Still “Blue” After All These Years

Incredible as this may seem to the program’s numerous fans, it was a full 20 years ago today--at 10 p.m. on September 21, 1993 (then a Tuesday)--that the ABC-TV crime drama NYPD Blue premiered.

Not to be confused with Jack Warden’s 1967-1969 cop series, N.Y.P.D., the hour-long Blue was co-created by Steven Bochco (whose credits also included Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law) and David Milch (later best known for giving viewers the Western drama Deadwood). It focused on an ensemble of weary cops working out of Manhattan’s 15th Precinct, most prominently Detective John Kelly (played by David Caruso), Sergeant Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), Kelly’s lovely ex-wife, Assistant District Attorney Laura Michaels (Sherry Springfield), and Captain Arthur Fancy (James McDaniel). TV Guide, in its 1993 Fall Preview write-up (see below), voiced concern that Blue was “another cop show--and TV has had so many, they do start to sound the same.” At the same time, though, the mag applauded the series’ “killer cast” and opined that it “is one of those rare shows that think we, the audience members, are smart.”

Between its debut and the airing of its final, 261st episode, “Moving Day,” on March 1, 2005, NYPD Blue lost some notable cast members, among them Caruso (later to resurface on CSI: Miami, Stringfield (who moved to ER), and subsequently Jimmy Smits (who’d played Detective Bobby Simone) and Kim Delaney (who had done a long stint as Detective Diane Russell). It also incited controversies with its occasional, modest nudity and its sometimes course language.

Yet the series carried on, blending often tense criminal encounters with close looks inside the personal travails confronting its lead characters--on and off the job. As was obvious by the number of awards it received, NYPD Blue maintained a high quality throughout its 12-year run, confirming what TV Guide had said way back in 1993, that “This show is a Bochco classic all around.”

Above: NYPD Blue’s write-up in the September 18-24, 1993, edition of TV Guide. Of the series that debuted with it that fall--from seaQuest DSV and The Nanny to The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and Saved by the Bell: The College Years--only two, The X Files (which went off the air in 2002) and Frasier (which was cancelled in 2004), remained on the air nearly as long as Blue. Right-click on the image above for a more readable enlargement.

READ MORE: “The Groundbreaking NYPD Blue,” by Teri Duerr
(Mystery Scene); “Throwback Thursday: How NYPD Blue Revolutionised TV Crime Drama and Redefined the Cop Show,” by Paul Hirons (The Killing Times).

Chasing After Fame

It was 50 years ago today that The Fugitive, the American drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring David Janssen, debuted on ABC-TV. That program about a physician accused of his wife’s murder, and his subsequent struggle to track down the One-Armed Man he’s convinced holds the answers to her slaying, eventually ran for 120 hour-long episodes over four years, becoming one of the most respected small-screen productions in history. Stephen Bowie opines in the A.V. Club blog that it “may be the perfect television drama.

That’s not to say that The Fugitive is superior to today’s best dramas, or even to its finest contemporaries, like The Defenders and Ben Casey. But The Fugitive achieved a perfection of form that was unique: It was part crime procedural, part action-adventure, and part character-driven melodrama. It was fusion TV. The push and pull between the contrasting generic elements meant that episodes were highly varied, but with so many different traditions to draw from, nearly always satisfying. The Fugitive achieved a phenomenally consistent level of quality--which makes this a particularly tough list to compile.

You will find my own tribute to The Fugitive--posted four decades after its final episode aired, on August 29, 1967--by clicking here. And in celebration of today’s 50th anniversary, Bowie provides an interesting alternative ending to Richard Kimble’s saga here.

Where Old Shows Go to ... Live Again

As I mentioned here last week, the Web site Television Obscurities is celebrating its 10th year of publication. Although that site’s young administrator, the mysterious Robert, worries he “may be overdoing it a bit with these anniversary posts,” I respectfully disagree. His write-ups about vintage (and sometimes justly forgotten) TV programs have been thorough and interesting, and he ought to be commemorating a full decade’s worth of contributions in high style. Already, he’s posted about the history of Television Obscurities in two parts (here and here), and he’s looked back at his “very favorite Obscurity” as well as some of his other favorites. I’ll be watching to see what else Robert can come up with during this week-long anniversary celebration.

