:
Nominated for 84 Emmys and 13 Golden Globes, including 5 for Best TV Series - Drama in its first five years, NYPD Blue is one of the best prime time dramas in television history. It's also one of the most talked about and controversial as well. Prior to its series premiere in Fall 1993, NYPD Blue found itself embroiled in a nationwide controversy surrounding proper TV programming and calls for government censorship. Its opening tagline "This police drama contains adult langua...


Keywords:
nypd blue dvd review


Article Body:
Nominated for 84 Emmys and 13 Golden Globes, including 5 for Best TV Series - Drama in its first five years, NYPD Blue is one of the best prime time dramas in television history. It's also one of the most talked about and controversial as well. Prior to its series premiere in Fall 1993, NYPD Blue found itself embroiled in a nationwide controversy surrounding proper TV programming and calls for government censorship. Its opening tagline "This police drama contains adult language and scenes with partial nudity. Viewer discretion is advised," caused a quite a stir before the public had even seen the first episode. Family rights groups maligned the ABC network for airing the show, but when NYPD Blue turned out to be a mild show by conventional standards, the massive publicity only served to instantly propel the police drama to the top of the Nielsen ratings, where it lived out 12 successful seasons…

NYPD Blue follows the exploits of a New York City Police Department unit as they deal with the high-stress trials and travails indicative of the world's most demanding police work. During the show's 12 seasons, a number of characters transferred in and out of the department, but Det. Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) was the one constant. The brash, steel-gut demeanor of Sipowicz set the tone for the show, and most episodes revolve around Sipowicz and his various partners (whose mild-mannered temperaments help soften his oftentimes brash methods). Det. John Kelley (David Caruso) was the first of these partners, followed by Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits)… The brainchild of Steven Bochco (former writer for Columbo and creator of such hit series as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and Doogie Howser, M.D.), NYPD Blue raised the bar for prime-time police dramas, and along with contemporary peer Law & Order, the show defined the genre during the decade of the 1990s…

The NYPD Blue DVD features a number of dramatic episodes including the series premiere in which Det. Sipowicz is brought up before Internal Affairs due to harassing conduct toward Alfonse Giardella. Meanwhile, his wife is pushing to finalize their divorce, but Sipowicz gets shot by Giardella in the process. Now, Det. Kelley must apply pressure to the local mafia to help him catch the perpetrator… Other notable episodes from Season 1 include "Oscar, Meyer, Weiner" in which Sipowicz and Kelley investigate the murder of an entire family of wealthy elites as well as a stolen Academy Award, and "Serge the Concierge" in which the two detectives find a dead body in a dumpster and trace it back to a conspiracy hatched by a hotel owner and her concierge employee…

Below is a list of episodes included on the NYPD Blue (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (Pilot) Air Date: 09-21-1993
Episode 2 (4B or Not 4B) Air Date: 09-28-1993
Episode 3 (Brown Appetit) Air Date: 10-05-1993
Episode 4 (True Confessions) Air Date: 10-12-1993
Episode 5 (Emission Accomplished) Air Date: 10-19-1993
Episode 6 (Personal Foul) Air Date: 10-26-1993
Episode 7 (NYPD Lou) Air Date: 11-02-1993
Episode 8 (Tempest in a C-Cup) Air Date: 11-16-1993
Episode 9 (Ice Follies) Air Date: 11-30-1993
Episode 10 (Oscar, Meyer, Weiner) Air Date: 12-07-1993
Episode 11 (From Hare to Eternity) Air Date: 12-14-1993
Episode 12 (Up on the Roof) Air Date: 01-04-1994
Episode 13 (Abandando Abandoned) Air Date: 01-11-1994
Episode 14 (Jumpin' Jack Fleishman) Air Date: 01-18-1994
Episode 15 (Steroid Roy) Air Date: 02-08-1994
Episode 16 (A Sudden Fish) Air Date: 02-15-1994
Episode 17 (Black Men Can Jump) Air Date: 03-01-1994
Episode 18 (Zeppo Marks Brothers) Air Date: 03-22-1994
Episode 19 (Serge the Concierge) Air Date: 03-29-1994
Episode 20 (Good Time Charlie) Air Date: 05-03-1994
Episode 21 (Guns 'N Rosaries) Air Date: 05-10-1994
Episode 22 (Rockin' Robin) Air Date: 05-17-1994