NYPD Blue Picked Up For 10th Season

ABC announced that Steven Bochco’s police drama NYPD Blue will be back for its tenth season in the fall. This news comes as a blessing to true Blue fans who worried that the show may not return after ABC and Bochco argued over the show’s time slot. When ABC announced its 2001 fall line-up, Blue was moved from its home of Tuesdays at 10pm to Wednesdays, pitting the gritty police drama against the ever popular Law & Order. Bochco was so enraged by the move he threatened to "jump networks." ABC agreed to keep Blue on Tuesdays and the show was put in the ultracompetitive 9pm time slot against Frasier and the freshman comedy Scrubs. Blue has remained strong in the ratings against CBS’ The Guardian, Fox’s 24 and the WB’s Smallville. Blue is also Tuesday’s highest rated drama with the 18-49 demographic.

Susan Lyne, ABC’s newly crowned entertainment president, said in a statement, "In one of the most competitive time slots of the week, Blue remains a powerful drama. Steven, Dennis [Franz] and the rest of the amazingly talented cast and crew continue to produce one of the most compelling and riveting dramas on television today, and we couldn’t be happier knowing the show will be back for another season." Blue has won 19 Emmy’s with a total of 82 Emmy nominations, including Best Drama in 1995. The show, which made its debut on September 21, 1993, is one of the few shows including, Law & Order and ER to find critical and ratings success with such a high cast turn-over. Dennis Franz, who plays Detective Andy Sipowicz, remains the only original cast member. David Caruso, who played Sipowicz’s first partner, jumped ship after the first season with hopes of big screen fame. He was in that one movie…uh, what was it called? Good move, Caruso. He was followed by Jimmy Smits and then Rick Schroeder, of Silver Spoons fame, but both of their characters bit the dust. Sipowicz’s new partner is played by ex-Saved By the Bell-er, Mark-Paul Gosselaar.

NYPD Blue ranks as one of the longest-running prime-time shows on TV. NBC’s Gunsmoke holds the record with a 20 year run and NBC has commissioned Law & Order for a 15 year run through 2005. All new Blue episodes (20 in all) will air from January to May next year.