Homicide: Life on the Street season 3

Homicide: Life on the Street Season 3
Season 3
Season 3 U.S. DVD Cover
No. of episodes	20
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	October 14, 1994 (1994-10-14) – May 5, 1995 (1995-05-05)
Season chronology

The third season of Homicide: Life on the Street aired in the United States on the NBC television network from October 14, 1994, to May 5, 1995, and contained 20 episodes. It was the first full season of episodes. Beginning in the third season, Homicide was moved to Fridays at 10 p.m. EST, a timeslot the show would remain at until its cancellation in 1999.

The third season saw all the original cast members return except for Jon Polito, who was reportedly dropped at the request of NBC. Season 3 also marked the debut of character Lt. Megan Russert (Isabella Hofmann), and the final season for both Detectives Beau Felton (Daniel Baldwin) and Stanley Bolander (Ned Beatty).

Celebrities who made guest appearance during the third season include Al Freeman Jr., Steve Buscemi, Tim Russert, Howie Mandel and Chris Noth. As with the previous seasons, Season 3 had several episodes air out of order resulting in continuity issues. To make up for this, the episodes "Crosetti" and "Nothing Personal" included title cards in the beginning to tell the viewers the episodes took place in the past. Season 3 also saw the first crossover between Homicide and Law & Order as Chris Noth makes a cameo appearance as Detective Mike Logan in the episode "Law & Disorder".

The DVD box set of season 3 was released for Region 1 on October 28, 2003. The set includes all 20 season 3 episodes on six discs.

Episodes

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code
14	1	"Nearer My God to Thee"	Tim Hunter	Teleplay: Jorge Zamacona Story: Tom Fontana & Jorge Zamacona	October 14, 1994 (1994-10-14)	301
15	2	"Fits Like a Glove"	Ted Demme	Teleplay: Bonnie Mark Story: Tom Fontana & Julie Martin	October 21, 1994 (1994-10-21)	302
16	3	"Extreme Unction"	Keith Gordon	Teleplay: D. Keith Mano Story: Tom Fontana & James Yoshimura	October 28, 1994 (1994-10-28)	303
17	4	"A Model Citizen"	John McNaughton	Teleplay: Noel Behn Story: Tom Fontana & Jorge Zamacona	November 11, 1994 (1994-11-11)	306
18	5	"Happy to Be Here"	Lee Bonner	Teleplay: Julie Martin Story: Tom Fontana & Julie Martin	November 18, 1994 (1994-11-18)	307
19	6	"Crosetti"	Whitney Ransick	Teleplay: James Yoshimura Story: Tom Fontana & James Yoshimura	December 2, 1994 (1994-12-02)	304
20	7	"The Last of the Watermen"	Richard Pearce	Tom Fontana & Henry Bromell	December 9, 1994 (1994-12-09)	305
21	8	"All Through the House"	Peter Medak	Henry Bromell	December 16, 1994 (1994-12-16)	308
22	9	"Every Mother's Son"	Kenneth Fink	Teleplay: Eugene Lee Story: Tom Fontana & James Yoshimura	January 6, 1995 (1995-01-06)	310
23	10	"Cradle to Grave"	Myles Connell	Teleplay: David Mills Story: Tom Fontana & Jorge Zamacona	January 13, 1995 (1995-01-13)	311
24	11	"Partners"	John McNaughton	Teleplay: David Rupel Story: Tom Fontana & Julie Martin	January 20, 1995 (1995-01-20)	312
25	12	"The City That Bleeds"	Tim Hunter	Teleplay: Julie Martin & Jorge Zamacona Story: James Yoshimura & Bonnie Mark	January 27, 1995 (1995-01-27)	313
26	13	"Dead End"	Whitney Ransick	Teleplay: Julie Martin & Jorge Zamacona Story: James Yoshimura	February 3, 1995 (1995-02-03)	314
27	14	"End Game"	Lee Bonner	Teleplay: Rogers Turrentine Story: James Yoshimura & Henry Bromell	February 10, 1995 (1995-02-10)	315
28	15	"Law & Disorder"	John McNaughton	Teleplay: Bonnie Mark & Julie Martin Story: James Yoshimura & Henry Bromell	February 24, 1995 (1995-02-24)	316
29	16	"The Old and the Dead"	Michael Fields	Teleplay: Randall Anderson Story: Henry Bromell & Jorge Zamacona	March 3, 1995 (1995-03-03)	317
30	17	"In Search of Crimes Past"	Kenneth Fink	Teleplay: Jane Smiley Story: Henry Bromell & Julie Martin	April 14, 1995 (1995-04-14)	318
31	18	"Nothing Personal"	Tim Van Patten	Teleplay: Bonnie Mark Story: Tom Fontana & James Yoshimura	April 21, 1995 (1995-04-21)	309
32	19	"Colors"	Peter Medak	Tom Fontana	April 28, 1995 (1995-04-28)	319
33	20	"The Gas Man"	Barry Levinson	Teleplay: Henry Bromell Story: Tom Fontana and Henry Bromell	May 5, 1995 (1995-05-05)	320

