Son of a Gun (Homicide: Life on the Street)

“Son of a Gun” is the 3rd episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 10, 1993. The teleplay was written by James Yoshimura based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana, and the episode was directed by Nick Gomez. In the episode, recurring character Officer Thormann (Lee Tergesen) is shot while on duty, and his close friend Crosetti takes the investigation personally.

“Son of a Gun” was originally supposed to be the 4th episode of the first season, but was broadcast third when the episode “Night of the Dead Living” was moved to the end of the season. The shooting of a police officer, as well as other aspects of the script, were directly inspired by real-life events chronicled in David Simon’s non-fiction book, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. The episode included guest appearances by actors Luis Guzmán, Paul Schulze and Edie Falco, who played Thormann’s wife. It also marked the first of 5 appearances by Washington Bullets team sports announcer Mel Proctor, and the first appearance by actor Walt MacPherson, who would later be cast as recurring character Detective Roger Gaffney.

“Son of a Gun” was seen by 6.52 million households in its original broadcast, continuing a downward trend in ratings since the premiere of Homicide: Life on the Street. “Son of a Gun” lost viewership in part due to competition from a live Oprah Winfrey 90-minute interview with pop singer Michael Jackson on ABC. The episode, along with the rest of the 1st and 2nd seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street was released on DVD in the United States on May 27, 2003.