A long television journey will end next week: it's the final episode of NYPD Blue.

There are probably people around who don't remember the furor that surrounded the premiere of this show. Several local stations blacked it out because it featured "salty" talk and at least one obscene gesture (which, oddly, was okay when Michael Jackson and Madonna did it). It became praised--and panned--for its frank portrayal of police work and street criminals.

A year later it made news again when star David Caruso wanted to quit to go make movies (a career move that later backfired). From all reports, Caruso was a prima donna and a pain in the neck on set and no one was sad to see him go, although many fans (myself included) still liked the character of John Kelly. Caruso was replaced by Jimmy Smits, whose Bobby Simone character lasted several years and who finally died onscreen in what was a very emotional episode.

I was probably one of three people on the planet who never cared for the Simone character and quite enjoyed it when "little Ricky" Schroeder replaced Smits. The former child star now had some good credits under his belt, including a role in Lonesome Dove. I enjoyed Schroeder and was upset when they killed Danny Sorenson, although by then he had turned into a bundle of neuroses who annoyed some viewers. Schroeder was replaced by Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who did a great job as John Clark Jr.

The lynchpin, of course, in the NYPD Blue was the alcoholic, bad-tempered, politically uncorrect Andy Sipowicz. For someone who began as so unloveable, Andy--due to Dennis Franz' strong portrayal--not only changed his life, but became the favorite. Twelve years later Andy is still no saint, but he's a sterling example of someone who's turned his life around and made himself better-loved in the process.

Can't walk away from any chat about Blue without mentioning my two favorite supporting actors: Gordon Clapp as the earnest but never quite on-the-ball Greg Medavoy--who appears to have gotten the happy ending this sweet character deserved--and Bill Brochtrup as PAA John Irvin. Other kudos: Esai Morales as Lt. Rodriguez, who was quite easy on the eye as well as being a great addition to the cast; Andrea Thompson's Jill Kirkendall, whose character deteriorated near the end but in her time was a fine, tough cop; and Henry Simmons as Baldwin Jones, who proved the right combo of tough and tender (and who I must admit was also easy on the eye!).

For superior Blue on the web, skip ABC's site and go directly to Alan Sepinwall's site. There's also NYPDBlue.org.

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 8:49:00 AM

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