R.I.P. Andre Braugher

[dws1982]

When the songs were licensed, they were licensed for the broadcast and syndication only. This was the typical practice at the time because the concept of streaming and full-series video releases didn't exist at the time. When it was released on DVD, the distributor licensed all of the music, but it was for DVD only. So to be streamed, the music would have to be licensed again, and presumably it's not considered to be worth the expense of re-licensing the music. Other shows from that same period are in a similar situation, like Northern Exposure and China Beach (two of the best and most influential films of that era), although both of those have been released on disc with almost all of the music intact. (Northern Exposure got a Blu-Ray release just a couple of weeks ago.)

[Greg]

The extensive use of music has made this off-limits for streaming, but the entire series is available on DVD at a reasonable price.

What is the issue with music and streaming?

[dws1982]

It's not a coincidence that Homicide was cancelled one season after Braugher left. You could argue that Braugher's Frank Pembleton was in many ways a secondary lead to Kyle Secor's Tim Bayliss. The show definitely started out that way, although Braugher's role got bigger as it became clear that he had a presence and a weight to his performance that Secor didn't quite approach. (Secor was never bad on the show, and his character didn't usually require the intensity that Braugher had, but I think it's pretty clear who the major actor was.) Homicide always struggled in the ratings, and while there was definitely someone at NBC who liked it and allowed it to stay on as long as it did, the last season kind of collapses under the weight of production trying to make the show more commercially appealing, and Secor, as one of the few originals left, couldn't quite carry it through some rough patches the way Braugher had. The first five seasons of Homicide are great TV, and season six is very good in its own right, although the pressure from the network to make it more commercially appealing was showing in some ways that didn't always work. (Like Jon Seda, an actor I like in general, showing up and suddenly becoming an equal with Braugher/Secor in terms of focus and screen time.) I won't say that Homicide started the now-common trend of film directors doing TV on the side, because there may have been an example or two of it before this, but it had to be an early adopter of that trend: John McNaughton was directing from season two on, Martin Campbell did two season one episodes (including "Three Men and Adena", probably the show's best episode), Tim Hunter, Barbara Kopple, Whit Stillman, Peter Medak, Kathryn Bigelow, Lisa Cholodenko, and Joe Berlinger, among many others, all did episodes. Lots of others, like Tim Van Patten and Alan Taylor, who went on to be some of the best directors in TV, all did early work on Homicide. The extensive use of music has made this off-limits for streaming, but the entire series is available on DVD at a reasonable price.

Braugher's career was more than Frank Pembleton of course, but the performance was very important and I don't know that the new Golden Age of TV that people talk so much about would happen in quite the same way without Braugher showing a new kind of acting and characterization that was possible on TV. He very intentionally prioritized his family life over his career: He never moved to LA, and even during multi-season runs of TV shows that were always filmed in LA, he always flew back home on the weekends. Didn't make a ton of movies, partially because of this. Probably could've had gone the JK Simmons route in his later career if he'd wanted to. Even if he had just stuck to mostly TV and low-key film work, it would've been great to see him keep doing it for a couple more decades.

[Sabin]

I have the DVD Box Set of Homicide: Life on the Streets at home borrowed from a friend. I've been meaning to watch it for ages. Guess I'll watch now.

I've heard his Frank Pembleton is all time great stuff. I know him mainly as Captain Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The best sitcoms create a world that you want to spend time in, watch characters grow for years, and be a part of the family. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was one of the best sitcoms of the post-30 Rock wave of single-camera sitcoms and Braugher was its secret weapon. He made that "by the book cop" role look so easy but I'm trying to think of a joke he didn't nail over the course of eight seasons.

RIP

[danfrank]

Wow, that’s sad. It always pushes a button when somebody close to my age (in this case, a little younger) dies. The early news just says that he died after a brief illness. He had a great actor’s face and voice. Someone who just caught your attention. Nominated for 11 Emmy awards and won 2.

Rest in peace.

[Big Magilla]

This is a breaking story. Details are unavailable at this time, but the 11-time Emmy nominated, 2-time Emmy winning actor has died at 61.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/br ... r-AA1lpvNC