History YMMV / HomicideLifeOnTheStreet

* ValuesResonance: Tim Bayliss' ComingOutStory as bisexual was rare when the series first began, and the sensitive and realistic way his discovery was portrayed was unheard of at the time. And its significance is even greater in current times, when more and more people in {{Real Life}} are coming out.

** Creator/ChristopherMeloni also had a recurring role as bounty hunter Dennis Knoll.
** Creator/JuliannaMargulies as the waitress and violinist Linda, whom Bolander briefly dates in the second season.
** Creator/EdieFalco as Eva Thormann, the wife of Chris Thormann, a uniformed police officer and friend of Crosetti who is blinded after being shot by a suspect.

** Creator/LeeTergesen also had a recurring role as Officer Chris Thormann.

** Steve Burns is the perp in an episode aired just a few years into his stint on ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues''.
** Creator/LawrenceGilliardJr as a suspect in "A Dog and Pony Show".

** Creator/BaiLing as a Chinese student (who might be a Chinese government assassin) in "And the Rockets' Dead Glare".
** A young Creator/RheaSeehorn plays an eyewitness in "All is Bright".
** Creator/LaurenTom as Emma Zoole, Bayliss's death-obsessed girlfriend (briefly) in the third season.

** Stephanie Romanov, later better known as recurring villain Lilah Morgan in ''Series/{{Angel}}'', appears as Mike Kellerman's ex-wife Anne Kennedy, a police forensic scientist.

** Bayliss. After surviving an abusive childhood, he becomes a cop and joins homicide, only for everyone to treat him like shit because of his lack of experience from investigation. Then his first case is a murdered eleven-year-old girl which becomes high profile very quickly. The case is fucked from the get go with the scene contaminated, the lack of evidence and the superior detectives moving the body too soon, all of which he is blamed for. The case remains open and Bayliss is forever haunted. His partner Pembleton, whom he seems to idolise, is an arrogant, abrasive and harshly moralistic man who sees offering or needing emotional support or compassion as a weakness. He has a series of brief and unhappy relationships with women who were just looking for casual sex, and coming out as bisexual doesn't seem to improve his love life either. After Pembleton has a stroke, he starts treating Bayliss slightly better, until Bayliss is shot which convinces Pembleton to retire. While recovering from being shot, he embraces Buddhism, but his new faith is rapidly broken down by a series of unpleasant cases, including one in which his main Buddhist teacher was murdered, and turned out to [[BrokenPedestal have been sexually exploiting female devotees]]. In the finale, a vicious killer from an earlier episode walks free due to a prosecutorial error, and taunts Bayliss with his intention to kill again. Bayliss murders the man and is driven insane by guilt, the ending of the reunion movie implies that he may commit suicide.

** Bayliss. After surviving an abusive childhood, he becomes a cop and joins homicide, only for everyone to treat him like shit because of his lack of experience from investigation. Then his first case is a murdered eleven-year-old girl which becomes high profile very quickly. The case is fucked from the get go with the scene contaminated, the lack of evidence and the superior detectives moving the body too soon, all of which he is blamed for. The case remains open and Bayliss is forever haunted. His partner Pembleton, whom he seems to idolise, is an arrogant, abrasive and harshly moralistic man who sees offering or needing emotional support or compassion as a weakness. He has a series of brief and unhappy relationships with women who were just looking for casual sex, and coming out as bisexual doesn't seem to improve his love life either. After Pembleton has a stroke, he starts treating Bayliss slightly better, until Bayliss is shot which convinces Pembleton to retire. In the finale, he murders a released killer and is driven insane by guilt.

** Season 7's line-up is this particularly because of Pembleton's departure. While Giardello Jr is a decent character (albeit underdeveloped), he is no replacement for Frank Pembleton.

** Robert Ellison from "Bop Gun" is one of the most popular {{One-Shot Character}}s, thanks to Creator/RobinWilliams's genuinely heartbreaking and [[PlayingAgainstType against type]] performance. He even earned an Emmy nomination for his performance.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Luther Mahoney remains one of the most memorable criminals from the show. Even though the majority of his appearances were flashbacks, he was quite the MagnificentBastard and Erik Dellums is still complimented on his role to this day.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Late in Season Six, Falsone has a discussion with Lewis in which he says that his interest in finding out about the Mahoney shooting was only ever because he was afraid that he was at risk of being dragged into a scandal himself, which may be an attempt to win over fans who thought that his treatment of Lewis and Kellerman earlier in the season was cruel, moralistic, and insufficiently motivated.

** Bayliss. After surviving an abusive childhood, he becomes a cop and joins homicide, only for everyone to treat him like shit because of his lack of experience from investigation. Then his first case is a murdered eleven-year-old girl which becomes high profile very quickly. The case is fucked from the get go with the scene contaminated, the lack of evidence and the superior detectives moving the body too soon, all of which he is blamed for. The case remains open and Bayliss is forever haunted. Then he has three years of being treated badly by his partner Pembleton whom he seems to idolise. After Pembleton has a stroke, he starts treating him better until Bayliss is shot which convinces Pembleton to retire. In the finale, he murders a released killer and is driven insane by guilt.

** Ballard as well for being painted as irritatingly perfect, receiving too much screentime and allowing several other characters, especially the female characters, to be marginalized in favor of her.