‘The Wire’ Predecessor Could Come to Streaming: ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ Rumor Details

Homicide: Life on the Street may soon be coming to streaming. The ’90s NBC procedural is not available to stream anywhere, but it seems that is finally changing. The Wire creator David Simon, who wrote the book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets that Homicide was based on, wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) that he heard NBC was able to secure the music rights necessary to sell the series to a streaming platform. “Andre, Richard, Yaphet, Ned, and so many others who labored on that wonderful show on both sides of the camera will soon regain a full share of their legacy. Stay tuned for more details.”

Simon replied to a fan on X about the music rights, noting that in the case of Homicide, “the rights were negotiated long ago before streaming existed as a viewing platform. A fair compensation for the new use needed to be negotiated.” While that doesn’t necessarily mean that the show could be coming to streaming any time soon, this is surely a step in the right direction.

Starring a rotating ensemble cast that included Daniel Baldwin, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Michelle Forbes, Toni Lewis, and Giancarlo Esposito, the crime drama chronicled the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department’s Homicide Unit. It’s set in the same universe as Law & Order, with the two shows having numerous crossovers. The late Belzer portrayed John Munch on Homicide on all seven seasons first before jumping to for 15 seasons.

Thanks to streaming, fans have been able to watch fan-favorite shows from four decades ago to four weeks ago. Homicide: Life on the Street will be joining the many classic shows that are streaming for the very first time. When the show finally does come to streaming, there’s a good chance it will join the Law & Order franchise on NBCUniversal’s Peacock since it was an NBC series. It would be the only one that would make sense, but really, as long as the show is streaming, it’s a lot better than nothing.

It might still be a while until Homicide‘s move to streaming is officially announced, but at least fans now know that there’s a good chance of it happening. The wait will be worth it, and it will be great when it’s finally available, however long it takes.