NYPD Blue Season 4
DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:
Season 4 of NYPD Blue is where the show was really firing on all cylinders. Jimmy Smits as Bobby Simone has true and visceral chemistry with partner Det. Andy Sipowicz played by 2X Emmy Award winner Dennis Franz who is still grieving the murder of his older son, while also providing for his wife D.A. Sylvia Costas (Sharon Lawrence) & baby boy Theo. Simone’s budding relationship with Det. Diane Russell (Kim Delaney) is put on hold while Diane has to face up to personal demons before making any kind of commitment.
A mid-season treat is in store for any fans of NBC drama “Law & Order: SVU” who will see Christopher Meloni in a sharply contrasting role of a street hood Jimmy Liery, who is the polar opposite of his well-known role of Elliott Stabler. While season 4 contains no major bombshell that changes the beloved 15th squad, the brilliant acting, writing, and directing gells this cast as the most iconic of the 12 seasons NYPD Blue. The sad fact is, they just don’t make them like this anymore.- Kory Kwakenat
This set should’ve rated five stars easily with my criteria. The show was at its peak, with great story lines, great characters and fantastic writing. The extras on the set were solid, with three commentaries, including one from two actresses from the show and two from producers. There was a featurette looking at the new characters and another focusing on the “Look” of NYPD Blue, which in and of itself was basically a character on the show.
What made this set so tough was the continued use of double-sided dual discs. I know that this saves money and without these types of disc, which were also used for season three, we may not have seen NYPD Blue after the first two seasons, but I just have to complain. I had one disc that the main menu wouldn’t pop up, which left me scratching my head on how to get past the first episode (which automatically played when I hit play). I finally had to go into the program portion and program one episode at a time for the final three episodes on that disc. In addition, there were a few episodes on a couple of discs where the action and sound weren’t in sync and others where the disc almost froze. I couldn’t locate any scratches, but I imagine they were there. This type of disc just screams for problems and unfortunately it happened on a great set of a great season.
The fourth season of Blue featured a few new characters in the 15th precinct, but the story still revolves around Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) and Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits), partners in the detective squad. The end of the previous season saw Sipowicz slide back into his drinking habits after the death of his son. While he is able to conquer that demon again, he finds himself dealing with more and more issues in the fourth year as he deals with being a parent again with wife Sylvia Costas (Sharon Lawrence). He helps fellow detective Diane Russell (Kim Delaney when she was at her hottest) keep away from the drinking and works with his partner to put away countless criminals. But he is still Sipowicz, the guy who certainly has some issues and they always seem to come out. Franz played this character to perfection and it would be hard to imagine anyone else playing that role. A highlight for the Sipowicz character in this season was the attraction of Jeri (guest star Debra Christoffersson), a PAA in the office to start the season. Her attraction to Sipowicz and her strange behavior made for some great lines and particularly facial moves from the veteran detective.
– Joshua Spaulding
DVD Wholesale Main Features:
Actors: Jimmy Smits, Dennis Franz, James McDaniel, Nicholas Turturro, Sharon Lawrence
Directors: Adam Nimoy, Brad Silberling, Daniel Sackheim, Davis Guggenheim, Donna Deitch
Writers: Steven Bochco, David Milch, Bill Clark
Format: NTSC, Color, Closed-captioned, Full Screen, Dolby
Language: English (Dolby Surround), French (Dolby Surround), Spanish (Dolby Surround)
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 4
Rated: NR-Not Rated
Studio: FOX
DVD Release Date: June 20, 2006
Run Time: 1001 minutes
ASIN: B000F2C75O
