Conference ljsrv1::tv_chatter

Kim - Have you tried watching "Homicide" yet?  I think it's quality is as 
good, if not better, than NYPD Blues.  And, your complaint that homicides 
are solved too fast would not apply here.  This show has storyline arches 
that cross over many episodes.  There is a particulary good one at the 
moment involving a schizophrenic (sp?) woman and whether or not one of the 
cops stepped over the boundries in his questioning of her.  

Chris

    I also agree with the criticism that all the plot lines have ended too
    quickly this season.  My hope is that this is because of the transition
    from Caruso to Smits, and the more complex plots that carry over
    several (or at least two!!!) episodes will return shortly.
    
    NAZZ

    I have watched Homicide a couple of times, and I didn't particulary
    like it.  One, I just don't like Richard Belzer. I've never liked him
    in anything I've seen.
    
    Two, I didn't find it particularly well-done, at least the episodes I
    watched.  I do understand that a show can improve over a season or two. 
    I might try to catch it just for that plot thread that Chris
    mentioned....
    
    My complaints, if that's not too strong of a word, of NYPD Blue's
    penchant for these particular plot points, are fairly minor.  The show
    is not perfect, but overall, I like what I see.  Interestingly enough,
    the seminudity does absolutely nothing (in my opinion) to improve the
    show -- I more appreciate the frank language as a "realistic" point. 
    To prove I'm not a prude (and believe me, I'm not), the nudity doesn't
    particularly DETRACT from the show either.  In my opinion, such scenes
    could better be replaced by a few more seconds of actual plot, but this
    is because I've yet to see more than a handful of nude/love scenes that
    actually moved the plot along.
    
    
    kim

    Anyone see the show last night?
    
    Best saying, "Boy, that sure is going to be clean!"
       (Sipowitz's shower scene.)
    
    
    

  That was a funny scene. Here's a question, was that a stand in (shower in
I guess) for the A.D.A. or was that really her?

  Bobby Semone was better this week. I think he'll work out. You can tell that
he's got the same writer as Kelly, they use similar lines.

  George

    I would assume it's her because the actors have, in interviews, often
    stated that they sign a nudity clause (or however the proper phrasing
    is).  Why bother signing if you end up having a double?
    
    Besides, she looked very 'normal' nude as opposed to "body double
    perfect" nude.  
    
    I liked the shower scene.  Seemed very realistic in that awkward,
    'first time you shower with somebody' way.   And yes, that was a
    great line.  :)
    
    Just as a minor spelling nit, it's "Simone", not "Semone".  
    
    Cheers,
    
    kim

Can somebody put in an update for the 2nd half of last nights show?  I 
missed it and have a sneaky suspicion that we may have seen Bobby Ramone's 
(is that the right name for Jimmy Smit's character?) first love scene with 
the female reporter. Gimme all the dirty details! :*) 
I really like this character and the actor who plays him, and in fact have 
hardly missed David Caruso at all.  Also, did they get the Webster killer to 
confess?  Maybe someone could reply behind a form feed in case others 
haven't seen the show yet.

Thanks, mucho appreciated!

Chris

Synopsis for the episode of 1/17/94: (warning, here there be spoilers)



A lot of things came to completion tonight.

Bobby Simone is really upset that he is being frozen out of the Webster case.
He starts to interrogate Webster and appears to be getting somewhere by using
the technique of "Well, I know that you are not Webster, but how do you 
think the real Webster did this, or that, or what was on his mind when he
did this or that...".  The guy was starting to get into it when the detective
from the Webster task force complained bitterly to the superior and got
Simone thrown out of the interrogation.  The detective then tried some standard
interrogation techniques and got absolutely no-where.  Meanwhile Simone went
to the man's apartment (against orders) and found a .22 pistol which matched
the bullets used by Webster.  When he brought it back the superior ordered
the detective to let Simone lead an interrogation session with the detective
in the room.  Simone slowly drew Webster out, and eventually used the fact
of the gun to get a full confession.  While Webster is writing out his
confession Simone goes downstairs to talk to the female reporter who has been
hanging around, and says "You should tell your editor to reserve some space
in the Metro section".  Her eyes light up, she says "Webster?" and Simone says
"Could be...".  They dance around for a few minutes, her asking for details
and Simone responding "Could be..." until she has the whole story as an 
exclusive.  Simone and the detective talk later in the locker room, with him
asking "Will there be room for me on this case?" and Simone saying "There will
be more room for you than you made for me", which is clearly throwing the
detective a few crumbs with Simone taking most of the (deserved) credit.

