 " Bop Gun " marked the first episode in its new time slot on Thursdays at 10 p.m. , occupying a period previously filled by L.A. Law . The show previously aired 9 p.m. on Wednesdays , where it was regularly defeated in the ratings by the ABC comedy Home Improvement . " Bop Gun " was written by David Mills and David Simon based on a story by Fontana . It was directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal , a feature director then @-@ best known for such films as Waterland ( 1992 ) and A Dangerous Woman ( 1993 ) . It was the first television script written by Mills , who previously worked as a reporter and became friends with Simon while studying journalism at the University of Maryland , College Park . Mills said of " Bop Gun " , " That script inspired me to quit journalism . It was a golden opportunity , even though I didn 't know what I was doing . I developed bad habits as a newspaper feature writer . I would always stretch a project to fill the available time . " " Bop Gun " served as a departure from previous Homicide : Life on the Street episodes by focusing more strongly on a murder victim , rather than on the detectives . Simon felt the script 's dialogue , particularly the detectives ' use of dark humor as a coping mechanism for dealing with the horrors of the homicide unit , were faithful to reality . He particularly cited the scene in which Felton angers Ellison by talking excitedly about how much overtime he expected to get . Simon said , " That 's a conversation that would happen . It would happen in any homicide unit in America , and when I saw it actually being acted out I got a real kick in the pants because I thought , ' Wherever there are homicide detectives watching this , they 're cracking up because they know how true it is . ' " 
