Nypd Blue

For the past two weeks, Dennis Franz has been proving all over again why he's one of the most powerful actors on television. On tonight's season finale of "NYPD Blue," Sipowicz struggles to hold on after the death of his son."The Simpsons" (6 p.m.-6: 30 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- Jay Sherman, the Jon Lovitz-voiced star of "The Critic," is among the judges at the annual Springfield film festival."Roseanne" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- Recovered from his heart attack, Dan returns home to a strict new diet and a strict taskmaster in Roseanne.

The death of 48-year-old screenwriter David Mills, who won an Emmy for his work on the Baltimore production of HBO's "The Corner," hit members of the Maryland- Hollywood TV and film communities hard Wednesday. Mr. Mills, who was born in Maryland and started his writing career as a reporter at the University of Maryland student-run newspaper The Diamondback, collapsed Tuesday in New Orleans on the set of the HBO drama "Treme." He died in a New Orleans hospital, according to series creator David Simon.

Intent on big-screen stardom, David Caruso leaves "NYPD Blue" and his Detective John Kelly character behind after tonight, exiting in an episode ominously titled "Dead and Gone."To guarantee the maximum curiosity tune-in (10 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13), ABC is being hush-hush about the details of Kelly's departure and no preview tape was provided critics. ABC's synopsis reads: "The future of Detective John Kelly with the force is finally and irrevocably decided." And in two weeks Jimmy Smits joins the show as the new lead detective/hunk.

The death of 48-year-old screenwriter David Mills, who won an Emmy for his work on the Baltimore production of HBO's "The Corner," hit members of the Maryland- Hollywood TV and film communities hard yesterday. Mills, who was born in Maryland and started his writing career as a reporter at the University of Maryland student-run newspaper The Diamondback, collapsed Tuesday in New Orleans on the set of the HBO drama "Treme." He died in a New Orleans hospital, according to series creator David Simon.

Tonight's the night: David Caruso exits from "NYPD Blue," taking the character of John Kelly with him. As TV "buzz" goes, it's the loudest buzz of the season to date: Be there, or be unaware.* "Full House" (8-8:30 p.m., Channel 13) -- Spending her profits from lemonade sales, Michelle (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) purchases and brings home a miniature donkey. Dad (Bob Saget) is upset. ABC.* "Avalanche" (8-10 p.m., Channel 45) -- As narrator William Conrad intoned on one of my favorite episodes of "The Bullwinkle Show," "Avalanche is better than none."

At last, a busy day. Watch for reports about today's multiracial elections in South Africa. Then choose from among a well-intentioned anti-violence special on CBS and Fox, an old "NYPD Blue" and so on. But beware: programming today and tomorrow on the broadcast networks and news channels could be pre-empted by coverage of events leading up to former President Richard M. Nixon's funeral.* "The Dreamer of Oz" (8-10 p.m., WRC, Channel 4) -- John Ritter stars as the fanciful writer, whose life story is told -- and whose imaginings are brought to life cleverly and seamlessly.

Had ABC not switched "Home Improvement" and "Roseanne," we might have witnessed a truly bizarre piece of competitive scheduling tonight: ABC's real "Roseanne" opposite Fox's ersatz Roseanne: An Unauthorized Biography."

Amid all the talk of new series, it is easy to forget about the old. One of the oldest network series, NYPD Blue, returns for another season tonight, and I am happy to report there is still much life in this venerable cop drama from Steven Bochco. The secret of success for NYPD Blue is a simple one: Stick with Sipowicz - Dennis Franz's Detective Andy Sipowicz, every bit as much a television classic as any of the great British detectives like Inspector Morse. Enjoy him now, because we are really going to miss this guy when he's gone.

It's reality check time tonight for all those viewers who've psyched themselves into believing that David Caruso wasn't really all that good, and that his Detective John Kelly won't really be missed when he leaves "NYPD Blue" in three weeks.Caruso's going to break your self-deluded little hearts tonight with his performance in the season premiere of "NYPD Blue" at 10 on WJZ (Channel 13). He is so, so good -- and it hurts so much to admit it now that he's spit on our emotional bond to Kelly and opted for a big screen career.

After a dozen seasons and 260 episodes on the air, NYPD Blue will bow out March 1, at the end of February sweeps. ABC, which announced earlier this year that this season would be the last for Blue, will end the venerable cop show with a two-hour episode. The network is also sticking to its promise to air the final season without repeats. After an original episode tonight, Blue will take two weeks off - including one for the broadcast of college football's Orange Bowl on Jan. 4 - then return for a final run of eight episodes starting Jan. 11. Other than the date and its duration, details of the finale are being kept quiet.

