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." The Washington Post television reviewer Tom Shales called Homicide "achingly, even painfully, brilliant. The best cop show I have ever seen." David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun called it the best police drama ever made for television besides Hill Street Blues. 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. In a news article, Fontana quoted a friend who described NYPD Blue as "the television version of Homicide". Baldwin was even more critical of the show, and said in an interview: "The ultimate compliment that can ever be paid [is] to be mimicked by someone else. So, thank you, NYPD Blue, because it's the knockoff of Homicide." NYPD Blue co-creator Steven Bochco took exception to that characterization, saying he believed his reputation and experience in television proved he was capable