'Homicide, Life on the Street,' a prime-time police drama on NBC for seven seasons, has been canceled for economic reasons. It was never a hit in terms of ratings. This season it lost 2 percent of its viewers, and ranked 60th among prime-time shows. However, it was a critical success, winning accolades from newspaper critics. NBC executives felt that, with 122 shows already completed, it would sell in syndication, and an additional season of 22 episodes would not make much difference to its value, while each episode would cost about $200,000 more than episodes of a new drama series.

Some of the staff on Homicide were devastated by the news. The greatest impact will be on the production crew in Baltimore because 'Homicide' is the only show produced there.

(Updated July 1, 1999)