 The debut episode received generally positive reviews . Kinney Littlefield of The Orange County Register said , " One word about ' Gone for Goode ' - wow . " Littlefield praised the episode for dropping the viewer into the middle of an episode with complex characters and storylines without getting too confusing . People magazine reviewer David Hiltbrand called the episode " extraordinary " and gave it an A grade . He complimented the realism , the hand @-@ held camera work and the cast , particularly Belzer . Lon Grahnke of the Chicago Sun @-@ Times complimented the cast and praised the show for not depending on car chases or action sequences . Grahnke also said the show " has the spice , dry wit and ethnic diversity of the Hill Street Blues crew , with even more eccentricities and a heightened sense of realism " . John Goff of Daily Variety said the episode was well filmed and edited , and included a strong cast with performances " above normal level of series work " . Entertainment Weekly writer Bruce Fretts particularly praised Andre Braugher 's performance : " It 's not often you actually witness a TV star being born ... The moment the galvanic actor steps onto the screen , though , he owns it . " The New York Times television critic John J. O 'Connor praised the performance of Jon Polito , and said the role could be " the kind of career break Joe Pesci found in the Lethal Weapon movies " . 
