Belzer Leaving SVU

[trillingstar]

For the last 20 years, Det. John Munch, played by Richard Belzer, has been an ubiquitous presence on television. He's so recognizable that real cops stop to offer Belzer rides. But Belzer is finally hanging up his badge when he retires on "Law & Order: SVU" this week. (Thanks Yahoo Entertainment!)





"Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993-1999): Munch was first introduced in the NBC drama based on David Simon's book chronicling the Baltimore Police Department. As a major character, he appeared in nearly every episode over seven seasons. (REMEMBER EVIL NED BEATTY IN THE BIG EASY?!?!)



"Law & Order" (1996): Dick Wolf's police drama and "Homicide" had several crossover episodes, in which New York City and Baltimore cops (like Munch) worked together. ("And take that stuff off your face before your mother sees you." lulz)



"The X-Files" (1997): The spooky drama crossed over into "Homicide" territory for a flashback episode in which Det. Munch leads the investigative questioning for The Lone Gunmen.



"Law & Order: SVU" (1999): With the end of "Homicide," Munch retired from the BPD and moved to New York to join a new sex crimes unit. He was eventually promoted to sergeant. (MISS YOU AND YOUR ORAL FIXATION STABLERRRR)



"The Beat" (2000): This short-lived series from "Homicide" producers Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana only lasted six episodes. Munch made a cameo in one of them.



"Law & Order: Trial By Jury" (2005): The third spin-off of Wolf's franchise didn't captivate audiences as its older siblings had. Munch was in one episode before the show was canceled. (OH HELLO ALVAREZ'S FINE BACK AND SHOULDERS)



"Arrested Development" (2006): The cult favorite comedy was probably Munch's most unusual appearance who posed as a scrapbooking professor to pry Bluth family secrets out of Tobias Beecher in the Witness Protection Program.



"The Wire" (2008): In a sly wink to fans of "Homicide," the Simon-created drama featured Munch in a brief cameo. He's seen in a Season 5 episode telling a bartender that he used to own a bar in Baltimore.



"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" (2009): With this cameo on ABC's late night show, Munch had appeared on five different networks. (FINGERGUNS POW)



"30 Rock" (2011): Two iconic New York City shows got two crossover moments. The first one took place when "30 Rock" characters were watching an episode of "Law & Order: SVU" featuring Fin and Munch (with dialogue and action shot specifically for "30 Rock"). The second one was in the "30 Rock" series finale, when Jenna interacted with Munch while filming a guest role as a corpse. (WHERE IS DENNIS?! I NEED A PAGER)

They should have included a pic of Cassidy! But anywho.

And remember that ep of Luther when Idris Elba's character tells someone to get more information from NYPD and to ask for Det. Munch? And also that throwaway line on Supernatural when Sam & Dean are 'inspecting' a body and someone yells out "Get Munch!"? I dooooo~~~

Comments

[vanillalime]

I mostly remember Ned Beatty as pop-culture's original anal rape victim. :( *cue Dueling Banjos*

I'm pretty sure his final episode already aired last week? I remember a social media buzz at the time. Maybe the Canadian TV schedule is different, though.

The only SVU episode I've watched from start to finish is the one in which Lee guest-starred. As awesome as it was to see Chris and Lee together in something other than Oz, I wasn't particularly impressed with the show itself. (I don't think Belzer was in that episode, maybe that was the problem, LOL) Maybe the earlier seasons were better? I've been meaning to give the show another shot at some point, but it keeps getting pushed down on my "to-do" list. :/

[trillingstar]

I never saw that movie. *pets Ned Beatty*

It might have, I don't know. I don't watch SVU anymore. I just saw this on Yahoo and they'd already, helpfully, put together the picspam for me. :)

The earlier seasons were better -- and there were some fantastic eps later on too, but here and there, not consistent at all. And by fantastic I mean Meloni was fantastic. They wasted Lee on that ep, imo. If you're gonna have an Oz "reunion," fucking have an Oz reunion, bitches. BD Wong as Dr Huang; JK as Dr Skoda; Dean as Cassidy; hell, bring in Lauren Velez as that attorney, OH the possibilities. Plus, well, the ep didn't really make any sense. And also Misha "One Show" Barton got more time than Lee, which ALSO made no sense. :: grump ::

But at least there was that totally OOC Stabler/Lee scene and that pretty much made up for all of the other suckitude. (I snarked a lot about it if you're interested. ;)