Last night marked the end of an era, with the series finale of NYPD Blue, after twelve seasons (making it one of the longest running TV Dramas ever). I liked that it went out not with some climactic episode about retirement (or death) but that it was another "run-of-the-mill" story about crime in the 15th Precinct, just that there's this new guy running the squad now.
It's clear that ABC wants "Blind Justice" to be the successor, putting another "cop drama" in the time-slot, but personally I think that's dumb. First, it looks stupid, but secondly, any crime drama put in the same time slot is going to be compared -- poorly -- to NYPD Blue, and suffer because of it. Even a great drama will have growing pains its first season, so putting something like that "right in the shoes of something great" just isn't a sound strategy.
But I digress... Blue's first season was as shaky as any other show, although not because of the quality of writing, but because of the controversy. It was unclear if ABC was going to stand behind their gritty, mostly-true-to-reality look at police life. Luckily for all of us, they did.
Now I have to find something else to watch on Tuesday nights, which is pretty tough, because it's been a bastion of uselessness the last few seasons....
I missed it. I tried desperately to stay awake but conked out half way through the tribute. I woke up around 2am and had to trudge over to the tv and turn it off because I couldn't find the remote.
Jump on over to FX. "The Shield" is a more-than worthy successor to "Blue."
Conveniently, Tuesdays at 10.
Odd. With Tivo, I never associate any given day of the week with any particular TV show. sure, i recall wehn a lot of them are on. But WestWing is the only thing I even bother to watch the same day. Which reminds me, I should start watching it now. :)
I've got three TiVos and still have days/nets associated with all shows...not that I watch 'em at the regularly scheduled time...
I couldn't disagree more. I saw Blind Justice last night, and it is, without a doubt, the best crime drama ever! First of all, all the other detectives are pathetic in comparison to Detective Jim Dunbar. I mean, he's blind, and he's still the best detective on the force! The show is like a real-life Kung Fu. I can see how some people might not like the show because they felt safely superior in having sight, and that this man shatters their world outlook, and makes them look inferior. Personally, I compare actor Ron Eldard to Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi for breaking down the specially-abled barrier. I am sure that if NYPD Blue laster for 12 seasons, Blind Justice will for at least 13.
-Brian Marx
P.S. How about that partial nudity? That dead chick gave me a woody.
Wow, Brian, that has to be the lamest, least thought out message ever.
Let's start with the assertion "wow, it's a great crime drama, because the average character on the show is portrayed as being completely moronic". To me, this is probably the part where I decided "Brian is a putz", because how can a well-written crime drama portray police detectives as morons? I mean, seriously. They're not morons in real life, so how is this somehow "realistic"?
Second, I don't dislike the show because of some "I can see and you can't" superiority complex, I dislike the show, because it's a patently stupid premise, and even if it *was* a decent premise, it's trying to fill the shoes of a television legend, which simply can't happen.
Third, if you seriously compare *a fucking actor* to *great world leaders* then you need your head examined.
Blind Justice is getting 1/2 a season this spring. I think it'll be lucky to see itself in the 05-06 lineup, and certainly will be gone before Fall'06, probably vanish mid-season 05-06. You read it here first.