It sounds like a redundancy, saying "Homicide" is dead. But it is. And for many of those whose lives it touched, yesterday was a time for mourning -- and reflection.
"I'm speechless. I'm bummed," said Tim Lee, 22, who works in his family's dry cleaning business on Boston Street in Canton and enjoyed chatting with two of the show's writers when they came in with their dry cleaning.
"I grew up in Baltimore and I'm pretty proud of the city. To see something that puts Baltimore on Hollywood's map, and to have that canceled is pretty sad. How many shows can you sit there and go, 'Oh my God, I know that place?' "
"I don't want to talk about it," said a woman answering phones on the "Homicide" set, at Fells Point's old recreation pier. "I'm a little shellshocked. Not that I should be."
True enough. Signs that the end were coming have certainly been out there. NBC, which stuck with the show for seven seasons despite lukewarm ratings, has been treating it like an unwanted stepchild of late, pre-empting it for "Law & Order" reruns, switching episodes at the last minute, not revealing its fate until a few days before the announcement of the network's fall lineup.
"In the end, everything is only about numbers," executive producer Barry Levinson said. "I think we had some very strong supporters in the past, like [former president of NBC Entertainment] Warren Littlefield, who really stood behind the show. We're not a Top-10 show, but we do provide [decent] numbers. But once you pull out a little bit of support for the show, and you don't really want to advertise it with any sort of aggressiveness, that tells you something to begin with."
Still, all the foreshadowing in the world wouldn't have made the reality any easier to take. At least four crew members from the show were walking around the set yesterday, all of them too emotional to talk or even give their names.
Across the street at the Daily Grind, the Fells Point coffee bar cast member Reed Diamond once said made the best cappuccino in Baltimore, co-managers Kelly Rogers and Steve Rowell contemplated life without their most famous customers.
"I'm really sorry to see them go," said Rowell, who appropriately enough was dressed in black. "I made a lot of friends as a result of that show being here."
"That show brought a lot of visitors into this area who normally wouldn't show up here," said Rogers.
Both agreed the cast and crew were a delight to have around, normal people who blended in with the regulars -- even if they did have to deal with the occasional autograph seeker.
"Andre [Braugher] always used to order a double mocha chocolatta ya-ya," said Rowell, admitting he could name the drink, but not spell it. Kyle Secor would order a double soy hot chocolate ("He was into health stuff," Rogers said). Ned Beatty, Rowell recalled with a look of disgust, ingested a steady diet of peanut butter, jelly and mayonnaise sandwiches.
Pat Moran, who started her showbiz career as a crony of John Waters and last year won an Emmy for her work as the show's casting director, was in tears yesterday. Word of NBC's decision, she said, "was like being hit with a punch.
"It was the darling of the critics, but it wasn't stupid enough to be the darling of the masses," she said. "They'll probably put 'America's Stupidest Videos' in its spot."
Added former Circuit Court Judge Elsbeth Bothe, "I think it's a shame because it does have a sophistication and attraction. I loved watching Baltimore, all the identifiable places, the street names, the characters. These were real people in the detective department."
Although it didn't always paint Baltimore in the best light -- it was, after all, about people being killed -- "Homicide" and Charm City were the best of friends.
"All the people associated with the show have been wonderful to Baltimore," said Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, who appeared on "Homicide" a few times himself. "They have encouraged students in our schools interested in dramatic arts. They have made themselves available for community events and they produced a show of outstanding quality. I'm really sorry the show wasn't renewed."
"It's a real blow when you lose a show of this magnitude, with the economic impact it's had in the community and the impact that the cast and crew have had," said Michael B. Styer, director of the Maryland Office of Film. "The bright side is they've been so successful in terms of production that Baltimore and Maryland have to be considered seriously for doing productions. Not every area of the country can support the complete shooting of a series. We've got the crew base. Ninety percent of the people who work on the show come from Maryland."
Richard C. "Mike" Lewin, Maryland's secretary of business and economic development, agreed. "This was one of the best returns on investment we've had in the department of business and economic development. We spent less than $1 million in the Maryland film office and got more than $75 million back in economic development."
No part of Baltimore will feel the loss of the show more than Fells Point. Most of "Homicide" was filmed there, and workers and residents had come to enjoy having a little East Coast version of Hollywood in their midst.
While some residents will no doubt rejoice that parking spaces should become less scarce -- bumper stickers proclaiming "Homicide: Life Without Parking" could often be found throughout the community -- many lamented the show's demise.
"It's a big disappointment and it's a blow to Fells Point," said Dan Schiavone, artistic director of the Fells Point Creative Alliance. They've been very good friends and dear supporters. We're going to miss them. For us, it was like having another group of artists in the neighborhood. It brought national attention to the area."
City homicide detectives are known for being tight-lipped, and they maintained their stoic silence, even while lamenting the demise of the show that put them in the national spotlight.
"They are all very sad to see 'Homicide' going off the air," said Dara Munoz, a member of the department's legal team, who was visiting the homicide unit yesterday. "They say it was as realistic as a TV show could be. Unfortunately, homicides still persist in the city."
Robert W. Weinhold Jr., the Police Department's chief spokesman, said the show "has always been a topic of discussion wherever our officers traveled throughout the country. I'm not so sure a TV program can truly reflect the hard work and commitment detectives have on both a professional and personal level, but the show made an honest effort to do that."
Added Captain Gary D'Addario, who went from being a character in David Simon's book to technical adviser and occasional actor on the show, "I really thought the network might give it a different time slot, which I firmly believe would have improved the ratings. But it was great while it lasted. It was one of the highlights of my life."
