All Rise...

Nobody's picked Judge P.S. Colbert out of a lineup yet. Yet.

Editor's Note

Our reviews of NYPD Blue: Season Three (published September 20th, 2006), NYPD Blue: Season Five (published February 2nd, 2014), NYPD Blue: Season Six (published August 23rd, 2014), and NYPD Blue: Season Seven (published October 14th, 2014) are also available.

The Charge

"If you need us, we'll be out busting our asses, looking for the guy who stabbed you."
—Detective Greg Medavoy (Gordon Clapp), to a particularly uncooperative victim.

The Case

I'm beat. Exhausted.

I first caught the case about a week ago, but all too soon, the case caught me, and it wouldn't let go. I became positively obsessed: poring over the evidence day and night, living from one file to the next, all the while neglecting family and friends, while subsisting entirely on a diet of takeout food and energy drinks; sleeping two hours per night, if that…

O.K., here's what: there are significant changes in the duty roster yet again, with Season Eight ushering in a particularly photogenic bunch. Following Detective Kirkendall's abrupt exit in the Season Seven ender, the squad plugs in another blonde, named Connie McDowell (Charlotte Ross, Drive Angry). There's also new A.D.A. Valerie Haywood (Garcelle Bauvais, Franklin and Bash), and Lieutenant Tony Rodriguez (Esai Morales, La Bamba), a mid-season replacement for Arthur Fancy (James McDaniel, Detroit 1-8-7), who gets kicked upstairs to Captain's rank.

"Tell you this—he's not too hard on the eye," McDowell says, in appraisal of the new boss. Right back atcha, detective!

Maybe it's this new influx of hotties; maybe it's just something in the air, but there's an inordinate amount of romantic and/or sexual tension running through the squad lately, with booty calls for A.D.A. Hayward, detectives Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), Jones (Henry Simmons), and most interestingly, Russell (Kim Delaney) and Sorenson (Rick Schroeder):

Russell: I'm old enough to be your mother.
Sorenson: So, when did you have me, when you were six?

Don't worry, NYPD Blue fans—there's still plenty of rape, murder, and general blunt force trauma to slake your bloodlust. Among the notable skells, perps, and DOAS: Kerry Washington (Scandal), Nick Offerman (Parks And Recreation), Debra Monk (Nero Wolfe), Scott Cohen (Law and Order: Trial By Jury), Sheeri Rappaport (CSI) and Bing's granddaughter Denise Crosby (Ray Donovan). I also feel obligated to give special mention to moonlighting actor Harold Sylvester (An Officer And A Gentleman), who scripted the amazing "Love Hurts" episode.

The presentation here is decidedly so-so. Shout! Factory delivers another no-nonsense set of standard def 1.33:1 full-frame transfers that looked pretty good, though—as I did with the Season Seven set—I noticed some slight flickering at the top of the frame in some instances. The Dolby 2.0 stereo was somewhat lacking here, however, making the lack of subtitles all the more inexcusable. Given that, the complete lack of extras makes sense, I guess.

Clocking in at an even twenty, NYPD Blue: Season Eight may be two episodes lighter than usual, but why quibble? The quality of these more than makes up for the slighter quantity. I first signed onto this show when Season Five arrived in the mail for review, and I've been gasping with astonishment ever since. Despite the fact that, within the relatively short space of four years, the principal cast has experienced a more than fifty percent turnover, the series continues to improve. I can't wait to see what happens next.

The Verdict

Are you friggin' kidding me?!

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