Sipowicz and Fancy are still working with the snitch to bust the bank robbers.
The snitch is having trouble holding off the fink lieutenant who is demanding
the tape of Fancy agreeing to some slimy deal with the snitch.  But Fancy
insists, and the snitch is cooperating with Fancy and Sipowicz.  Sipowicz
informs the snitch that if anything happens to Fancy, Sipowicz will break
every bone in the snitch's hands and feet.  The snitch reacts appropriately,
swearing loyalty to Fancy.  Meanwhile, the Army turns over the grenade 
launcher to Sipowicz.  They ask him to sign a release form stating that
anything bad that happens with the grenade launcher is not the Army's
responsibility.  They then ask what Sipowicz plans to do with the grenade
launcher.  He replies that he is planning to take it over to the local ACLU
chapter and show them how it works.  The Army guy looks thoughtful, then 
says "Ok, I guess that would be covered under the release form", and lets
them go.  You could see that the idea of doing this appealed to him.  Then
then bring the grenade launcher (with crippled shells so it is basically
harmless) to the guys who want to rent it.  They also have what looked to
me to be a .50 caliber machine gun mounted in the van.  Sipowicz completes
the deal (in typical Sipowicz fashion, being totally obnoxious) and races
back to Fancy reporting on the upgraded armament.  Fancy then organizes the
arrest, adding more people, concussion grenades and a truck loaded with 
sand bags which will drive in front of the machine gun during the arrest.
The arrest goes flawlessly, with the robbers easily taken without a shot
being fired on either side.  The fink lieutenant tries to grab some of the
glory, organizing a press conference to gloat over his arrests.  Fancy
brings him into Fancy's office and plays the really incriminating tape,
and then says "This can either cause you to announce your retirement or it
can be read into evidence at your trial: pick one".  The lieutenant is
clearly unhappy but really has no choice, so during the press conference 
he says what a good job everybody did, and he wants to retire with this
as his last act.  Fancy takes over the press conference and praises
everybody who did the job: Medavoy, Martinez, Sipowicz, etc.

The last scene is Simone lying in his bed watching TV, when the reporter
knocks on his door.  She comes in thrilled with her story about Webster,
she and Simone seduce each other, fade to black.

-- Ken Moreau

    Marshal?  Where has this show gone?

    
    NYPD Blue has not been replaced with Marshall. Marshall was shown last
    night in NYPD Blue's spot to hopefully get a lot of people to watch it
    (this is what I am assuming). Marshall will be starting on Saturday
    at 10pm, it's regular time slot and NYPD Blue will be back on next
    week. FWIW, I liked this new show.
    
    Patty

	good riddance Kelly/Caruso!! this show is soo much better
	without him!

  David Caruso has a movie coming out. I saw the previews, he seems to play
the same type of character but not a cop, more like someone who gets dragged
in to dealing with criminals. The movie appeared to be a modern day shoot'em
up.

  George

    
    	And I believe Helen Hunt is in it too, if I'm thinking of the
    	same movie.
    
    	So I can go see it and drool.
    

    
    
    According to Entertainment Weekly, Caruso misses NYPD Blue and wishes
    he and execs had left it with a revolving door for his character.  Oh,
    well...I think the show is better without him.
    
    

    In TV Guide, there was a similar article in which Caruso talks about
    the whole thing.  I can't say if I think the show is "better" without
    him (actually, I think the show has lost something, although it has
    nothing to do with that particular character being around or not). 
    
    I do have to say I rather like the "temp secretary" guy.  His endurance
    of all the snide comments he's had to bear so far is pretty impressive. 
    Can't remember the character's name, though.
    
    Cheers,
    
    kim

    I was curious also as to how I would like the show without David.  So
    far, I find I still like it just as much as I did with him; if not a 
    little moreso.  
    
    I also agree with previous noters comments that the bad guys should win
    once in a while, or at least for a few continuous weeks.
    
    Bill

    I believe the movie is called "Kiss of Death."

  Who plays the new woman cop that's involved with Bobby Samone?

  She looks familiar, what's she done before?

  George

    She was the star in the movie Flashdance! Don't remember her name.

    Jennifer Beals?
    
    Didn't see the movie but I think I remember the name :-)
    
    Leslie

    
    No that's not Jennifer Beals. The only thing I know of that she's
    done before is she used to be "Jenny" on All My Children.
    
    Patty

    Although it was Jennifer Beals, and not Kim Delaney, who starred in
    Flashdance (just to keep it all straight).

  Ok so it's Kim Delaney on NYPD Blue and the only thing she's done is a day
time soap, right?

  Funny, somehow she looks familiar.

  In fact she looks a bit like that crazy nurse on St Elsewhere that shot
Peter then went to jail. I believe that actress was on Star Trek TNG once.

  George

    Actually, Kim Delaney was also in "Tour of Duty" with Terrence Knox. 
    She was also in a movie based on either a Danielle Steel book or Jackie
    Collins (no, not Lucky Chances, I know that was Nicolette Sheridan).  I
    want to say it was a Danielle Steel book but I forget the name of it.

from last night, Sipowitz, confused at how a man from India spells
his name and the word cat......you had to be there.....

"Bhat, B-h-a-t. Cat, C-h-a-t"

    Andy in the delivery room last week... what a piece of acting!

