Homicide: Life on the Street
Shades of Gray
TV Flash files “Shades of Gray” as hour 110 of 122 in the TV Flash guide — Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999) on NBC, season 7, episode 10, aired 1999-01-08, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S07E10: listed hour 110 of 122 in the Homicide: Life on the Street guide, hour 10 of 22 in season 7. It aired 1999-01-08 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Kellerman, P.I., Part 2” (S07E09). Next is “Bones of Contention” (S07E11).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A white bus driver is beaten to death after he drives into a West Indian woman. In a nearby alley, a young black man is also found beaten to death. Racial tensions divide the Homicide squad as well as the city of Baltimore, but the true causes are not what they seem.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Shades of Gray sit in the Homicide: Life on the Street guide?
S07E10 is listed hour 110 of 122 — hour 10 of 22 in season 7, season 7 episode 10.
When did Homicide: Life on the Street S07E10 air?
Shades of Gray aired 1999-01-08 and is listed at 60 minutes.
What is it based on?
David Simon's nonfiction book about a year with Baltimore homicide detectives — reporting texture, not cop-show candy.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Baltimore detectives, handheld grit, and cases that refuse to tidy up for sweeps. Paul Attanasio developed David Simon's reporting into literary cop TV: Andre Braugher's Pembleton turning interrogation into theater, a red/black board, and moral ambiguity as house style. The missing link between Hill Street and The Wire — network crime that reads like a novel.
The useful first thing *Homicide: Life on the Street* does is refuse catharsis. Baltimore detectives work murders with handheld grit, a red/black name board, and moral ambiguity that will not tidy up for sweeps. Paul Attanasio developed David Simon's nonfiction *Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets* into NBC drama (1993–1999). Andre Braugher's Frank Pembleton turns interrogation rooms into theaters of intellect and rage. Yaphet Kotto, Kyle Secor, Richard Belzer, Clark Johnson, Melissa Leo: the unit as a city…
Open the Homicide: Life on the Street package · Season 7 hub
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