(S01E04) Since I started watching this show (I had never seen an episode before), I've been doing my best to avoid reading about the episodes on fan websites and places like IMDb. For whatever reason though, I went ahead and read something on this particular episode. That was stupid because I would have much rather preferred that the ending were a surprise. Some shows I don't care if I know stuff in advance but I like to be in the dark with NYPD Blue.
So here goes. David Schwimmer's guest stint has come to an end. Josh "4B" Goldstein was gunned down as he tried to stop some thug from stealing a lady's purse on the subway. Kelly made it to the hospital just in time to see 4B take his last breath. It was actually kind of sad. Schwimmer wasn't half bad in the dramatic role and it's too bad we probably won't see that side of him again now that he's typecast as that bumbling schmuck from Friends. Anyway, that's how the episode ended but there was plenty more in between.
We got some more dirt on John Kelly. Turns out he has a legit reason for being such a hard-ass and alienating the people he loves. His father (didn't say if he was a cop or not) was gunned down in the street when John was a teenager. He tries to be overly protective about people he cares about (Laura, 4B) and just ends up pushing them away.
None of this seems to get in the way of his womanizing though. Kelly still has eyes for Janice (even though she deceived him) and he still has time to hop in the shower with Laura. Let's talk about that for a minute. First we got a full on shot of Caruso's pasty white rear-end and moments later was a glimpse of Sherry Stringfield's. What's with the ass parade? It's almost as if Bochco, Milch and Co. were trying to see what they could get away with. If it wasn't excessive swearing, it was excessive skin... some kind of weird trade-off.
As I mentioned, Janice is still on Kelly's mind. But then she did something stupid. She saw how Kelly was willing to forgive that woman (Wendie Malick) who shot her abusive husband. Stupidly, Janice thought Kelly might have the same mercy for her and the Moreno situation. She got drunk and admitted what she did to John. Didn't go over too well but the way it's being set up is that Kelly will eventually help her.
Sipowicz made some interesting progress. He got partnered up with another moderately obese, balding detective with a drinking problem. It's like he had to walk around with a mirror in front of him all day. If Andy ever needed a reason to stay sober, this guy was it because he looked horrible when he was wasted.
Now that I'm a few episodes in, I'm starting to wonder though. Why did David Caruso ever decide to leave this show? Sure, he thought he had a prosperous film career in his future and I can't blame him. But why not stay with NYPD Blue for a couple more seasons? Why leave after the first one? It's cheesy to watch now, but ten years ago this was hot stuff. I just don't get people sometimes. Thoughts?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-19-2006 @ 1:30PM
LC said...
Caruso was trying to negotiate a second season contract from $20,000 and episode to $100,00. CBS would only go as high as $80,000 in fear of alienating other cast members. A deal was reached where he would do 4 eps of the 2nd season then be written out gracefully. Since he used his popularity for films I suppose people thought he quit the show to do films, but rather it was due to pricing himself too high.
His first two films bombed so he went back to tv on a show called Michael Hayes that failed after one season. Supposedly he has always had a habit of being a humble guy on and off sets and he may work with David Milch on future projects, so there was no animosity between the two.
I just hate the way CSI Miami wastes his talents. From NYPD and even Kiss of Death, which got good reviews, but poor sales, he was a pretty good actor.
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6-19-2006 @ 1:49PM
elf said...
LC, it was ABC, not CBS.
Did he really only start at $20,000 an episode though? That sounds like peanuts for the lead in an hour-long drama, even for 1992. (Or was it '93?) That sounds right for some of the supporting cast, but not the lead. Now I imagine that Dennis Franz negotiated a raise after the first season as well, so it likely would have strained the budget to give both Caruso and Franz hefty increases.
But then there's this: I doubt Jimmy Smits came cheap either. Would Smits have accepted that much less than Caruso was asking? Smits was a solid, known quantity while Caruso was pretty much new to the public. Something there just seems fishy to me.
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6-19-2006 @ 6:26PM
LC said...
My bad. I had CBS on the brain since that is Caruso's current network. $20,000 per episode was pretty good for a realtive unknown like Caruso back then. This is the link where I got my info.
http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~sepinwal/faq.html
it's a page by Alan Sepinwall a television reporter for the Star Ledger from NJ.
CBS balked at the $100,000 salary for Caruso, not because it cost them so much, but because the entire cast were relatively unknown. Sure some of them have been in other things before, but they were basically part of a character driven show, so if they paid Caruso that kind of money, they all would have tried renegotiating their contracts. Maybe if he asked for $40,000 this wouldn't have happened since he was the lead after all.
Smits is another story. He had huge popularity from LA Law and was more established so the rest of the cast couldn't have much to stand on in asking for parity.
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