'NYPD Blue''s Top Cops

It was also just a matter of time before cable TV would be using the full palette of vulgarity against which networks must increasingly compete for viewers and Emmys. For now, the palette of acceptable blue words on Blue has been carefully charted in a quota system Milch says everyone understands but no one is supposed to talk about. "Anyway, because the number of words that we have access to, while much broader than any other show, is still limited, you find it becomes repetitive. Because if people say asshole enough, to the exclusion of the other epithets that customarily occur in that kind of venue, it starts to sound stupid."

And vulgarity, says Milch, is just part of the mix—last week the series let loose with nigger and kike. This sits well with James McDaniel, who plays Fancy. The stage-trained actor, who says he's in his 30s, appeared in Malcolm X and in the Tony-winning Six Degrees of Separation, and has also done stints on Hill Street, Civil Wars, and L.A. Law. He assumed at first that he would be playing a uniformed cop—not a boss. But he's looking forward to busting a few barriers of political correctness when it comes to dealing with race. "You know how, during the Clarence Thomas (Supreme Court confirmation) hearings, we found out that Clarence Thomas is a human being in addition to being Clarence Thomas?" he says. "Well, we're going to find out that Fancy is also a human being."

As shooting wraps downtown, the smoke machine is shut down and the actors scatter. Nick Turturro, 31, slaps palms with a buddy who has come to watch him work. "I'm an instinct guy," says the sweet-faced newcomer, distinguishing himself from the intense style of his older brother, John. "My part is interesting because I don't have a lot to say. But you know, you don't have to open your mouth to speak. When the camera likes you, you can exploit it."

Farther down the sidewalk Caruso slowly shakes off his Kelly persona. If, like Sipowicz, Franz works intuitively and quickly at his craft, Caruso, who is best known for his work in An Officer and a Gentleman and Mad Dog and Glory, requires more time, like Kelly, to brood and analyze.

"There's a relationship developing between us not unlike the one between the characters," he says of his work with Franz. "I'm a little more introspective. I'm not saying Dennis doesn't invest in his work, but he has a very simple process. He's very straight-ahead about things." Franz gives a mirror explanation: "David comes primarily from film work, and it's tough for him to make sacrifices because he is a perfectionist. Unfortunately, because of the nature of this beast, we have to move on. I think David has made this adjustment beautifully."

Caruso was Bochco's choice for Kelly throughout a long audition process, in which several other, more classically handsome candidates were considered. "The fact that he was willing to try a different type of leading man said a lot to me," says the actor. "Because, number one, I'm right for the role in reality. And the fact that they didn't look for a standard beautiful-looking guy says they were going a little deeper."

With ratings high and an order in from ABC for a full season of 22 episodes, NYPD Blue has the opportunity to go deeper still into the crude, pulsing, mixed-up heart of the New York Police Department. It's subject matter made for great dollops of drama, and Bochco is sure he's the man to serve it up. "Perhaps this is arrogant of me," he says, "but I've always felt that (we at Steven Bochco Productions) are far better taste arbiters, and far more sensitive arbiters of our work, than the network could possibly be because I've had a relationship with this audience for a very long time."

And, as David Caruso can attest, that relationship can be very personal. "The other day I was working," he recounts, "and two Puerto Rican girls pull up in a car and they say (he assumes a perfect accent), 'You're makin' a mistake! Go back to your wife! That other girl, she's not right for you!'"