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City Homicide… it’s a crime

The promos say "Last ever episode" but officially, Seven still hasn't made up its mind on City Homicide.

The promos for tonight’s City Homicide episode are pretty clear: “The Last Ever” they say.

The final moments in the episode are equally pretty clear.

But officially, Seven still has neither axed nor renewed City Homicide.

This is despite a statement from the network last October which said, “A decision on the production of Series Five will be made in the new year.”

This week, TV Tonight put the question to Seven about the show’s status.

A network spokesperson confirmed a decision still had not been made.

“Yet to be renewed, but also not non-renewed,” said the spokesperson.

Cast and crew are no longer employed on the show, but at best Seven is mulling whether the show may have an after-life as Telemovies. But it’s not easy to revisit a project once everybody has disbanded.

One would hope that the series eventually scores the same kind of generous words Tim Worner used to farewell Blue Heelers and All Saints.

2006: “Blue Heelers is an institution and has long been the breeding ground for some of Australia’s finest acting, writing and directing.”

2009: “All Saints is a show which viewers and Seven have loved. However, an audience shift and increased production costs are behind this decision. The cast and crew deserve the highest admiration and respect for what they have achieved. All Saints has made a significant contribution to the rich history of Australian drama.”

Worner told TV Tonight last month, “I would dearly love to be in a position where we were doing more City Homicide, but it’s not something that I can confirm right now. I can tell you it’s something that’s not off the agenda.”

Seven’s drama output is certainly committed, with Home and Away, Packed to the Rafters, Winners and Losers plus Wild Boys in development. Its hit rate under drama exec John Holmes is remarkable.

Equally remarkable was the output by writers John Hugginson and John Banas who wrote some 90% of the 84 episodes of City Homicide. If that isn’t worth acknowledging I don’t know what is.

25 Responses

  1. Little late to the party, but just finished the entire 4 seasons of City Homicide on Netflix here in the UK.
    I thought this was one of the best cop shows on tv, it was insightful, well written, well acted shows out of Australia. Who ever decided to cancel this needs there heads examining

  2. Please continue making more of this world class series; I haven’t been such a fan of Australian drama for a very long time, and then I recently discovered this show; I have now seen every single episode, and I can’t believe the great talent of the writers and the actors. This series is a masterpiece

  3. Seven is just plain wrong to cancel this great show … Perhaps Seven should stop obsessing about what the next Cooking Show should be ( Kindergarten Bake-off perhaps??) and put the production money Back into continuing this quality Aussie Drama.
    Long Live “City Homicide”!

  4. Last nights ep so great and it leaves the viewer wanting to see more of our favourite detectives. hope channel seven brings it back next year coz its one of the very few cop shows that i watch.
    I want to see a proper relationship between Jen/Nick and Allie/Rhys continue to grow because seeing more of their personal lives and relationships was such a great idea.

  5. Considering that they had a montage of old episodes at the end of last night’s episode (as they did with the final All Saints), I’d say that’s it for City Homicide.

  6. Nooo! City Homicide was such a great show!
    I followed it religiously for the four years that it ran… And I can absolutely, wholeheartedly say that there was not a single bad episode.
    Intriguing plot lines, fascinating twists, plenty of on-edge action and yet still, a continuing, underlying link between weekly episodes and even across series!
    It’s a shame it’s gone… but even more of a shame that there’s no substitute that even comes close.

  7. Jake, after watching this awesome series for 4 years, you don’t appreciate the loyalty for some viewers.
    People are also over the same, same American lame sitcoms or pathetic game shows that don’t rate despite the network throwing millions at it – no pun intended.

    David, maybe with the merge of smartminds (now at the Ten Network) ten could re-write history and pick up City Homicide as a local born winner ala they did picking up Neighbours in 1985 from them, conversley Seven picking up ‘Thank God you’re Here’. Provided the ad revenue is there, what else are networks after?

    Ch 10 still persists with the 7pm Project, despite weak numbers. But for those (like myself) that are loyal to the program, audience figures are insignificant. But, maybe the networks can realise that once they show (and not dump!) shows such as C Hom, people stay loyal, consistant to all their shows.

  8. Once again a good show gets the chop and we are left with all the tripe. So you think you can: dance, … sing, … cook, … whistle, so you think it’s entertaining?!

  9. One of the best dramas ever produced here. Excellent cast, solid plotlines, good cinematography… It’s a shame that lowest-common-denominator (aka “reality”) TV is the mood of the new century. What little local drama we do have left tends to favour style over substance (or be thinly disguised chick-flicks in a one hour format).

  10. Seven sold much of the props, costumes and paraphenalia late last year. I have photos somewhere. That is fairly conclusive evidence the weekly series is gone, at least.

  11. Should have been left on Sunday nights at 8.30. Perfect timeslot following Border Security and The Force. Writing, acting, cast, directing, production all brilliant. It’s a quality program and far better than many Aussie shows currently on offer. Deserved better treatment from Seven.

  12. Wild Boys isn’t in development – it started filming last week.
    It looks like City Homicide is finished, in its current form at least. Perhaps an occaisonal telemovie is stiil a chance?

  13. I have only ever watched this show once, and that is only because I don’t like cop shows. I still think the lineup of the cast is solid and it is a shame that all of the other crap has saturated the genre and killed this program

    that and i guess you can blame channel 7 for changing the timeslot, too

  14. I was gobsmacked too by the number of episodes written by Hugginson and Banas. I guess that’s why the storylines became a bit stale. And that’s why British shows are generally only six episodes long and the US shows employ a phalanx of writers for their 22-episode seasons.

  15. I don’t understand what Seven are holding out for? All Saints was axed with 1.1 million viewers; City Homicide although in a moer competitive TV Environment today is struggling to crack 700k with a healthy compatible leadin – the audience is still there but they are choosing not to watch.

  16. City Homicide is one of Seven’s lowest rated shows in it’s target demo of 25-54. It gets about 300,000 viewers. Along with “Sunday Night” it’s one of the weakest hours on their schedule.

    I think it’s time for it to go.

    Seven can do a lot better than that with a new original drama.

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