You should be able to keep track of all the Television Obscurities anniversary posts at this link.

And Much Later, The Rap Sheet Was Born

It’s not going too far to call this development world-changing:

It was twenty years ago today, on 30 April 1993, that CERN made the technology of the World Wide Web available free of charge to the public. The World Wide Web would not only revolutionise the Internet, but in the process would also revolutionise the world itself. From science to education to business to entertainment, there has probably not been one field that has not been changed by the World Wide Web.

A Shroud of Thoughts has more on this subject here.

Can We Get Some Cake with That?

This is certainly an occasion for celebrations. First up, we must pay tribute to California novelist Bill Pronzini, who turns 70 years old today. Pronzini is, of course, the Grand Master Award-winning creator of the long-running “Nameless Detective” series, the most recent installments of which were all released in 2012: Hellbox, Femme, and Kinsmen. Since I’ve written before on this page about Pronzini’s literary virtues, let me point you to two blog posts elsewhere that acknowledge the start of this author’s seventh decade, one by TomCat in Beneath the Stains of Time, the other by Patrick Ohl, sharing his respect for Pronzini’s knowledge of this genre.

Today would also have been the 90th birthday of Don Adams, the actor who starred with Barbara Feldon in the 1965-1970 TV spy spoof Get Smart. Unfortunately, Adams died in 2005 from a lung infection.

And let’s not forget that it was 60 years ago today--April 13, 1953--that UK publisher Jonathan Cape released Ian Fleming’s first novel, Casino Royale. That book introduced the world to a certain British super-spy, James Bond (aka Agent 007), who would become famous not only through Fleming’s novels and short stories, but as a consequence of his appearances on television and in a series of films. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that this is Bond’s 60th birthday, and that he’s holding up well for his age. Very well, indeed.

Bullet Points: In Honor of Ebert Edition

• Washington resident and author Earl Emerson, who created the private investigator Thomas Black series, will receive the annual Willo Davis Roberts Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America’s Northwest Chapter. According to a press release, this prize is to be presented during an April 20 ceremony. Emerson hasn’t published any new novels since 2009, when Cape Disappointment, his 12th Black outing, went on sale. But he is reportedly shopping around two fresh Black tales, along with a thriller.

• I don’t think I have ever been sent a press notice such as this one, e-mailed last Thursday by publisher Viking:

You should have received a finished copy of John le Carré’s A Delicate Truth this week. I’ve just been told that there was a mistake at the printer, so you did not receive the final edition. Please disregard the copy you have now and you will receive the final edition next week.

Curious. I was indeed happy to find a hardcover copy of A Delicate Truth in my mail. It’s not at all obvious what is the matter with this edition (an accidentally excised plot twist? Maybe a misplaced signature?), but I’m now curious to see if I can spot any differences between this one and the next copy to arrive on my doorstep. Also, I wonder how many of these incorrect hardcovers were run off the presses before someone caught this expensive “mistake.”

• Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph’s Jon Stock chooses his 10 favorite le Carré novels, a list that includes The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Smiley’s People, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

• Happy birthday to James Garner! The star of Maverick, The Rockford Files, and numerous big-screen pictures celebrates his 85th birthday today. I had the rare opportunity in 2011, at the time his autobiography was first published, to ask Garner some questions, and I still deem that one of my most satisfying interviews of all time. I hope that however Mr. Garner is celebrating this occasion, he’s doing so with pleasure and in great peace.

• If you’re in Portland, Oregon, this month, don’t forget to pay a last call on Murder by the Book. That Hawthorne Boulevard crime-fiction shop will close on Saturday, April 20, after three decades in business.