For David Burman, who was out walking his dog yesterday afternoon, losing "Homicide" means losing the best business partner he ever had. Just two months ago, Burman bought the Waterfront, the Fells Point bar that doubles on the show as the watering hole owned by detectives Munch (Richard Belzer) and Lewis (Clark Johnson).
"It's a big loss for the community as a whole, not just me," he said as Penny pulled her owner toward the playground "Homicide" helped build just off Thames Street. "People from all over the world would walk into the bar and talk about how this was the bar from 'Homicide.' "
Echoing the thoughts of many Baltimoreans, he added of the show's cast and crew, "They were just people, as far as I was concerned. I'm going to miss them."
Staff writers Marego Athans, Peter Hermann, Michael Ollove and M. Dion Thompson contributed to this story.
Characters we loved
What a great cast of characters: conspiracy theorists, the chronically depressed and the always angry. And those were the good guys, the cop stars of "Homicide: Life On the Street" for seven seasons.
The key players:
ANDRE BRAUGHER
Character: Det. Frank Pembleton
Characterization: Ruthless interrogator, intimidating presence, God's avenging angel. Seasons: 1-6
Left squad when: Probe of the Luther Mahoney murder case revealed the killer was one of his fellow cops, a revelation that convinced him to quit the department.
YAPHET KOTTO
Character: Lt. Al Giar-dello
Characterization: Fearless leader, morally righteous but wise in the ways of power.
Seasons: 1-7
RICHARD BELZER
Character: Det. John Munch
Characterization: Cynical, wiseacre conspiracy theorist. But what a way he had with the women.
Seasons: 1-7
CLARK JOHNSON
Character: Det. Meldrick Lewis
Characterization: A breakthrough character as one of the first black men on TV allowed to be just an average guy.
Seasons: 1-7
MELISSA LEO
Character: Sgt. Kay Howard
Characterization: Tough cookie. NBC executives wondered why she had to "dress like a man and wear her hair that way."
Seasons: 1-5
Left squad when: She was rotated to another detail.
KYLE SECOR
Character: Det. Tim Bayliss
Characterization: Conflicted cop, tried to jibe his Buddhist-inspired beliefs with his job. Oh, yeah, and then there was the matter of his bisexuality. But the boy did look good in leather.
Seasons: 1-7
They made 'Homicide' drop-dead great
The rest of the squad:
DANIEL BALDWIN
Character:
Det. Beau Felton
Characterization:
Tough guy with a troubled marriage and a thing for his female supervisor.
Seasons: 3
Left the squad:
When he and Det. Bolander were suspended for reportedly running nude through a hotel lobby during a police convention. (A season later, was killed off-camera.)
NED BEATTY
Character:
Det. Stanley Bolander
Characterization:
"The Big Man," tough but lovable, existential in loneliness after divorce.
Seasons: 1-3
Left the squad:
When he made the big run with Felton and retired.
REED DIAMOND
Character:
Det. Mike Kellerman
Characterization:
Flawed cop who struggles (often unsuccessfully) to do the right thing. Working-class chip on his shoulder. Left the squad: When revealed as the killer of drug czar Luther Mahoney, offered the option of either leaving the force quietly or facing trial; chose the former.
GIANCARLO ESPOSITO
Character:
FBI agent Mike Giardello
Characterization:
Prodigal son of Lt. Al Giardello
Season: 7
MICHELLE FORBES
Character:
Chief Medical Examiner Julianna Cox
Seasons: 5-6
Departed the show:
Fired for refusing to lie on an autopsy report that could prove costly to her superiors; last seen literally driving off into the sunset in her Mustang. Drank a lot and loved Kellerman foolishly.
PETER GERETY
Character:
Det. Stuart Gharty
Characterization:
Veteran cop struggling with age and jaded outlook.
Seasons: 5-7
ISABELLA HOFMANN
Character:
Lt. Megan Russert
Characterization:
The modern woman trying to make captain and be a single mother (and have an affair with Felton). Winds up promoted and then demoted after crashing into glass ceiling.
Seasons: 2-5
Left the squad:
To run off to Parisian romance, but returned temporarily to help find WENDY HUGHES
Character:
Medical Examiner Dr. Carol Blythe
Characterization:
Love interest for Bolander
Season:1
Left the squad:
Mysteriously. A character who just disappeared without reference or explanation.
TONI LEWIS
Character:
Det. Terri Stivers
Characterization:
Competent, concerned professional who had to earn every sliver of respect she got after joining the squad.
Seasons: 5-7
MICHAEL MICHELE
Character:
Det. Rene Sheppard
Characterization:
Former Miss Anne Arundel County, struggling to live it down.
Season: 7
MAX PERLICH
Character:
Videographer J.H. Brodie
Characterization:
Artiste, vid kid, gave directors even more opportunities to use shaky hand-held camera shots.
Seasons: 4-5
Left squad when:
He found a better offer elsewhere.
JON POLITO
Character:
Det. Steve Crosetti
Characterization:
Obsessed with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Hey, you forget how quirky this series could be.
Seasons: 1-2
Left the squad:
By killing himself.
JON SEDA
Character:
Det. Paul Falsone
Characterization:
Streetwise and trying to come to terms with life after divorce as absentee father.
Seasons: 6-7
CALLIE THORNE
Character:
Det. Laura Ballard
Characterization:
Seattle transplant, looking for excitement and love in a few wrong places
Seasons: 6-7
Pub Date: 5/14/99