No More "All New Blue"
The most remarkable aspect of NYPD Blue was not the language or the partial nudity that drew voyeurs in its first couple of seasons, though those things allowed the show to be grown up while never prurient. What set the show apart instead were two important facets of any show – brilliant writing and at least one compelling character.
The first seven years of producer Stephen Bochco’s NYPD Blue’s run provided some of the finest writing seen on any television show anywhere. David Milch was the linchpin during these years. And his most effective vessel was the character of Andy Sipowicz, one of the great-anti-hero heroes of all time.
Sipowicz was everything that a liberal like myself is supposed to loathe – a racist and a womanizer, a sexist and a boor, a bully and an alcoholic. Yet he ended up being my favorite television character of all time. Obviously he did so despite all of these traits, not because of them. Underneath it all, Sipowicz was the most human character ever to appear on the small screen.
Dennis Franz, the character actor previously best known for his outstanding turns at not one but two roles on the groundbreaking Hill Street Blues, brought out both Sipowicz’s fury and his humanity, his brusqueness and his inherent goodness. Sipowicz was a flawed man trying his best to be a good man and a good cop. His job exposed him to the sorts of things that drove some men to drink and whore. His job got him shot a half a dozen times in the tour de force first episode in September 1993. Sure, as the series ended its run Sipowicz softened, sometimes in ways that were tough for long-term viewers to swallow. And yes, the succession of love interests in Andy’s life became increasingly tough to swallow. Sipowicz was not a handsome man, nor was he exactly charming, and yet his last two wives were, as the kids might say, babes. And his Job-like existence, with the deaths of a wife and a son and a partner, seemed at times to be too much. But the writing and the acting and the characters and the grittiness overcame the blips. It even overcame a couple of years toward the end when NYPD Blue seemed equal parts raw cop drama and night-time soap opera.
In the final episode, long-time cast member and Williams College alum (’71) Gordon Clapp, who played Detective Greg Medavoy (not technically an original cast member, as he was a recurring character in the first season and only became full-time in season 2) made a last appearance. In the last two weeks he had made the decision to follow his heart (in another implausible love match), leave the 15th Squad, and enter the wild and woolly world of real estate sales. In his only appearance last night he showed up to pay a visit for a few minutes and found that the squad continued without him. There was little time for a visit from a dear departed friend. His last lines encapsulated the spirit of that last episode: “When you’re gone, you’re gone.”
Unlike so many other great shows that have left us in the past few years, NYPD Blue’s last episode did not stretch credulity, try some clever plot device, or utilize maudlin sentimentality. Life, we were led to conclude, will go on in the 15th Precinct. Sipowicz is now squad commander, standing up for his detectives, doing the right thing, and inevitably ruffling feathers of the brass and probably almost everyone else at times along the way. The episode ended with Sipowicz alone in the squad room. It was understated. It was perfect.
Dopey as it sounds, I will miss NYPD Blue very much. It was a show about humanity. It was a show that rose above the departures of its stars with its heart the anti-star, Dennis Franz. It was a much-anticipated part of my routine for a dozen years – more than a third of my life. I think next Tuesday night I will intentionally be somewhere other than in front of the television at 10:00 Eastern/9:00 Central time. When you’re gone, you’re gone.