• The manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series Warner Archive has launched a brand-new online streaming service called Warner Archive Instant. Although “hundreds of film and TV selections” are promised, the offerings so far seem paltry, with series such as 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. being made available, together with teleflicks on the order of Probe (the pilot for the series Search) and big-screen entertainments the likes of Cleopatra Jones and Helen Hayes’ A Caribbean Mystery. You can sign up for a two-week trial of the service, but after that a subscription with set you back $9.99 per month. (Hat tip to Television Obscurities.)

• TV and film writer Ken Levine has a pretty funny story to share about Passover, his swimming pool, and actress Eliza Dushku.

• Omnimystery News reports that “Cinemax has ordered a pilot for a period crime drama based on a character created by Max Allan Collins.” The series, set in the 1970s, is inspired by Collins’ soon-to-be-10 books about a hired killer known as Quarry. The Broker (more recently republished as Quarry), was the series’ first entry back in 1976. A new installment, The Wrong Quarry, is due out in January 2014.

• Also, a TV series based on the 2002 film The Gangs of New York (which was itself inspired by Herbert Asbury’s 1928 book of the same name) is being developed by Martin Scorsese and Miramax.

• So, what is Martin Edwards reading?

• The Gumshoe Site brings the news that prolific English author Basil Copper has died at age 89 as a result “of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.” Copper was best-known as a writer of horror fiction, but from the 1960s through the ’80s he also concocted dozens of stories featuring Los Angeles P.I. Mike Faraday. Following the death in 1971 of August Derleth, Copper continued the former’s series of pastiches featuring Sherlockian sleuth Solar Pons. More here.

• Michael Shonk has a nice piece in Mystery*File about the 1960-1961 NBC-TV drama Dante, which starred Howard Duff as a gambler turned San Francisco nightclub proprietor. The half-hour series was based on an eight-episode, Four Star Playhouse run of stories starring Dick Powell and concocted by Blake Edwards. Shonk calls Dante’s dialogue “clever and the banter quick and witty,” and adds that “The stories plots were creative and hold up well.” Unfortunately, NBC doomed Duff’s series by positioning it on Mondays at 9:30 p.m. opposite The Andy Griffith Show.

• In honor of film critic Roger Ebert, who passed away last week at age 70, writer Bob Sassone has republished a short piece he put together in 2002 called “Why I Write.” For its own part, Mental Floss has posted a rundown of “10 Movies Roger Ebert Really Hated,” most of which I didn’t even know existed.

• Nick Cardillo has lately decided to expand the coverage of his blog, The Consulting Detective, beyond Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who, and feature more posts about hard-boiled crime fiction and film noir. His intro to those subjects can be found here.

• This last Friday marked 30 years since the final original appearance of spies Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, in a made-for-television movie called The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen-Years-Later Affair. In addition to series stars Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, the flick featured Gayle Hunnicut (P.J.) and Patrick Macnee (The Avengers, Gavilan). If you’d like to watch the title and end credits from Return, along with a scene that features George Lazenby as the distinctly James Bondish “J.B.,” simply click here.

• It’s nice to see The Thrilling Detective Web Site, Kevin Burton Smith’s huge database of information about fictional private eyes and other good guys, win some more favorable press, this time in Brian Abbott’s The Poisoned Martini.

• Wow, I don’t remember hearing that Detroit, Michigan, once proposed that the United Nations be headquartered there, instead of in New York City. (Hat tip to Curbed.)

• Steve Powell has a terrific article in The Venetian Vase about how Los Angeles’ infamous 1947 Black Dahlia murder case has influenced popular culture. You’ll find the full piece here.

• And Michael Sears revisits the work of South African crime writer James McClure in a piece for Murder Is Everywhere.

• Terrence McCauley gabs with Shotgun Honey about his new Terry Quinn historical thriller, the e-book Slow Burn. While over at Lit Reactor, Todd Robinson--author of The Hard Bounce--fields 10 questions about his writing history, his biggest mistake, the fictional character he’d most like to drink with, and more.

• Novelist-biographer Jeffrey Marks is interviewed by Pulped! about his forthcoming work on Erle Stanley Gardner, the creator of Perry Mason and gumshoes Cool and Lam. Marks previously offered a preview of the work in Candid Canine.

