Homicide: Life on the Street: classic or the best show ever created?

* I agree that Falsone and Ballard kinda suck, but Kellerman becomes quite possibly the most irritating character in TV history by season six. I kept hoping he would get killed off. I like Gharty though, he's great!
* Andre Braugher rules so hard.
* I have figured out where the show goes wrong near the end: Originally, the show was basically about the relationships between the partners: Bayliss and Pembleton, Munch and Bolander, Felton and Howard, then Lewis and Kellerman. They completely abandon this near the end, focusing more on these crazy unlikely crimes (whereas the crimes at the beginning were pretty uninteresting for the most part). In season six, the partnerships are a lot more ambiguous, with everyone pretty much just working with whoever's around.
* You know what's fun? Talking like Kaye Howard and ending every sentence with "eh?" We're gonna go to the store, eh? You better watch what you're doing, eh?
* My favorite episode that hasn't been mentioned yet is the one where Lewis and Kellerman are investigating the murder out at the hotel at the city limits, where all the degenerates and illegal immigrants are staying. That one's great.

Is that the one with Rev. Horton Heat in it?
I've only seen that one once.
I think Season Six only just came out recently, so Season Seven should come out sometime. Did you see the finale movie?

I think "Anderson" was probably one of the freshman kids who idolized Ferris.

I like how in the movie, as the new shift commander, he tries to stand up to Pembleton and Bayliss, but they just calmly blow him off as the joke he really is.

I have not read the book, I'll try and find it.

They explain this away by having someone (Kellerman?) confront him about it once he becomes a Homicide detective and he says that later (after the patrolman call episode) he got beat up in the process of chasing somebody and it forced him to confront his fears and realize that the fear of injury was worse than the actual injury. It's kind of a b.s. brushoff explanation, but it is an attempt at an explanation.

xpost, oh yeah, he was McNulty's judge pal.

These must be season seven characters. Should I even bother with season seven? I'm kind of curious given all the hints about stuff that happens to Bayliss.

I loved watching all the Homicides. I'm shocked there's a 7th season? I thought the finale, which I thought was the last episode of season 6, had a really strange ending. So I guess Bayliss lives then? Does he have any trouble recovering like Pembleton did with his stroke?

Though, you know, I thought I remembered someone saying Bayliss was the only character in ALL of the seasons, so I thought it was weird that pembleton was still around in 6. But now I know there's a 7th and that pembleton leaves...

One thing I didn't like about the show was how many of the main characters were killed off. I think they could have come up with better explanations for taking the characters off the show. On the other hand, some of the explanations they did come up with (like for the female ex-shift commander who ends up in France) seemed totally thrown together. They'd mention it for like one second and then act like that person never existed after that (except for her character, actually, since she did come back when Beau got shot).

Remind me how all their stories end, because I can't remember (ie: where the characters supposedly end up).

The movie sounds so AWFUL based purely on the plot summary amy gave way upthread. Enough with the crew getting shot already!

Also, what was up with Russert being related to Tim Russert? Did some crew member just have a Tim Russert connection they wanted to exploit?

Pembleton: Ends up teaching.
Bayliss: WATCH THE FINAL SEASON AND THEN THE MOVIE
Lewis: No diff.
Howard: Transfers out.
Kellerman: Eats a lot of food.
Gee: WATCH THE MOVIE
Russert: Goes to France, comes back a lot.
Munch: Fucks off to New York to hang with Ice T, leaves Lewis holding the bag, Waterfront-wise.
Bolander: Never visits.
Latter-days cast: NOT MUCH.
Mike Giardello: Beats people up while Kellerman eats food.
Felton & Crosetti: WATCH THE MOVIE!
Scheiner: Falls asleep at parties.

I remember reading in Homicide: Life on the Streets. The Official Companion that he also got arrested in between seasons for brandishing a gun in public.

He also appeared in Beautiful Girls if I remember correctly.