NYPD Blue signs off after 12 years

NYPD Blue ended its 12-year run on US TV last night with Detective Andy Sipowicz making a tough but morally correct decision that put his new job as commander in jeopardy.

The 261st and last episode of the groundbreaking police drama was seen by an estimated 16 million viewers, its largest audience in more than three years.

In the finale, actor Dennis Franz’s Sipowicz character, just named squad commander, lets an investigation continue that arrests someone for murder despite an effort from his superiors to frame another person.

For that, Sipowicz wins a rebuke from his commander – and the respect of all his colleagues.

“If there were any doubts about you running the squad, Andy, today you put ’em all to rest,” said Detective Baldwin Jones, played by Henry Simmons.

After all of his detectives bid him good night in the final scene, the camera pans back to see Sipowicz shuffling files in an empty squad room.

NYPD Blue had settled into old age, in television time, with only Franz and Gordon Clapp’s Detective Greg Medavoy remaining as featured cast members from the first season to the last.

From the beginning, the show attracted attention for bad language and content, including a glimpse of Sipowicz’s bottom in the shower. It earned 20 Emmys, including best drama in 1995 and kept viewers tuning in. Franz won Emmys for best actor in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1999.