Homicide: Life on the Street Video FAQ
Created and maintained by Laurel
Krahn (laurel@windowseat.org)
Updated in October 2006.
1. Is Homicide: Life on the Street available on DVD?
DVD sets are currently available for all seven seasons of Homicide. The reunion movie is also available on DVD. For more about these releases, see below. There are no plans at
this time for releases anywhere other than Region 1 (U.S. &
Canada). I'm told that
these discs are in fact Region 0 so can be played on DVD players all
over the world. All music is intact and the same as what originally aired. The Law & Order episodes that were part of crossovers are not included on the single season sets, but are part of the Complete Series set (see below); those episodes do air on cable TV fairly regularly and I try to always mention those airings in my TV Picks at www.tvpicks.net. |
 |
The Homicide: Life on the Street Complete Series Megaset is due out on November 14th, 2006 and would be a great Christmas gift for any Homicide (or TV) fan. You can now pre-order it from amazon.com or amazon.ca and other retailers. You can check out my review of the set at dvd.tvpicks.net. This set includes all seven seasons and Homicide: The Movie in a big file box; an extra disc is included which contains the Law & Order parts of the Homicide-Law & Order crossover episodes-- this is the only new content for the set, otherwise the content for the season sets is the same as the individual sets (though packaging differs so that they fit neatly in the file cabinet box). The discs themselves that contain the episodes are all identical to the discs in the previous sets, with the same extra features, etc. I did talk to someone at A&E Home Video about the possibility of them making the "extra disc" available separately for those of us who already have all or most of the season sets, but unfortunately they aren't able to do that (due to some aspect of the licensing agreement which allowed them to have the Law & Order episodes on this set). Bummer. My contact did arrange for a copy for me to give away to one lucky reader, visit the contests page at TVPicks.net for details on how to enter the contest. |
|
You can order the Season 1 & 2 set for a discount (and with free shipping in many cases) from amazon.com or from amazon.ca. It's also available for order from other online retailers and has been seen in stores such as Best Buy. The first DVD set includes all 13 episodes from the 1st and 2nd seasons of Homicide, plus some extras: commentary by Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson on the first episode ("Gone For Goode"), a 10+ minute featurette narrated by Richard Belzer featuring interviews with Fontana and Levison, biographies for cast and crew, a list of music featured in the first two seasons of the show, commercials for the series post Super Bowl premiere, and the To Catch A Killer: Homicide Detectives episode of the A&E series American Justice. |
 |
 |
The Season 3 DVD set is also available in the U.S. & Canada (Region 1). You can now order it from amazon.com and from amazon.ca. The Season 3 set includes all 20 episodes from the third season of Homicide: Life on the Street, plus some extras: commentary by Barry Levinson and Henry Bromell on the episode "The Gas Man;" a featurette containing interviews with Levinson, Bromell, Tom Fontana, David Simon and James Yoshimura; a list of music featured in the third season; and cast & crew biographies. Here's my review of the set. |
|
The Season 4 DVD set is available in the U.S. and Canada (Region 1). You can order the Season 4 DVD set from amazon.com or from amazon.ca. It is also available at other online and offline stores. This DVD set contains all 22 episodes from Season 4 of Homicide: Life on the Street. Note: It does not contain the Law & Order episode "Charm City" which was part of a crossover with the series that year (a story that concludes in the Homicide episode "For God and Country"). For what it's worth, I always let people know when that episode of Law & Order airs on cable in my TV picks at www.tvpicks.net. Extras:
"Homicide: Life in Season 4" -- an 17 minute featurette with interviews
with Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, Henry Bromell, David Simon, and James
Yoshimura (which is narrated by Isabella Hofmann); commentary by actor
Clark Johnson and writer Anya Epstein on the episode "The Hat"; song
listing; and cast and crew biographies |
 |
 |
The Season 5 DVD set is
available in the U.S. & Canada (Region 1). You can now order
it from amazon.com or order
from amazon.ca. The season 5
set has similar packaging to the previous sets. The set includes 22
episodes on six discs. Special features are: commentary by Eric
Overmyer and James Yoshimura on the episode "The Documentary,"
interviews with James Yoshimura and David Simon, and cast biographies.