• Finally, if you’re going to be in London, England, on Sunday, April 13, you might want to sign up now for a daylong introduction to crime fiction offered at Goldsboro Books, in Cecil Court, and featuring authors M.R. Hall and William Ryan.

Variations on a Meme

As hard as this is to believe, it was a full five years ago next month that Derringer Award-winning short-story writer Patricia “Patti” Abbott suggested it might be fun--and perhaps even a bit enlightening--for the Web’s growing ranks of book bloggers to recommend, each Friday, “books we love but might have forgotten over the years.” That proposal has since generated many thousands of posts about unjustly neglected works of fiction and non-fiction, including 122 such write-ups (so far) in The Rap Sheet.

With the fifth anniversary of this meme coming right up, on April 25, Abbott mentioned to me that we really ought to celebrate. And the best way, of course, would be to produce a plenitude of brand-new posts building on the original idea. So, here’s an invitation: If you’ve never contributed your opinions to the Web-wide “forgotten books” series, or even if you have done so many times before, we hope you’ll take the opportunity next month to write about an unjustly neglected or insufficiently championed book from the past. The optimum time to post your contribution would be between Monday, April 22, and Friday, April 26.

If you don’t have a blog of your own in which to publish, Patti Abbott says she’ll be happy to accept any and all submissions along these lines; simply drop her an e-mail note explaining your intentions here. I would also be glad to receive new “forgotten books” posts for The Rap Sheet, though I prefer that those focus on works of crime, mystery, or thriller fiction. Please contact me here with specifics on which book you would like to address, but try to do so by Friday, April 19.

A complete list of fifth-anniversary additions to the “forgotten books” series will be posted in Abbott’s blog, Pattinase, on April 26.

Finally, to give you a sense of the variety of treats this meme has produced since April 2008, here’s a rundown of The Rap Sheet’s contributions, the first of which appeared on May 2, 2008. Following each book title and author name, I’ve identified (in parentheses) the person who commented on the work:

• Tapping the Source, by Kem Nunn (Steven Nester)

• Bimini Run, by E. Howard Hunt (Steven Nester)

• True Confessions, by John Gregory Dunne (Steven Nester)

• Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, by William Kennedy (Steven Nester)

• Cut Numbers, by Nick Tosches (Steven Nester)

• Shaft Among the Jews, by Ernest Tidyman (Steve Aldous)

• The Egyptian Cross Mystery, by Ellery Queen (Tony Hays)

• The Labyrinth Makers, by Anthony Price (Jim Napier)

• The Dead Lie Still, by William L. Stuart (J.F. Norris)

• The Man with a Load of Mischief, by Martha Grimes (Dana Cameron)

• New Hope for the Dead, by Charles Willeford (Kevin McCarthy)

• An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, by P.D. James
(Kristine Kathryn Rusch)

• Money, Money, Money, by Ed McBain (Richard L. Pangburn)

• Street of the Lost, by David Goodis (Michael Lipkin)

• Doctor Frigo, by Eric Ambler (James Thompson)

• Rose, by Martin Cruz Smith (Ann Parker)

• A Gypsy Good Time, by Gustav Hasford (Dan Fleming)

• Breakheart Pass, by Alistair MacLean (J. Kingston Pierce)

• Up at the Villa, by W. Somerset Maugham (Sam Millar)

• The Prone Gunman, by Jean-Patrick Manchette (R.J. Ellory)

• The Other Girl, by Theodora Keogh (Steven Powell)

• Diva, by Delacorta (Ronald Tierney)