I n Theresa Rebeck's 2007 play " Mauritius," Bay Theatre Company offers an edgy contrast to this season's earlier comfortable comedies, "Sylvia" and "Harvey." To create a variety of exciting theater within this intimate 83-seat space requires rare insight and no lack of courage. Playwright Rebeck describes the plot on her Web site: "Filled with scams and double-crosses, 'Mauritius' tells the story of two half-sisters vying for the rights of a recently inherited (and dazzlingly valuable)

We'd much rather have people think of us as Sex and the City than NYPD Blue or CSI: New York." - GEORGE FERTITTA, a longtime advertising executive who has been recruited by New York City to revamp its "brand" at home and especially abroad; a new multimillion-dollar global marketing campaign will seek to change the Big Apple's image as a dangerous, expensive and impolite city

HILL STREET BLUES: SEASON ONE / / Fox Home Entertainment / $39.98 Outside of Dragnet, the 1952 series starring Jack Webb that gave birth to the genre, there is not another TV cop drama equal in stature to Hill Street Blues. The watershed production that made its debut on NBC in 1981 arrives on DVD Tuesday with all 17 episodes from Season 1 -- and commentary on three of them by co-creator Steven Bochco. This is the series for which the term "gritty cop drama" -- used to describe virtually every urban crime show, from NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street to ABC's NYPD Blue -- was invented.

Here's your chance to play armchair detective. Consider these clues. In the series in question: The good guys operate out of a cavernous headquarters equipped with computers and fancy-schmancy spy gadgetry. They don't blink at circumventing the law to get results. There are secret love affairs going on among the employees. Loyalties within the organization are tenuous, and there's at least one mole deep inside. Their cases have a time-sensitive urgency. The producers use multiple images and on-screen IDs to help viewers keep track of who's who. OK, name that show.

Poor Vic Mackey. First, he lost all that money from the Armenian money train. Then he lost his elite Strike Team and was busted back to grunt-level detective duty. And now, he's got a new boss who sits him down her first day on the job and says, "You've got one week to get your [expletive] together" - or things are going to get worse. Even Mackey (Michael Chiklis), the rogue street cop and master of precinct-house insubordination on FX's The Shield, isn't eager to challenge this lady, Capt.

As NYPD Blue fades to black with tonight's episode, we take a fond look back at the revolving door of characters who passed through the 15th Precinct during the show's 12-year run. They came, they loved, they fought crime, they drank too much, they bared their bottoms and - with the exception of mainstay Dennis Franz, who played Detective Andy Sipowicz - they eventually left the show. Here's where some of the Blue's crew ended up. David Caruso (1993-1994) The first season of Blue propelled Caruso into superstardom.

There's an above-average CBS docudrama on tap tonight, which in itself is some kind of rarity. However, the best bet of all is the second episode of ABC's "NYPD Blue," which dispenses with most of the eyebrow-raising ploys and gets straight down to business, spinning another chapter in the best dramatic story line of the past few years.* Full House (8-8:30 p.m., WJZ) -- Last week on the premiere of the CBS sitcom "Dave's World," the plot revolved around how the dad dealt with a child's reluctance to play in a local soccer league.

Yesterday, we had the first new TV series of 1995. Tonight we have the year's third new telemovie (the networks unveiled the first two Sunday), as well as new episodes of "Frasier" and "NYPD Blue."* "Wings" (8-8:30 p.m., Channel 11) -- For some reason, perhaps that of its affable leads, this series manages to get renewed, even though what it brings to the table is somewhat meager. Tonight, though, should be worth a look: Valerie Mahaffey of "The Powers That Be" is a guest star, for the second time, as a somewhat unstable woman with a crush on Joe (Tim Daly)

After a dozen seasons and 260 episodes on the air, NYPD Blue will bow out March 1, at the end of February sweeps. ABC, which announced earlier this year that this season would be the last for Blue, will end the venerable cop show with a two-hour episode. The network is also sticking to its promise to air the final season without repeats. After an original episode tonight, Blue will take two weeks off - including one for the broadcast of college football's Orange Bowl on Jan. 4 - then return for a final run of eight episodes starting Jan. 11. Other than the date and its duration, details of the finale are being kept quiet.

LOS ANGELES - Andy Sipowicz doesn't want to die. More precisely, Dennis Franz, who has played the ornery detective for 11 seasons on NYPD Blue, doesn't want him to die. NYPD Blue will end its ABC run this coming season. There's a slim chance it could get an 11th-hour reprieve, according to new ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson. "But right now, we're really planning on making this a fantastic season to send the show off." This is fine with Franz. "I'm ready ... for the show to end. I'm ready for Sipowicz to end."