An absolutely fantastic actor. He was in what my wife and I agree to as one of the ten best TV episodes ever, sitting comfortable alongside a couple each from ‘Breaking Bad’, 'The Wire', ‘The Sopranos’, 'Better Call Saul', and the finale of ‘Six Feet Under’.
He won two Emmys as Detective Frank Pembleton in ‘Homicide: Life In The Streets’. An incredibly intelligent, and at times overly arrogant homicide detective. I watched the show when I could when it first aired on Friday nights at 10pm. My wife and I watched the entire series during the initial airings of 'The Wire', and watched it again over the last decade. It was certainly ‘the best show that people didn’t see’, and, like ‘The Wire’, showed Baltimore, many warts and all. Always loved the cross over 'Law & Order' episodes, especially Monch and Lenny.
The series itself became the first to win three Peabody Awards for excellence in broadcast television. What a talented cast that show had throughout its run (from Season 5)
For the longest time, I had wanted to post the following in the 'Breaking Bad' thread, but never got around to it. Some should find it quite interesting.
1998, ‘Subway’, Season 6, Episode 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subway_(Homicide:_Life_on_the_Street)#:~:text=In%20the%20episode%2C%20John%20Lange,Lange%20in%20his%20final%20minutes.
The character played by Vincent D'Onofrio (Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Full Metal Jacket, Men In Black) ends up being trapped between a subway car and the platform. The ebb and flow of the situation, dialogue, etc is spellbinding. The victim is not a likeable or entirely sympathetic person. And Pembleton opens up a personal side not shown during the prior years. The episode won a Peabody award, and received Emmy nominations for best script and best guest performance (D'Onofrio)
Episode influences (Vince Gilligan, Bryan Cranston)from wiki
"Vincent D'Onofrio's character in "Subway" partially inspired the creation of the antagonist played by Bryan Cranston in "Drive", a sixth season episode of The X-Files, which first aired on November 15, 1998. In the episode, Cranston's character is unpleasant and anti-semitic, but he is dying throughout the episode, and screenwriter Vince Gilligan intended for the audience to sympathize with him despite his unlikeable qualities. Gilligan said that this was influenced by "Subway", which he called an "amazing episode". He said of D'Onofio's character: "The brilliant thing they did in this episode, the thing that stuck with me, was this guy's an asshole, the guy really is unpleasant, and yet at the end (you) still feel his humanity." The casting of Cranston in this role directly led Gilligan to eventually cast him as the lead in his television series Breaking Bad."
We watched that episode some time around when we'd finally watched BB. Worth checking out for the few that might not have been familiar with the story.
A few 'Homicide' episodes are available only on youtube. This episode has one of those annoying 'reaction' cam shots available. No streaming. A real frickin pity
The only way to watch ‘Homicide’ is to purchase the DVDs or find a copy at your local library. Included with Season 6 was a PBS documentary about the writing and filming of ‘Subway’. All are worth searching out.
Oh, and 'The Waterfront Bar' in the TV series is still open in Fells Point.
RIP, Mr. Brougher
Topic: Celebrity death thread (Read 24010 times)
