| Season Number: | 2 |
| Bgcolour: |
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| Network: | NBC |
| Num Episodes: | 4 |
| Prev Season: | Season 1 |
| Next Season: | Season 3 |
| Episode List: | List of Homicide: Life on the Street episodes |
The second season of , an American police procedural drama television series, originally aired in the United States between January6 and January 27, 1994. Due to low Nielsen ratings during the first season, NBC executives decided to order only a four-episode season, after which they would evaluate the ratings and decide whether to renew the show. Homicide was moved to a new timeslot of Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST, temporarily replacing the legal drama L.A. Law. NBC requested several changes from the series, including fewer episode subplots and less camera movements and jump cuts.
The entire Homicide cast returned for the second season. The uncertainty over Homicide's future was stressful for the cast and crew and the logistics of scheduling the filming around the actors' schedules was difficult. Daniel Baldwin publicly criticized NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield over the matter, and it was initially reported Ned Beatty would not return at all. The second season was the last to include original cast member Jon Polito, who was reportedly dismissed because NBC officials were unhappy with his physical appearance. Polito was publicly critical of the show after his dismissal.
The second season marked the debut of Jean de Segonzac as director of photography and Chris Tergesen as music coordinator. The season premiere, "Bop Gun", was the last of the four episodes filmed, but it was the first to be broadcast due to a guest appearance by Robin Williams, which NBC hoped would lead to improved ratings. "Bop Gun" differed from other Homicide episodes because it focused entirely on one story: the murder of a tourist and its impact on her husband, played by Williams. The episodes "See No Evil" and "Black and Blue" featured a suspected police shooting, which was based on a real-life incident in David Simon's book .
In addition to Williams, several actors made guest appearances throughout the second season, including Julianna Margulies, Wilford Brimley, Isaiah Washington, Adrienne Shelly and a 13-year-old Jake Gyllenhaal. Homicide received generally positive reviews during the season, and the show received one Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Williams. The "Bop Gun" script won a Writers Guild of America Award. Homicide was often compared to the ABC police drama series NYPD Blue, which Baldwin called "the knockoff of Homicide". While ratings improved during the second season, NBC still demanded further changes to the show before committing to a third season. The first and second seasons of Homicide were released together in a four-DVD box-set on May 27, 2003.
When first shown on network television, Bop Gun aired out of order as the season premiere. The DVD present the episodes in the correct chronological order, restoring all storylines and character developments.
Nielsen ratings for Homicide: Life on the Street had gradually declined throughout the first season, leaving the show at high risk of cancellation by the time the season concluded.[1] [2] NBC executives asked for several refinements—including fewer episode subplots and less camera movements and jump cuts—before approving a second season. Executive producer Tom Fontana said he was willing "to do anything to keep NBC from forgetting us",[3] although executive producer Barry Levinson said the show would maintain its realistic visual style, claiming, "We want a camera that's almost a participant in the show." Homicide was ultimately renewed, but the producers slightly toned down the show's bleak visual style and hand-held photography motif, and focused more strongly on single stories rather than multiple subplots.[4] [5] Fontana said, "We were experimenting with our first nine episodes. Whenever you try something new, you tend to err on the side of breaking ground. But we'd rather have more people watching, so the colors and lighting are slightly brighter, and the camera movements are not as jarring."[4] However, both Levinson and Fontana insisted the changes were not entirely due to network pressure, but rather were evolutionary developments for the series.[6]
NBC ordered a four-episode second season, which would be broadcast in January 1994 as a mid-year replacement.[7] [8] A decision about whether to renew the show for a third season would then be made based on how those four episodes performed in the ratings.[9] [10] David P. Kalat, author of Homicide: Life on the Street – The Unofficial Companion, credited NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield with that move, although Levinson claimed NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer was behind the decision.[11] Ohlmeyer said he believed a better timeslot, less dense stories and less hand-held photography would attract more viewers and help the show succeed better: "For it to succeed long-term, there's a humanity that needs to be brought to the characters. There's more here than there was last year."[12] Littlefield said of Homicide, "It's a show we think has tremendous potential that was not fully realized in the first nine episodes. And that's why we want to make more."
Homicide was moved from its previous timeslot of Wednesdays at9 p.m. EST to a new time on Thursdays at 10 p.m. Levinson and the other series producers considered this an extremely positive move for the show,[13] as Homicide suffered greatly in the ratings on Wednesdays due to competition from the highly rated ABC comedy block featuring Home Improvement and Coach.[14] Even during the first season, Levinson often said the series was truly designed for a 10 p.m. timeslot. Homicide took the timeslot previously held by the legal drama L.A. Law,[15] which was placed on a six-week hiatus from December 23 until early February.[16] [17] With some critics claiming L.A. Law had declined in quality, the hiatus led to speculation that it would be canceled and Homicide would replace it.[18] [19] This led to some tension during an NBC reception when L.A. Law star Corbin Bernsen approached Homicide actor Richard Belzer and shouted expletives at him, yelling, "You stole our timeslot!"[20]
The producers of Homicide said the decision to evaluate the series after a four-episode season placed tremendous pressure on the staff of the show. Fontana said one-hour dramas need time to fully develop and allow audiences to become familiar with the characters.[21] [22] Fontana expressed frustration with NBC in some news interviews, claiming the networks seemed to lack the courage to either cancel or renew it: "They will run it in a 10 p.m. time period for a month and then they'll kiss us goodbye... I'm used to this kind of treatment from NBC. I'm a little surprised they'd treat Barry Levinson the same way they'd treat me."[23] In other interviews, however, Fontana said he saw the decision as a sign of support: "This is not just a casual action on NBC's part. It's a real statement to me that we have a possibility to return."[24] Levinson said he believed "four shots are better than nothing", adding:
What I learned is that it is very hard for a network to make a real commitment. A hit-and-run sensibility is prevalent... In all fairness to NBC, this is a tougher kind of show than any other show they carry. It is different, and no one is going to endorse different in this world, no one celebrates different.