'NYPD Blue' Tested Limits of Network TV

March 1, 2005 — -- From the very first few seconds of its premiere in 1993, the hit ABC cop drama "NYPD Blue" changed what was acceptable to say and do on network television.

"Ipso this, you pissy little [expletive]," Detective Andy Sipowicz said to an assistant district attorney in that pilot episode.

Series co-creator Steven Bochco was convinced networks needed to take risks to compete with edgier fare on cable.

"I thought, 'If I can't find a way to revitalize this form, I'm going to be out looking for a real job,'" he said. "People were tuning out hour dramas on broadcast television in favor of seeing grittier, more realistic, more adult fare on cable and pay services."

The show tried to change the face of network television by presenting the grittier realities of life as a cop, including profanity and nudity. For that, it won 20 Emmy awards -- and a large number of critics. The show was strongly criticized by Christian conservative groups like the American Family Association. Fifty-seven ABC affiliates refused to air the premiere episode.

Steve Wheeler, general manager of affiliate WSIL in Harrisburg, Ill. -- one of the stations that refused to air the show -- told ABC's "Good Morning America" in 1993, "As a practical matter, if it's a huge success and it runs for 10 years, then I'd have to cave in at some point."

The show ran for 12 ½ years. Tonight's episode was the series finale, after which the members of the 15th detective squad will hand in their badges and guns, having fought long and hard for their side in the culture wars.

"When you watch television today, you are often getting a more realistic image in much of television drama because of what 'NYPD Blue' helped pioneer," said Chris Sterling, professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University.

But for conservative critics, that groundbreaking has not been a good thing.

"It helped paved the way for certain kinds of content to air in earlier hours of prime time, when kids are in the viewing audience and watching television," said Melissa Caldwell, director of research and publications for the advocacy group Parents Television Council.