Is Detective Frank Pembleton close to streaming glory?
After months of speculation and decades of frustration, there are signs that “Homicide: Life on the Street,” the critically acclaimed Baltimore-set NBC drama, might be one step closer to being available for streaming platforms. The holdup for the Emmy-winning classic, which followed fictional Baltimore Police Department detectives as they navigated life, death and humanity from their Fells Point headquarters, has been the necessity of securing rights to the music used on the show.
That meant that the show (my favorite series of all time) has been unavailable for appreciation by longtime fans or discovery by new audiences, unless they had a parent with the DVD set or happened upon a “Law & Order” marathon featuring one-half of any of the three “Homicide” crossover episodes. But on Monday, David Simon, author of “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets,” the nonfiction book on which the series was based, posted on X that the long wait may be over.
“Word is that NBC has managed to finally secure the music rights necessary to sell Homicide: Life On The Streets” to a streaming platform,” Simon wrote. “Andre, Richard, Yaphet, Ned, and so many others who labored on that wonderful show on both sides of the camera will soon regain a full share of their legacy. Stay tuned for more details. #HLOTS #FontanaLevinson”
The famous names Simon refers to are members of the “Homicide” cast who have passed away, including Andre Braugher, who played the intensely focused Detective Pembleton, Richard Belzer (Detective Munch), Yaphet Kotto (Lt. Al Giardello) and Ned Beatty (Detective Stanley Bolander).
Braugher’s death in December at 61 from lung cancer renewed interest in the show, which ran for seven seasons from 1993 to 1999. At the time, Simon wrote on X that, according to a reliable source, “NBC/Universal is at last attempting, along with Fremantle on the overseas rights, to clear music rights on #Homicide for eventual streaming. Lot of work to do achieve that, however, I am also told. Andre alone ought to rate such.”
The possibility that streaming could be closer was good news to many “Homicide” fans, including Susan C. Ingram, a Baltimore-area native, former camera assistant on the show and the co-host of the “Homicide: Life On The Set” podcast.
“The recent word that there is progress on finally moving ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ to a streaming platform is absolutely terrific,” Ingram wrote me in an emailed statement. “It makes me want to cry. This show was so groundbreaking, and so influential, but is in many ways largely forgotten, except for those of us who worked on it and the amazing fans that are still out there. Having it on a streaming platform would open it up to an entire new generation of viewers, who I know would embrace it the way we all did 30 years ago!”
I’m trying to get confirmation from those close to the production and will let you know as soon as I do. But you’ll know when it streams, because I’m locking myself in my home and it’ll be a while before you see me.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of “Homicide” character Lt. Al Giardello’s surname.
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