The Baltimore-based police procedural Homicide: Life on the Streets is undeniably a cult classic. As one of the long-running stars, Kyle Secor, tells SBS, he was in no doubt that despite there being “no cars [and] no gun chases… that first season is gonna be f**king awesome.” He was right, and in fact, all seven seasons were awesome.
Now, the rights issues that prevented the series from appearing in full on streaming platforms have . In celebration, two of the major stars of the series partnered up for the podcast , in which the duo invite guests in to discuss, debate, and delight in every episode one at a time.
Homicide took viewers inside the life of Baltimore Police Department's homicide unit in 1993. It was based upon author and journalist David Simon's book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, which also inspired another cult classic, The Wire. While TV critics and fans have revelled in hot takes on Substack, Tik Tok, and YouTube, nothing has the authenticity of lived experience when it comes to dissecting Homicide: Life on the Street.
Who better to laugh, cry, gasp and sigh at Homicide episodes with than Kyle Secor and Reed Diamond (aka Detective Tim Bayliss and Detective Mike Kellerman)? Decades after the series debuted, the duo are back together, having both starred in numerous films and TV series since wrapping Homicide, and they joined SBS to reflect on what made this series such a classic cult-watch.
Diamond tells SBS, “What was so exciting about this show was not only it was probably the creative high point of everyone's career who was involved in it - writers, directors, actors - but it was also insane, right? Because we were in Baltimore, and not in Los Angeles, no NBC executives were going to show up at lunchtime and see what was going on with these great talents, tremendous egos, and tremendous appetites.”
Inevitably, any besuited executive would have reigned in the madness. For better or worse, those “tremendous egos” made some of the best television in history because they were left unchecked.
Diamond emphasises, “It was bananas. It was the Wild West. Kyle and I hadn't revisited the show in all of this time, so it was great to see those scenes again for this podcast, because there was a great energy between those great talents on the show, the chemistry was there along with the antagonism, and it played really well on camera.”
Secor was one of the few Homicide stars to last the full series, beginning with the debut episode “Gone for Goode” in January 1993 through to the final episode "Forgive Us Our Trespasses" in May 1999, and then returning for Homicide: The Movie in 2000.
Secor tells SBS, “Once I read David Simon's book, I realised that I really knew nothing about cops and I knew nothing about detectives. I had never thought of playing a cop or detective, and I didn't want to be a professional cop, like Reed wanted to be. I started reading [Simon’s] book, then I was told by [showrunner] Tom Fontana, ‘This is where we're looking at the character going’, and I went, ‘Oh, I want to be a part of that’.”
Secor admits, “It doesn't sound like this show is gonna last very long if you do it with no car chases, no guns being pulled… but [I thought] ‘that first season is gonna be f***ing awesome’. So, I was on board completely and I learned as I went along about being a detective in the most accurate way I could.”
Kyle Secor as Det. Tim Bayliss with Andre Braugher as Det. Frank Pembleton in the first episode of Season 5. Credit: Eric Liebowitz / NBCU Photo Bank
As Tim Bayliss, Secor imbued his character with all the conflict and contrast that enabled the detective to evolve over nearly a decade, drawing out threads of who he is, and what drives him.
A Baltimore native, Detective Bayliss played his cards close to his chest, not revealing much about his personal life for years. In season five, he revealed to his professional partner, Detective Frank Pembleton, that he'd been molested by his uncle as a child, and the rift with his father as a result had never been mended. Bayliss could be relentless, sarcastic and smirking during interrogations with suspects, but his candour and the hurt he harbours over an unsolved rape case he worked on revealed his vulnerable nature, intriguing viewers and flummoxing his colleagues.
I remember watching it and just being so blown away ... I said, ‘I have to be on this show’.Reed Diamond
Two years after Secor, Diamond joined Homicide: Life on the Street as Detective Mike Kellerman, ultimately starring in 69 episodes over three years. Diamond's original career intentions had taken him to the L.A. Police Academy, but life took a fortuitous turn, and he ended up at Juilliard at the same time as fellow Homicide co-star Andre Braugher.
Diamond recalls, “I moved to Los Angeles from New York, and as an actor, I had one of those existential crises, and I thought, ‘What I'm doing isn't very real. I'm gonna become a cop’, because I'd always admired New York cops, and because I loved cop movies… but, all the cops that I met in Los Angeles all wanted to be actors. So, I had an epiphany and I realised, ‘I am meant to be an actor’, and I vowed that I would play a cop truthfully on film or television.”
Cut to 1993 and Diamond saw the premiere episode of Homicide while working on another job.
“I was sitting in a hotel room, and I remember watching it and just being so blown away. I made a solemn vow in that room. I said, ‘I have to be on this show’. So, I'd been preparing for two years before I got the part.”
L-R: Clark Johnson as Det. Meldrick Lewis, Reed Diamond as Det. Mike Kellerman, Andre Braugher as Det. Frank Pembleton, Kyle Secor as Det. Tim Bayliss, Max Perlich as J.H. Brodie. Credit: Robert Gilberg / NBCU
The working-class, fiercely determined Kellerman was a blue-blood: born to be a cop and single-mindedly pursuing his rise from officer to detective from the get-go. He made his Homicide debut in "Fire: Part 1", which aired in October 1995. Kellerman was employed in the arson unit, so when a serial firebug burned down a bunch of warehouses, killing two teenagers, Detective Kellerman was sought out by Detectives Tim Bayliss and Frank Pembleton for his expertise. He was soon recruited to the Homicide department.
Reed Diamond as Det. Mike Kellerman with Clark Johnson as Det. Meldrick Lewis. Credit: Chris Haston / NBCU
Diamond recalls that Tom Fontana had called him up to discuss Kellerman’s predicament: if Kellerman was re-assigned to office work and couldn’t attend crime scenes, would Diamond prefer that they write him out of the series, or keep Kellerman on but office-bound for the entirety of the remaining episodes? Diamond considered what was most truthful for both Kellerman and Homicide, and despite some tears, opted to be written off – but not killed off.
Diamond’s dedication to the show and its legacy is tangible in his interview with SBS.
“Homicide changed television as we know it,” he says. “This was an American network TV show when there was only three major networks. It could have been made today though, it is so present. This golden age of television in the 21st century owes its lineage to Homicide. It was a gritty, cutting-edge cop show with no swearing and no guns out.”
Secor says the focus of the Homicide: Life On Repeat has been the first season, so far.
“We were blown away by the quality of the episodes. The Adina Watson one was the apex, but the episodes before and after are also unbelievable. The surprise for me was that it starts off pretty loosely and then it tightens up and develops by episodes 4, 5, and 6.”
Diamond says, “We’ll always have Homicide. It changed my career.”
Newly remastered, all seven seasons of Homicide: Life On The Street are now streaming , along with Homicide: The Movie. Episodes are also screening on Thursday nights on SBS VICELAND (see the for times).
Stream free On Demand
Homicide: Life on the Street
series • Crime drama
MA15+
series • Crime drama
MA15+
Stream free On Demand
Homicide: The Movie
