Reviews The second season received generally positive reviews. "Bop Gun" was particularly acclaimed; it was named one of the ten best episodes of the series by
The Baltimore Sun, and the
Star Tribune called Williams' performance one of the ten best guest star moments in television history. Gail Pennington of the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch said the second season was an improvement over the first, which she said was excellent but "tended to demand an awful lot from viewers". Pennington said the toned down visual style and stronger emphasis on single stories better focused the show, adding: "
Homicide is great TV, and NBC believes in it enough to give it what may be the network's best time slot." Bob Langford of
The News & Observer called
Homicide "absolutely brilliant" and praised it for focusing not on the crimes but on the effects of it, as well as the realistic themes regarding race, such as concerns in "Bop Gun" that the murder would deter white tourists from visiting Baltimore. Langford said it was occasionally preachy, but said, "Sometimes, a good sermon is what we need. Amazing that one this powerful can come from a TV show." Rick Kogan, television critic with the
Chicago Tribune, called the show "wholly original" and an example of how good television entertainment can be. He praised the ensemble cast and interesting characters, and said the show would be renewed "if there's any justice in TV". Ray Richmond of the
Los Angeles Daily News praised NBC for giving
Homicide a second chance, comparing it to the days when NBC stuck with the comedy series
Cheers even though it ranked last in the ratings during its first season. Richmond said of
Homicide: "This is also one of the final opportunities to see a television network stick with a struggling show for no better reason than it deserves to be stuck with. In the bottom line-driven 1990s, that's become as rare as quality itself. " Steven Cole Smith with the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram said of the evaluation period during
Homicide's second season: "If you don't watch it, you may lose your right to complain that there's never anything good on TV." He called it "a gritty, atmospheric police series" and complimented it for showing not only gratuitous violence but the consequences of it. Robert Bianco of the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette praised the show and said the decision to focus on fewer subplots might help. Bianco said, "Let's hope the changes work, because
Homicide is too good to lose, and its vision of civilization is too troubling to shunt aside."
Baltimore Sun reporter David Bianculli praised the show's writers for being willing to place their characters in ethically questionable positions, adding: "Please watch this series; it's so good, I don't mind pleading." Tom Jicha of
South Florida Sun-Sentinel called it "an hour about as fine as there is on the tube" with great writing and camera-work. Jicha said, "It would be a senseless act of violence against superb TV for those who claim to appreciate fine drama to kill this show by turning the dial." Hal Boedeker, television critic with
The Miami Herald, strongly praised the series, particularly "Bop Gun", which he called "the highest order for network TV". Boedeker called the writing, direction and acting "first-rate" and declared
Homicide the better choice over
NYPD Blue because it did not resort to gimmicks like the nudity featured in the latter show.
NYPD Blue The second season of
Homicide drew several comparisons to
NYPD Blue, an
ABC police drama series that had debuted in September 1993. It received a large amount of publicity and better ratings than
Homicide, which some reviewers attributed to the violence and nudity featured in the show. Like
Homicide,
NYPD Blue featured an ensemble cast and intertwined subplots, and commentators suggested its success may have encouraged NBC to support
Homicide. Levinson said he was not deterred by comparisons to
NYPD Blue because
Homicide debuted before that series.
NYPD Blue co-creator
Steven Bochco took exception to that characterization, saying he believed his reputation and experience in television proved he was capable of conceiving his own material. Bochco said: I don't think it's a knock-off. It was conceived as its own show. I wish
Homicide the best – and they should be so lucky as to do as well as we're doing right now." Pete Schulberg of
The Oregonian wrote, "Forget all the commotion about
NYPD Blue.
Homicide delivers without the lewd language and skin shots. It depicts violence in a most compelling way: You don't see it. You just feel it." Bob Wisehart of
The Sacramento Bee said, "The bottom line is that while
NYPD Blue is a fine show—it was on my 10-best list for 1993–
Homicide is better. There's been nothing like it since the heyday of
Hill Street Blues." Elaine Liner, television critic with the
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, who called
Homicide "as rewarding an hour of serious, quality television as you could ask for", praised it for highlighting quality writing rather than gimmicks like the nudity from
NYPD Blue, and praised it for fleshing out not only the detectives and victims, but the suspects too, like in "Bop Gun". The rating placed
Homicide among the top ten network television Nielsen ratings for the week, and outperformed the ratings of
L.A. Law, which normally filled the 10 p.m. Thursday timeslot. and said he expected the series to return for a third season if the viewership remained strong. Littlefield said of the
Homicide ratings: These are outstanding numbers for a dramatic television series. If we can keep a reasonable level of audience, we believe in the work, we believe in the creative team we think we have, perhaps the most outstanding ensemble cast in all of television. We just would like to see continued signs of life. The other three episodes of the season did not match the viewership of "Bop Gun", but they were nevertheless considered strong ratings for the show, better than past
Homicide episodes and the average rating for
L.A. Law.
Homicide's improved ratings in the Thursday night timeslot fueled speculation that
L.A. Law might be canceled and
Homicide would take its place. Warren Littlefield denied such claims, believing the success of one series did not necessarily have to mean the cancellation of the other. Outgoing cast member Polito publicly decried these changes, claiming the show was going to change from a drama into a "soap opera". It was the only Emmy nomination
Homicide: Life on the Street received in the
46th Primetime Emmy Awards; the series received four nominations the previous year. Williams lost the Emmy to
Richard Kiley for his performance in the
CBS drama series
Picket Fences. "Bop Gun" won a
Writers Guild of America Award for
Best Screenplay of an Episodic Drama. It defeated competing episodes of
Northern Exposure and
NYPD Blue, as well as another second season
Homicide episode, "A Many Splendored Thing". ==DVD release==