to renew the show for a third season would then be made based on how those four episodes performed in the ratings. David P. Kalat, author of Homicide: Life on the Street – The Unofficial Companion, credited NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield with that move, although Levinson claimed NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer was behind the decision. Ohlmeyer said he believed a better timeslot, less dense stories and less hand-held photography would attract more viewers and help the show succeed better: "For it to succeed long-term, there's a humanity that needs to be brought to the characters. There's more here than there was last year." Littlefield said of Homicide, "It's a show we think has tremendous potential that was not fully realized in the first nine episodes. And that's why we want to make more." Homicide was moved from its previous timeslot of Wednesdays at9 p.m. EST to a new time on Thursdays at 10 p.m. Levinson and the other series producers considered this an extremely positive move for the show, as Homicide suffered greatly in the ratings on Wednesdays due to competition from the highly rated ABC comedy block featuring Home Improvement and Coach. Even during the first season, Levinson often said the series was truly designed for a 10 p.m. timeslot. Homicide took the timeslot previously held by the legal drama L.A. Law, which was placed on a six-week hiatus from December 23 until early February. With some critics claiming L.A. Law had declined in quality, the hiatus led to speculation that it would be canceled and Homicide would replace it. This led to some tension during an NBC reception when L.A. Law star Corbin Bernsen approached Homicide actor Richard Belzer and shouted expletives at him, yelling, "You stole our timeslot!" The producers of Homicide said the decision to evaluate the series after a four-episode season placed tremendous pressure on the staff of the show. Fontana said one-hour dramas need time to fully develop and allow audiences to become familiar with the characters. Fontana expressed frustration with NBC in some news interviews, claiming the networks seemed to lack the courage to either cancel or renew it: "They will run it in a 10 p.m. time period for a month and then they'll kiss us goodbye... I'm used to this kind of treatment from NBC. I'm a little surprised they'd treat Barry Levinson the same way they'd treat