Before David Simon debuted his groundbreaking socio-political tapestry “The Wire” to audiences and helped garner the prestige HBO now only reserves for “Game of Thrones” and superhero spinoffs, he wrote the book on the world of crime and law enforcement in Baltimore. Published in 1991, his non-fiction book “Homicide: A Year of Killing Streets” pools two years of research from Simon’s time spent observing the Baltimore Police Department, which itself followed four years spent on the police beat for The Baltimore Sun newspaper. Wishing to adapt the book into a feature film, Simon got a copy to filmmaker and Baltimore native Barry Levinson, who felt the material was better suited to a TV series.
Levinson shared with Paul Attansio, a former Washington Post film critic whose would go on to write the Oscar-nominated “Quiz Show,” as well as “Donnie Brasco,” and together the team brought the project to NBC, where it was picked up to series in 1993 under the title “ Homicide: Life on the Street .” Featuring an unvarnished look at the lives of a fictionalized version of Baltimore Police Department’s homicide unit, the series was a critical darling and managed to run for seven seasons despite consistently poor viewership ratings. However, despite amassing awards recognition and solid reviews each season, following the 2000 TV movie that concluded the series, outside of DVD copies, it has been largely unavailable, with no streamer able to carry episodes due to.