• The Iron Gates, by Margaret Millar (Patti Abbott)
• Tony and Susan, by Austin Wright (Maxim Jakubowski)
• The Song Dog, by James McClure (Stanley Trollip)
• Caleb Williams, by William Godwin (Andrew Taylor)
• Drink to Yesterday, by Manning Coles (Irene Fleming)
• Thumbprint, by Friedrich Glauser (Patrick Lennon)
• The Black Path of Fear, by Cornell Woolrich (Thomas Kaufman)
• Blanche on the Lam, by Barbara Neely (Naomi Hirahara)
• The Zimmerman Telegram, by Barbara Tuchman (J. Sydney Jones)
• Murder Fantastical, by Patricia Moyes (Jim Napier)
• Death of a Peer, by Ngaio Marsh (Les Blatt)
• Shoot, by Douglas Fairbairn (Mike Dennis)
• Train, by Pete Dexter (David Thayer)
• The Great Zapruder Film Hoax, by James H. Fetzer (Michael Atkinson)
• The Adventures of Max Latin, by Norbert Davis (Ed Lin)
• Swag, by Elmore Leonard (Mike Dennis)
• Build My Gallows High, by Geoffrey Homes (Thomas Kaufman)
• Light of Day, by Eric Ambler
(Leighton Gage)
• Alley Kat Blues, by Karen Kijewski (Karen E. Olson)
• The Most Dangerous Game, by Gavin Lyall (Calum MacLeod)
• The Saint-Fiacre Affair, by Georges Simenon (Matt Beynon Rees)
• The Body on the Bench, by Dorothy B. Hughes (Jeri Westerson)
• The Drowner, by John D. MacDonald (Ace Atkins)
• Dead Man Upright, by Derek Raymond (Ray Banks)
• I Was Dora Suarez, by Derek Raymond (Cathi Unsworth)
• How the Dead Live, by Derek Raymond (Russel D. McLean)
• The Devil’s Home on Leave, by Derek Raymond (John Harvey)
• He Died with His Eyes Open, by Derek Raymond (Tony Black)
• The Staked Goat, by Jeremiah Healy (Libby Fischer Hellmann)
• Nightmare Alley, by William Linday Gresham (Kelli Stanley)
• The First Deadly Sin, by Lawrence Sanders (L.J. Sellers)
• The Dolly Dolly Spy, by Adam Diment (Tom Cain)
• Freak, by Michael Collins (Russell Atwood)
• Who Killed Palomino Molero?, by Mario Vargas Llosa
(Marshall Browne)
• The Cracked Earth, by John Shannon (Dick Adler)
• The Last One Left, by John D. MacDonald (Bill Cameron)
• Room to Swing, by Ed Lacy (Art Taylor)
• Someone Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe, by Nan and Ivan Lyons (Jeffrey Cohen)
• Solomon’s Vineyard, by Jonathan Latimer (Mike Ripley)
• Modesty Blaise, by Peter O’Donnell (Vicki Delany)
• Modus Operandi, by Robin W. Winks (Stephen Miller)
• The Eighth Circle, by Stanley Ellin (J. Kingston Pierce)
• The Woman Chaser, by Charles Willeford (Kathryn Miller Haines)
• The Friends of Eddie Coyle, by George V. Higgins (William Landay)
• GBH, by Ted Lewis (Ray Banks)
• The Criminal, by Jim Thompson (Nate Flexer)
• Trent’s Last Case, by E.C. Bentley (Stefanie Pintoff)
• The Depths of the Forest, by Eugenio Fuentes (Ann Cleeves)
• Putting the Boot In, by Dan Kavanagh (Michael Walters)
• Switch, by William Bayer (Col Bury)
• Sympathy for the Devil, by Kent Anderson (John Shannon)
• The Quiet Strangers, by John Buxton Hilton (Stephen Booth)
• Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman, by E.W. Hornung (Chris Ewan)
• No Orchids for Miss Blandish, by James Hadley Chase
(James R. Benn)
• War Against the Mafia, by Don Pendleton (Matt Hilton)
• Daddy Cool, by Donald Goines (Gary Phillips)
• Edith’s Diary, by Patricia Highsmith (Jason Starr)
• Night of the Panther, by E.C. Ayres (J. Kingston Pierce)
• Death of a Unicorn, by Peter Dickinson (Keith Raffel)
• The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton (Anthony Rainone)