The interviews are not part of a featurette as on the previous sets
(there isn't a featurette this time around). This set also will not
include song lists (my source says "there were no music cue sheets
available to verify songs against, so we are unable to include them"). |
|
The Season 6 DVD set is available in the U.S. and Canada (Region 1). You can order the Season 6 DVD set from amazon.com or from amazon.ca. It is also available at other online and offline stores. The season 6 set has similar packaging to the previous sets. The set includes 22 episodes on six discs. Special features are: commentary by writer James Yoshimura and director Gary Fleder on the episode "The Subway," and the documentary "Anatomy of a Homicide" (about the making of the Subway episode). This set does not include song lists (my source says "there were no music cue sheets available to verify songs against, so we are unable to include them"). |
The season 7 set is available in the U.S. and Canada (Region 1). You can order the set from amazon.com or from amazon.ca. Of course it is also available at other stores. The season 7 set has similar packaging to the previous sets. The set includes 22 episodes on six discs. Special features are: commentary by Tom Fontana, Julie Martin, and James Yoshimura on the series finale "Forgive Us Our Trespasses;" video of a panel discussion with Tom Fontana, Barry Levinson, James Yoshimura, and David Simon (in it they pick their favorite moments from the entire run of the series and talk about them); Barry Levinson's Acceptance Speech for the 2004 Video Software Dealer's Association Career Achievement Award; and the usual cast biographies. This set does
not
include song lists (my source says "there were no music cue sheets
available to verify songs against, so we are unable to include them"
for this season).
|
2. What episodes are available now?
Four
episodes are available on VHS in the United States:
"Gone for Goode" (the pilot)
"Every Mother's Son"
"A Doll's Eyes"
"The Subway"
All of these are also currently available on DVD.
The Homicide reunion movie is available on both VHS and DVD.
Seasons 1 & 2 are available on DVD, you can order the set from amazon.com or from amazon.ca [this episode guide lists which episodes were in seasons 1 & 2].
Season 3 is available on DVD, you can order it from amazon.com or from amazon.ca [Check the episode guide to see which episodes were in Season 3].
Season 4 is
available on DVD, you can order
it from amazon.com and/or amazon.ca.[Check
the episode
guide to see which episodes were in Season 4 or read my
review]
Season 5 is
available on DVD, you can order
it from amazon.com and/or amazon.ca.[Check
the episode
guide to see which episodes were in Season 5.]
Season 6 is available on DVD, you can order it from amazon.com and/or amazon.ca.[Check the episode guide to see which episodes were in Season 6.]
Season 7 is available on DVD, you can order it from amazon.com and/or amazon.ca.[Check the episode guide to see which episodes were in Season 7.]
3. Where can I buy these tapes & DVDs?
You should be able to find them in stores which carry tapes and DVDs as well as at shops which carry videos/DVDs for rent. If the sets are not in stock, they may still be able to order them for you.
The easiest
way to get them is to order them online (and if you order via the
links
at windowseat.org or tvpicks.net, you help keep this site online). You can order the
season sets via the links earlier on this page, you might also be
interested in ordering these DVD or tapes:
 |
This is the DVD release of the Homicide reunion movie. Sadly, there are no extra features on the DVD. I wouldn't recommend watching it until you've seen all or most of the episodes from seasons 1-7. Marked down not too long ago. [Order from amazon.com] [In Canada, order it from amazon.ca] The
Movie is also available on |
|
You can buy the award-winning episode "The Subway" on tape. Vincent D'Onofrio guest stars. Note that "The Subway" tape also includes the fabulous PBS documentary Anatomy of a Homicide: Life on the Street which is all about the making of the episode (and of the show). This episode and documentary is also included on the Season 6 DVD set. |
 |
 |
You can get a two-tape, three episode set from amazon.com, which contains "Gone for Goode," "Every Mother's Son," and "A Doll's Eyes." Plus about 15 minutes of behind-the-scenes stuff and interviews. These tapes contain the same content that was originally released on a three tape collector's set from NBC. The first episode is from season 1. The other two episodes are from seasons 3 & 4. [In Canada, order it from amazon.ca] |
Can't afford to buy the
DVDs and videos just now? They may be available to rent at your
local video store or to borrow from your library. If they aren't
available, ask if they will be made available. The more people express
the interest, the more likely they'll decide to carry them.
I also heartily recommend Netflix, which does have a huge selection of DVDs you can rent, including Homicide: Life on the Street and lots of other TV titles. You pay a monthly fee and get to have a given amount of DVDs out from their library at a time. The DVDs come to you in the mail and is very easy to use and quite cool. Shipping is free/included. You should be able to sign up for a free trial using the link below (if you do sign up for Netflix via my link, that's another cool way to support this site).
For more information:
As always, all things
Homicide-related can be found at The
Links site (including news on what the people who made the show are up
to now):
http://members.aol.com/hlotslinks/
This FAQ is available on the Web
(right here) at the address:
http://www.windowseat.org/homicide/videofaq.html
You might also like checking out my list of TV on DVD.
If you have additions comments or suggestions regarding this FAQ, please send them to laurel@windowseat.org.
Don't forget to visit www.tvpicks.net for all things TV!
Home / Homicide page / TV Picks
This page was updated on October 2, 2006 by Laurel Krahn who can be reached via email to laurel@windowseat.org.
Copyright ©1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Laurel Krahn unless otherwise noted.