Cast

For the third season of Homicide, almost all the original cast members, including Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, & Kyle Secor, returned. Jon Polito was the only original cast member not to return as NBC reportedly requested that he'd be dropped from the show due to their unhappiness with his physical appearance; Polito's character, Steve Crosetti, would be written out as having gone on vacation to Atlantic City only to commit suicide upon his return to Baltimore. According to an interview in 2005, Polito claimed that when Tom Fontana called him to tell him he was being dropped, he promised Polito would return in the future. However, after Polito refused to believe Fontana and began criticizing the show, the plans were dropped. In the same interview, Polito expressed regret for his comments:.

"We had some conflicts on the show. I was also not in the best of shape: I was feeling very passionately about the show, and I was very annoyed about NBC's—what NBC was doing with it. I was very passionate about it. I stepped on the wrong toes. And I made a major mistake. I did not know at the time that Tom Fontana—when Tom Fontana tells you, "You have to be dropped now, but I'll bring you back"—I didn't believe that because I'd been screwed by so many producers over the years. He is a serious man when he says that. I didn't know that. I didn't trust him. So after he said, "NBC wants to get the girl on the show, and they have to replace somebody, and we're gonna choose you, but I'll bring you back in the fall," I instead, very stupidly, went to the newspapers. And I said, rather openly, I said some very vicious comments, both about the way it was being handled by NBC and the way Fontana and Levinson were handling listening to NBC. I was totally wrong because, in fact, the changes they made meant that NBC put it on a better night, and it became a success. But aside from that, I was wrong to jump at Fontana and all that, and not believe in Fontana and Levinson, because they're great people and would've been faithful to me, but I just didn't trust it because I'd been screwed too many times before. I actually said in one newspaper, "The producers of the show are like the people on the Titanic," and the writer said, "You mean they're the captain of the ship?" and I said "No, no. They're on the iceberg saying, 'This way. Come this way.'" That's in print and that was wrong."

Isabella Hofmann debuted as Lt. (later Captain) Megan Russert. Hofmann was hired reportedly at the request of NBC (specifically Warren Littlefield), who wanted more female characters on the show. Megan Russert was the fictional cousin of NBC Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert and was the first main character not to be based on an officer from the book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. Daniel Baldwin and Ned Beatty both left the show at the conclusion of the season, reportedly due to failed contract negotiations. Both Baldwin and Beatty expressed dissatisfaction with the changes made during the third season, with Baldwin specifically claiming the Beau Felton and Megan Russert extramarital affair was "Typicial TV Chicanery" Baldwin was also burnt out on NBC, saying: "I'd rather do small parts in movies."

Beatty, meanwhile, was frustrated with having to turn down other roles, including the musical Show Boat, due to Homicide, which itself had an uncertain future. Like Baldwin, Beatty also hated the changes made during the third season. Beatty was quoted in the Los Angeles Times:

"It wasn't about the money. I loved it in the beginning. Some of it was the best thing I've ever done. But it got to the point where they wanted to see people get shot and car chases and all that. Which is not something homicide detectives do."

Neither would return for the duration of the series; however, both would return for Homicide: The Movie in 2000.

Celebrities who made guest appearances included Al Freeman Jr., who played Deputy Commissioner: James C. Harris in "Cradle to the Grave", Steve Buscemi who played Gordon Pratt, the suspect who shot detectives Felton, Howard, & Bolander in "End Game". Tim Russert appeared as himself in "The Old and the Dead". Chris Noth appeared as his Law & Order character Detective Mike Logan in "Law & Disorder", which marked the first time that Homicide and Law & Order crossed over.

Reception

Ratings

Ratings for Season 3 were much lower than the first season. The show ranked at #89 with estimated audience of 8,200,000 which was a big drop compared to Season 1 which finished at #24 with an estimated audience of 12,717,000

Awards

The third season of Homicide was the only season to have no Emmy nominations. Despite this, the show did win a Viewers for Quality Television award and a Peabody Award while Andre Braugher won a VQT award for Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series. The show was also nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Episodic Drama for the episode "Fits Like a Glove".

References

• "Awards for "Homicide: Life on the Street"". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
• "Episode list for "Homicide: Life on the Street"". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
• "Homicide: Life on the Street Episode Guide". TV.com. Retrieved 2007-09-21.