MovieChat Forums > Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) Discussion > Anyone ever notice that HLS characters k...

Anyone ever notice that HLS characters keep showing up on other shows?

posted 10 years ago by mw7301
5 replies | jump to latest

Anyone ever notice that Homicide Life on the Streets(HLS) characters keep showing up on other shows? I don't just mean the actors I mean the actors are showing up as their HLS characters in other TV shows? For example Munch has shown up in episodes of The X-Files, Law & Order, Law & Special Victims Unit, Meldrick has shown up recently in an episode of Homeland and Law & Special Victims Unit, Falsone has shown up on Law & Order, Russert has shown up is something I can't remember but I'm sure there are probably others I'm not aware of. I wonder why this is happening, its kind of interesting.

[–] bradford-1 10 years ago

I guess the HLOTS characters still resonate. Viewers still want to see them in some context, considering there will probably never be another HLOTS television movie.
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[–] darkavenger77 10 years ago

Anyone ever notice that Homicide Life on the Streets(HLS) characters keep showing up on other shows?

Did you mean kept showing up? Nearly all of the shows you mentioned have not been on in years, and it was mainly Munch:
X-Files- Last aired as a TV show in 2002.
Law & Order- Last aired in May 2010, over 4 years ago.
SVU is still on, however Munch was/is a cast member.
Homeland would be an exception, however there is no listing for Lewis appearing there:
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0013541/?ref_=fn_al_ch_1
The actor that played him, Clark Johnson, appeared on it as a Detective Calvin Johnson.

Lewis is shown as appearing on SVU once in 2013.

Russert has never been in anything other than Homicide:
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0064115/?ref_=fn_al_ch_1

Since SVU is a spinoff of L&O and Homicide was in the same universe it's not unusual for characters to be in crossover episodes. Munch is among the most prolific characters on TV.

Dean: I am wearing sunglasses at night. You know who does that? No-talent douche bags!

[–] dav3id-2 8 years ago

I was disappointed when Clark Johnson's character in Homeland wasn't Meldrick Lewis.

After all, Clark played a homicide detective in the same general geographical area in both roles.

[–] gasmaskproductionsbooks 8 years ago

As far as I know, Munch appearing in so many shows became a joke of sorts among the entertainment world. First off, his actor keeps signing onto various roles as Munch, even minor ones, to keep his record going. Munch is also a character with a lot of personality. He stands out, so shows want him because fans of the character will watch whatever show he appears in, to see what's going on with him next. There are numerous shows that do this with characters, crime shows are notorious for it.

Canada, eh? 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 :)

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[–] joestl 8 years ago

I wouldn't really count Meldrick Lewis on SVU since he only appears for Munch's retirement party so he's only on as Lewis because of Munch.