    
    
    best show on TV

    
    Gonna miss Gail O'Grady
    
    ed

    Not to mention 
    
    
    Figured I'd better FF this - Andy's son!  The kid was doing a great job
    straightening out his life.  It was kinda predictable that Andy would
    fall off the wagon over this.  Hope the writers don't break up his
    marriage as a plot device.
    
    NAZZ

    
    RE: -1
    
    
    >Figured I'd better FF this - Andy's son!  The kid was doing a great job
    >straightening out his life.  It was kinda predictable that Andy would
    >fall off the wagon over this.  Hope the writers don't break up his
    >marriage as a plot device.
    
    They might just be planning this, as the woman who plays his wife is
    leaving to start a new series; a comedy on CBS if memory serves.  
    
    Too bad...I really liked his new relationship with his son...especially
    the previous week when he hugged him after his baby was born, and
    promised that although the new baby might get more attention, he loved
    Andy J just as much...it was really touching.
    
    I too knew as soon as I saw how 'controlled' he was that he'd fall off
    the wagon that night.  I wish his wife had said more to him, or tried
    to get him to stay at home and talk.  She had to know that he would get
    drunk.
    
    It was a really sad episode.
    
    I'm going to miss 'our Ms Abandando' (donna) as well...what a great 
    character she was!!!!
    
    ****

  I heard Gail O'Grady was leaving to start a comedy on Fox but is Andy's
wife leaving as well to start a comedy?

  Great show, very well done but ...

Spoiler stuff


  Although they did it very well I was disappointed that they got rid of Andy
Jr and turned Andy Sr back into a drunk.

  Bad plot turn. I really disliked "Leaving Las Vagas" because I have no desire
to watch a story about a drunk for more than 30 minutes or so. It's the same
thing over and over, drink, abuse, barf, sleep, drink, abuse, barf, sleep, you
can tell that story in 30 minutes tops, anything after that is boring. On the
other hand they could have done a lot with Andy Sr. recovering and helping Andy
Jr becoming a cop.

  George

Re -1 George:
    
    
>  Although they did it very well I was disappointed that they got rid 
> of Andy Jr and turned Andy Sr back into a drunk.

I agree. One reason I like Law and Order is they spend little time on
the personal lives of the cops and lawyers, focussing instead on the 
stories. Though they carry it a bit far I think it's a refreshing change.

I'm sick of the tired ploy of heaping disasters like this onto characters.
You could almost feel the plot mechanic of building the Andy Jr character
up solely for the purpose of bringing Andy Sr down. It happened last year
too when his terrific AA buddy played by Peter Boyle got killed by the 
crazy son. 

It's still a good show but I wish they'd take a page from Law and Order
and spend more time solving interesting cases and less time putting their
characters through the meat grinder for a quick bathos fix. 

> they could have done a lot with Andy Sr. recovering and helping Andy
> Jr becoming a cop.

Agreed. That was a story with some legs.

    Also watch this show faithfully, and consider it one of the best on TV.
    
    I might be mistaken here, but I think this is the first time they
    didn't get the bad guys by the end of the episode.  
    
    Wasn't surprised about Andy falling off the wagon.  However, I have the
    feeling he'll rebound fairly quickly.  Lots of changes to the cast and
    the scripts.
    
    -Bill 

    
    >    best show on TV
    
    You know, it's okay, and I watch it, but I really think that this
    thing survives more on hype and history (the actors and creators
    have all done well in the past) than anything else.
    
    Objectively speaking, it's just not all *that* great.  Homicide
    does much much better with the same genre.  It really needs
    some killer story lines, and I don't mean the running ones 
    used for the main characters.  The stories that finish in
    one show are pretty tame.
    
    - Sean
    

    
    
    	Last nite's BLUE(season finale) was probably one of the best 
    	episodes I've seen. 
    
    	I was happy w/ the outcome of Andy's booze problem. Bobby 
    	is a sniper! The way he just picked off those two that 
    	killed Andy Jr. . So much went on, just a GREAT show last nite!! 
    
        

    
    Please use spoilers when discussing the outcome of the program. I have
    taped the show and not watched it yet.
    
    Patty

    Would someone please put behind spoilers the contents of last nights
    show.  I did not tape it and missed watching it.  I would love a recap
    if anyone has the time to post it...
    
    Thanks,
    
    Donna

    was last night the season finale? sure were a lot of loose ends wrapped
    up.
    
    what a show!
    
    sandy

    The answer to the previous noter was NO. Last night was the last one of
    the season. Looks like Andy is getting back on his feet. Medavoy seems
    to have met a lady friend and Simone and Diane seem to be doing well. 
    Donna is gone and so isn't the gay guy. Rumor has it that Sharon
    Lawrence is leaving next season too. 

    
    I believe that Sharon Lawrence's role will diminish greatly. She has a
    series deal with NBC, but I think it allows her to play her role on
    NYPD Blue.