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Copped Out?
New York Post - February 22, 2000
By MICHAEL STARR
"NYPD Blue," one of the most-watched TV dramas in history, is losing its grip.
CBS's freshman drama, "Judging Amy," about a single mom who returns home to live with her strong-willed
mother, has begun to regularly beat the once-invincible "Blue" in the ratings.
For the last two weeks, "Amy" has drawn nearly one million more viewers than ABC's "Blue."
Ironically, the star of "Judging Amy" is Amy Brennaman -- who starred as a cop on "Blue" during
its first season.
What is remarkable is that "Blue" has dominated the 10 p.m. slot since its 1993 premiere -- and had been
expected to continue once it returned last month after a forced layoff.
"'NYPD Blue' has been declining [in viewership] now for four years . . . and a lot of people feel it's getting
a little tired," says industry analyst Marc Berman of Mediaweek.com.
"I think the beauty of 'Blue' getting a late start is that it gave 'Amy' time to develop into the biggest hit
of the season."
ABC riled "Blue" creator Steven Bochco when it delayed the start of his show until January after the
unexpected Tuesday-night success of Sela Ward's "Once and Again."
Both "Blue" and "Amy" are produced by the same studio, Twentieth Century Fox.
"We've certainly established a pretty loyal viewership and hoped to get a big head start," says
"Amy" creator/executive producer Barbara Hall. "But [beating 'Blue'] has been a really pleasant
surprise."
"Everybody thought 'Amy' might get some sampling at the beginning of the season, but the show really came out
of nowhere," says Berman.
"Everybody was focused on 'Once and Again,' but I kept saying the real challenge was when 'Blue' came
back," Hall says. "Now that's a show with loyal viewership."
Or not.
On Feb. 8, only four weeks after "Blue's" season debut, "Judging Amy" drew 14.6 million viewers
-- nearly a million more than "Blue."
And that continued last week, when "Amy" averaged 15.2 million viewers, again beating "Blue" by
roughly 1 million viewers.
"ABC kind of diluted 'Blue' by bringing it back in January," says Berman. "It's always the last show
of the season to premiere . . . but viewers might have already forgotten about it since it was held until January.
"When it finally came back it wasn't the same show as it was a few years ago," Berman says. "It
doesn't have the same oomph as when [former co-star] Jimmy Smits was on. So much revolves around Dennis Franz -- and
it's getting a little tired."
"I was nervous about 'Blue' coming back, because this time slot was tough -- for eight weeks we were up against
'Once and Again,"' Hall says. "And no matter how well we did, we couldn't breathe a sigh of relief,
because we knew 'Blue' was coming back."
Hall says she and the "Amy" writers purposely tailored their plotlines to counteract the tough-guy stories
on "Blue."
"I was conscious of that and we did try to do a certain kind of show," she says. "We tried to mix it
up, to focus hardest on our legal plotlines against the legal stories being told on 'Blue."'
"Judging Amy" has, in fact, based some of its storylines on real-life child-custody and child-abuse cases
-- counteracting some of "Blue's" ripped-from-the-headlines plots.
"The first time up against them we did a story on juvenile court, how it's in danger of going away in this
country," says Hall. "That was kind of like us saying, if we don't save these kids, they could end up like
some of the criminals on 'NYPD Blue.'"
Copyright © 2000 New York Post. All rights reserved.
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