I heard so many good things about this show, so I decided to watch on Hulu. Season one is boring. The plots seem lazy and uninteresting, and I'm not so hot about Detective Kelly (though I like Sipowitz)
Does the show pick up after Season 1?
I'm a big fan of LA Law, so I think I'll dig Jimmy Smits' role when he shows in NYPD Blue
YES...IT HITS IT'S STRIDE AND HAS IT'S BEST YEARS WITH SMITS PARTNERED WITH THE HOT TEMPERED RACIST SIPOWITZ...RICKY SCHROEDER WAS A MISTAKE THEY QUICKLY FIXED AND MARK PAUL GOSSELER DOES A DECENT JOB BRINGING US TO THE FINISH...AS THE SHOW GOES ON IT BECOMES THE SIPOWITZ SHOW REALLY THOUGH...NOT THAT I AM COMPLAINING...SIPOWITZ IS TOP TEN ALL TIME TV CHARACTERS FOR ME...I LOVE THAT DUDE.
sharePersonally, I like season one best. People love to make fun of David Caruso (based on the caricature he became in CSI Miami)...but in season one of NYPD Blue, he was one of the coolest characters on TV, past or present.
He exemplified what it means to be a stand-up guy. And he had a streetwise toughness that made him one heck of an effective cop—a truly good cop. And his partnership and chemistry with Andy was special.
I never found season one boring. There weren’t a lot of shootouts or car chases, but that’s not really what drove the NYPD Blue stories. It was more about solving the cases—the detective work. But I also liked the drama, learning more about the characters, and the running storylines that carried over from episode to episode (like the mob trying to get to Kelly...and eventually Internal Affairs as well).
The way Andy and Kelly had each other’s backs was the soul of the show. And the extent to which Kelly looked out for others was the heart—like how he took Martinez under his wing and mentored him, protected him. And the way he protected his ex wife without her even knowing.
Kelly was a straight shooter in a murky, dismal job. There’s a tragic irony that HE was the one IA so badly wanted to close in on and get rid of. And it was tragic that Andy played his last remaining cards trying to save him.
That’s part of what makes NYPD Blue such a great show. Great acting, great characters and great, true to life, hard-hitting stories. There are a lot of cop shows which now imitate that—but NYPD Blue blazed the trail and helped create the template (along with Hill St Blues, Miami Vice, etc.)
To answer your question, the seasons are all quite good. Many people consider the Jimmy Smitz seasons the best of the series. I encourage you to give it at least one more season.