August must-watch: Homicide: Life on the Street on Peacock

There are a lot of streaming shows coming in August but one of the biggest is a TV classic finally making its streaming debut! Find out when you can watch episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street!

There have been a score of amazing crime shows on TV over the years. Yet Homicide: Life on the Street was something different. Premiering in January 1993 on NBC, the show was unlike anything on TV at the time. It wasn’t just the harder cases and the darker takes; it was filmed in a gritty style that felt fresh and exciting. Based on the book by former crime reporter David Simon, who helped produce with acclaimed director Barry Levinson, the show approached cops as truly flawed individuals who often had to harden themselves against the horrors they saw on the streets.

Each episode was a procedural with the cops handling a couple of murder cases but, showing Simon’s realistic take, quite often they would fail to properly close the case and have to see the killer walk free. That was a stunning departure but it worked out well. 

The show was never a ratings hit, but it was one of the most critically acclaimed series of its time. Filmed on location in Baltimore, the series earned numerous accolades, including three Peabody Awards and Emmys, although it was shockingly never nominated for Best Drama Series. NBC did try to push it with crossovers with Law & Order. 

A key reason for the success was one of the best casts a TV drama could hope for. The highlight was the late, great Andre Braugher as Frank Pembleton, the detective whose interrogations of suspects were highlights of any episode. It boosted Braughter to stardom and won him a well-earned Emmy Award for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

There was also Richard Belzer introducing his role as the sardonic, conspiracy-minded detective John Munch. Belzer would not only play Munch on Law & Order: SVU but set a record by appearing as the character in ten series. 

The rest of the cast included Yaphet Kotto as Lieutenant Al Giardello, Daniel Baldwin, Reed Diamond, Kyle Secor, Ned Beatty, Michelle Forbes, Jon Seda, Michael Michelle, Callie Thorne, Giancarlo Esposito and future Oscar winner Melissa Leo. 

That’s not including numerous great guest stars from Robin Williams in an acclaimed turn as a man whose wife is killed on a family visit to Steve Buscemi, Vincent D’Onofrio, Edie Falco, Marcia Gay Harden, Julianna Marguiles, James Earl Jones and scores of future Law & Order actors. 

The series ran seven seasons and 122 episodes, ending in 1999 with a 2000 movie capping it off, bringing back scores of past cast members. However, its streaming debut has been long delayed until now.

Why has it taken so long for Homicide: Life on the Street to hit streaming?

While all seven seasons of the show have been available on DVD and some cable channels, it hasn’t reached streaming due to numerous rights issues. Back in the early 1990s, it was much easier for a network show to use a lot of music from various artists without worrying about paying rights and permission fees. 

That’s been a stumbling block for many TV shows to reach streaming, such as Moonlighting, which only hit Hulu in 2023. Back in 2023, Simon talked on Twitter about the problems, as clearing all those rights issues with the artists was tricky. He also added that replacing the music with generic turns might throw off the tempo of the show.

"There is a lot of licensed music in the show from a vast array of artists/ They didn’t pay for future platforms. And do you know what? Artists deserve to be paid for their work earning money for corporations on various platforms...Film is carefully cut to tempo, melody and theme of music especially in montage sequences. You can sub anything for anything. And f–k it up."

Thankfully, it appears the issues have finally been cleared and all seven seasons of Homicide and the movie will premiere on Peacock on August 19. Not only that, the show will be remastered to 4K and UHD, letting the visuals pop even better. It's a great chance to find some great stories.

What are the must-watch episode of Homicide: Life on the Street?

Any episode of Homicide can be fantastic so narrowing it down from 122 episodes is tough. However, these stand as some amazing must-watch stories:

* “Three Men and Adena” (Season 1, Episode 5): The show’s first great episode has Pembleton and Bayliss given only 12 hours to interrogate a murder suspect before they have to let him go. It’s the first showcase to Andre Braugher’s magnificent performance that put the show on the map.

* “The Subway” (Season 6, Episode 7): Vincent D’Onoforio turns in an amazing role as a man who’s crushed between a train and the platform and will die the moment the train is moved. Thus, the cops have the intriguing challenge of interviewing a live murder victim with D’Onoforio’s performance as a man who knows he’s doomed heart-wrenching to watch to add to a stunning piece.

* “Prison Riot” (Season 5, Episode 3): Winning an Emmy for writing, this has the cops investigating a murder during a prison riot with no shortage of suspects. Meanwhile, Bayliss tries to help an inmate which leads to a tragic turn.

* “The City That Bleeds” (Season 3, Episode 12): When three squad members are gunned down serving a warrant, the entire Baltimore PD are out to find the guilty parties. It’s a gripping turn by Braugher and would serve to write off one of the cops for an important episode of the show.

* “The Documentary” (Season 5, Episode 11): Before such episodes became commonplace, this was a fun episode in which the cops watched a documentary about their investigation into a tough murder case, breaking new ground for police dramas.

* “Colors” (Season 3, Episode 19): Usually good partners, Bayliss and Pembleton are on opposite sides after Tim’s cousin shoots a Turkish student. The episode retells the events through various viewpoints and Tim’s loyalty to his cousin might blind him to the truth in a powerful hour.

* “Kaddish” (Season 5 Episode 17): Munch gets a big spotlight when an old high school fame is murdered, causing him to question his own faith.

* “Crosetti” (Season 3, Episode 6): When one cop ends up dead, the others are near obsessed trying to prove it was murder rather than suicide so he gets full honors. It brings up issues of faith of the cops as well as rocked as they all have to face their own mortality

* “Bob Gun” (Season 2, Episode 1): Robin Williams turns in an amazing dramatic role as a father whose family trip to Baltimore ends in the murder of his wife. Williams puts away his usual comedy to show the grieving man and how he feels about cops cracking jokes during the case. It shows Williams’ amazing dramatic chops and fitting in surprisingly well on the show.

“Betrayal” (Season 5, Episode 12): Bayliss takes the lead in the case of a murdered girl, which brings up his history of abuse for a great character study.

Thus, for fans of the original series, it’s finally the chance to enjoy the show in full and relieve its best episodes. For newcomers, it’s a chance to discover one of the best TV cop shows ever made and in a fine new picture. From the storylines to the cast, Homicide: Life on the Street remains a TV classic and finally having a streaming home. 

Homicide: Life on the Street seasons 1-7 is streaming on Peacock on Aug. 19.