![]() ![]() When the show ended one of the directors was set to direct an episode of Hill Street Blues and there was a part of a corrupt vice cop that he thought I would be right for so he brought me in for a reading. It was a show about cops, lawyers and doctors. "I was introduced to Steven Bochco when I had a role in the show Chicago Story years and years ago. Of course, I wonder how Dennis got the part of Andy Sipowicz, and it turns out that it all started when he met Steven Bochco a few years earlier. And you can certainly see that it has its highs and lows like any show that airs over such a long time, but I'm glad it's out there now. "It was an interesting series that was ran for 12 years. In the US only the first four seasons has been released so he’s happy that the show is now out for people to watch. I tell Dennis that seasons 5 - 12 has finally been released on DVD (at least in the UK), something he did not know. It shows that the show has a lot of impact on a lot of people. ![]() I'm still surprised that people remember and recognize me." He continues," It's not like the shows glory days when we could hardly go out but there are still people who when they see me says "Hey, aren’t you. We started working on the show in 1993, 20 years ago, and that is a very long time ago. I ask if he still gets recognized as Andy Sipowicz and he does. Because he has offers but so far none that he couldn’t resist. The door is now virtually closed, and although I hear what he says, I cannot help thinking and hoping that if the right projects emerge he’ll return to acting. For a time he didn’t give up acting completely and held the door open for a return if the right script came along. and after that I was pretty lazy and enjoyed to doing nothing, hanging out with my wife, my daughters, with my three grandchildren and traveling." So today he spends his time with family, traveling and playing golf and he has no plans at all to do anything else. He said to his agent, "I need a year off now" and the year passed in about 10 minutes. When he was finished with NYPD Blue Dennis looked forward to some time off. As it then turned out the show ran for 12 seasons and that was it. Dennis replied that he could see himself continuing for 12 seasons but that was all and they agreed that would be the plan. He told Steven Bochco (the show’s creator) this when they had their annual meeting to prepare for a new season and Steven asked how long he wanted to continue with the show. But after nine seasons it started to feel more like a job than a passion, and although he still liked the scripts he felt that he needed a break. It was a lot of work but he loved every second of it. When he started playing Andy, he couldn’t get enough of it. He tell me that during the ninth season of NYPD Blue it all began to feel like work to him. In fact, today he isn’t doing any kind of acting at all. Much of his time now a day are occupied by spending time with his family and traveling. He explains that he and his wife bought the house several years ago and there is always a lot of family and friends visiting. When I call Dennis, he is at his summer home in northern Idaho. Oh, and there's a spoiler in it for those of you who have not seen the entire show were Dennis talks about how the show ends and if you don’t want to know that before you see the show you should skip that part of the interview (I have marked it for you). Those of you who watched the show will surely notice this when you read the interview. We talked for a little over 20 minutes and I was immediately struck by how humble and different from his character Andy he was. A few days ago I got the honor to interview Dennis and it was pretty big for me, having been a fan for so long. Actors came and went in the show but Dennis Franz was always there as the sometimes grumpy and a bit special but always good-hearted Andy Sipowicz. TV show have come and gone, and although some were good, very few managed to threaten its position among the top three, all categories included. _ Since the mid-90s, I’ve rated the TV show NYPD Blue as one of the best. ![]()
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