• The Bigger They Come, by A.A. Fair
(J. Kingston Pierce)
• Death of a Citizen, by Donald Hamilton
(Rob Kantner)
• The Double Take, by Roy Huggins
(J. Kingston Pierce)
• The Overseer, by Jonathan Rabb
(Simon Wood)
• A Coffin for Dimitrios, by Eric Ambler
(Ali Karim)
• The Scarf, by Robert Bloch (John Peyton Cooke)
• The Ebony Tower, by John Fowles (Michael G. Jacob)
• The Grifters, by Jim Thompson (Chris Knopf)
• A Clubbable Woman, by Reginald Hill (Simon Wood)
• The Bloody Bokhara, by William Campbell Gault (David Fulmer)
• Journey into Fear, by Eric Ambler (Charles Cumming)
• Despair, by Vladimir Nabokov (Robert Eversz)
• Marathon Man, by William Goldman (Linwood Barclay)
• Mayhem, by J. Robert Janes (Cara Black)
• The Caves of Steel, by Isaac Asimov (Jane Finnis)
• The 12:30 from Croydon, by Freeman Wills Crofts
(Dolores Gordon-Smith)
• The Golden Crucible, by Jean Stubbs (Amy Myers)
• Rilke on Black, by Ken Bruen (Tony Black)
• The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey (Judith Cutler)
• Nine Times Nine, by Anthony Boucher (Jeffrey Marks)
• The Three Coffins, by John Dickson Carr (Edward Marston)
• Some Must Watch, by Ethel Lina White (Mary Reed)
• The Golden Gate Murders, by Peter King (Anthony Flacco)
• The Big Bow Mystery, by Israel Zangwill (Will Thomas)
• Coffin’s Got the Dead Guy on the Inside, by Keith Snyder
(Timothy Hallinan)
• The Twisted Thing, by Mickey Spillane (Max Allan Collins)
• The Falling Man, by Mark Sadler (Robert J. Randisi)
• Don’t Cry for Me, by William Campbell Gault (Ed Gorman)
• No Human Involved, by Barbara Seranella (Louise Ure)
• Watcher in the Shadows, by Geoffrey Household (Mike Ripley)
• Cutter and Bone, by Newton Thornburg (Kirk Russell)
• Funeral in Berlin, by Len Deighton (Tony Broadbent)
• God’s Pocket, by Pete Dexter (David Corbett)
• Chinaman’s Chance, by Ross Thomas (Tim Maleeny)
• I Am the Cheese, by Robert Cormier (Steve Hockensmith)
• The Honest Dealer, by Frank Gruber (Dick Lochte)
• When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes, by Lawrence Block (Dick Adler)
• The January Corpse, by Neil Albert (Kevin Burton Smith)
• The Lunatic Fringe, by William L. DeAndrea (J. Kingston Pierce)
• Memoirs of an Invisible Man, by H.F. Saint (Ali Karim)

A Classic Takes Wing

It was 50 years ago today that Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 suspense/horror film, The Birds, premiered in New York City. The screenplay was written by Evan Hunter, aka Ed McBain. Modern filmmakers comment on the picture’s enduring significance here.

READ MORE: “The Birds: 25 Things You Didn’t Know About Alfred Hitchcock’s Terrifying Classic,” by Gary Susman (Moviefone).

Lesson Learned: Dull Is Dangerous

The Paley Center for Media reminds us that it was on this date in 1971 that the teleflick Ransom for a Dead Man--the second pilot for what would become NBC-TV’s long-running crime drama, Columbo--was first broadcast. In Ransom, actress Lee Grant played a “brilliant tort attorney [who] gets rid of her boring husband by faking his kidnapping and keeping the ransom.” Click here to watch that picture’s opening segment, with theme music by the great Billy Goldenberg.

An earlier pilot for Columbo, 1968’s Prescription: Murder (guest-starring Gene Barry as a homicidal physician), had been rejected as the basis for a regular prime-time series.

(Hat tip to The Bunburyist.)