NYPD Blue Season 5   Starring: Denis Franz, Kim Delaney and Gordon Clapp MediumRare Entertainment RRP: £34.99 FHED2989 Certificate: 15 Available 10 December 2012

NYPD Blue was an extraordinarily successful show, gathering both critical acclaim and industry awards, including seven Emmy’s, four Golden Globes, a small mountain of nominations, as well as a plethora of other awards. Originally running between 1993 and 2005, the police procedural shows success saw it running for a total of two hundred and sixty-one episodes.

The show was not without its controversy, especially regarding the amount of nudity, bad language and violence, which pushed at the boundaries of what was acceptable in a television show. If you haven’t seen it don’t get too excited, the levels of all three only predated much of what is thought acceptable in a modern adult show. In this, as in many other aspects of narrative structure and content NYPD Blue was ahead of its time.

Fans of the show have waited a number of years between DVD releases and finally these seem to have gotten back on track with seasons being put out as box sets from Medium Rare Entertainment.

NYPD Blue: Season 5 contains all the twenty-one episodes, spread across six DVDs. The only extra is on the last disc, consisting of a single photo gallery. Although the show was an ensemble affair, it mostly revolved around Sergeant’s Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) and Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits), the show made the two famous for a while.

As well as the crime of the week elements of the show, characters were given arcs which spread across a number of episodes, allowing each to have their time in the sun. Like many quality cop shows NYPD was able to have some impressive guest stars, adding to its already high quality of acting.

The DVDs contain around four to five episodes per disc and include the episodes: As Flies to Careless Boys...; All's Well That Ends Well; Three Girls and a Baby; The Truth is Out There; It Takes a Village; Dead Man Talking; Sheedy Dealings; Lost Israel: Part 1; Lost Israel: Part 2; Remembrance of Humps Past; You're Under a Rasta; A Box of Wendy; Twin Petes; Weaver of Hate; Don't Kill the Messenger; The One That Got Away; Speak for Yourself, Bruce Clayton; I Don't Wanna Dye; Prostrate Before the Law; Hammer Time; Seminal Thinking; and Honeymoon at Viagra Falls.

Fans of the show are going to be very happy with this set; sure it’s a bit on the vanilla side, but what you lose in extras is made up with some engrossing solid drama.

8

Charles Packer