Frank Pembleton, Raymond Holt, and The Necktie

Zane Hill

Zane Hill is a journalist in Southern California, where he is a staff reporter with the Los Angeles Business Journal and San Fernando Valley Business Journal. A Northeast Ohio native and University of Louisiana alumnus, he previously worked for a number of regional dailies in Louisiana. He lives in South Los Angeles.

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7 Responses

  1. Great piece! Thanks for writing it!Report

  2. Aaron David says:

    I will go so far as to say that the first two seasons of Homicide were the zenith of television, and that Braugher’s acting is the greatest ever seen in that medium. Truly the golden age of legend.Report

  3. Pinky says:

    There’s no way I could stomach an Andy Samberg sitcom, but I can vouch for half this article. Braugher was phenomenal on Homicide. One of the best characters in television history, although the writers did lose their way during and after his stroke arc.Report

    • JS in reply to Pinky says:

      FWIW, Brooklyn 99 is incredibly tightly written.

      It’s not really innovative in many ways, but it’s effectively a master class in how to do a sitcom properly. The writing is excellent, with a clear eye towards the actor’s various strengths and weaknesses.

      I do have, admittedly, a real fondness for the ridiculous seasonal heist episodes.Report

  4. LTL FTC says:

    H:LOTS might have been the best show of the 90s. Sometimes I have a little fun picturing Holt as Pembleton finally snapped, his fastidiousness intact but having taken on a bunch of quirky affectations (and come out of the closet, obviously). The throwbacks with Holt in an Afro break the illusion, but there are clear parallels.

    In the years between Homicide and Brooklyn 99, Braugher did several short-lived hourlong dramas, all of which I watched specifically for him but were all awful. It’s nice to see him get a second act.

    I’m a little concerned 99 is going down into Very Special Episode territory, but the writing is still sharp.Report

  5. Homicide suffered from ratings chasing (e.g. the terrific Jon Polito was canned for being insufficiently photogenic, the even more terrific Melissa Leo was sidelined and eventually removed in favor of prettier actresses who had none of her brilliance, the ripped-from-the-headlines shows were mostly dire), but at its best it was the top show on TV.

    Braugher wasn’t in the last season, but he was in the 2-hour TV movie that ended the series, and he’s terrific. (Spoiler: a main character is shot, and the whole gang gets back together to investigate.) It can’t be found on DVD, but it is on Youtube.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzVPCSao5wYReport

    • Pinky in reply to Mike Schilling says:

      The cast did get better-looking as the seasons rolled by, no denying that. But generally the acting quality maintained. Just now, I was trying to think of the name of one of the later-seasons’ actors, and I came up with “Kellerman”. I’ve seen Reed Diamond in other things, but I didn’t think of his name, I thought of his character. I don’t remember anything about Jon Polito’s character, but Kellerman is a person to me.Report