|
John Munch is a fictional character played by actor Richard Belzer. Munch first appeared on the American crime drama television series ''Homicide: Life on the Street'' on NBC.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 The HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET Glossary )〕 A regular through the entire run of the series, Munch is a cynical detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide unit, and a firm believer in conspiracy theories. He is originally partnered with Det. Stanley Bolander (Ned Beatty). On the cancellation of ''Homicide'' in 1999, Munch became a regular on the ''Law & Order'' spin off, ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', after Belzer was offered a regular role on the show, and appeared in the first fifteen seasons of that series. On ''SVU'', Munch becomes a senior detective in the New York Police Department's Special Victims Unit, and is first partnered with Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters), followed by Monique Jeffries (Michelle Hurd), and Fin Tutuola (Ice-T). In the ninth season premiere, Munch is promoted to the rank of Sergeant and occasionally takes on supervisory functions within the department. In season 14, Munch is temporarily reassigned to the Cold Case Unit, after solving a decade-old child abduction case in the episode "Manhattan Vigil." He returns to the squad in "Secrets Exhumed," in which he brings back a 1980s rape-homicide cold case for the squad to investigate. In the season 15 episode, "Internal Affairs," SVU Captain Donald Cragen informs Detective Olivia Benson that Munch has submitted his retirement papers, stating that a recent case (portrayed in the episode "American Tragedy") had hit him hard. In the following episode, "Wonderland Story," Cragen and the squad throw Munch a retirement party, where past and present colleagues and family members celebrate his career. At the conclusion of the episode, Munch returns to the precinct to gather his belongings, where he and Cragen shake hands as Cragen remarks, "you had one hell of a run, Sergeant Munch." He has since continued as a special guest star, appearing in the fifteenth-season finale "Spring Awakening." Munch is based on Jay Landsman, a central figure in David Simon's true crime book ''Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.''〔(Smith, Van. "Homicide, Revisited," ''Baltimore City Paper,'' December 10, 2013. )〕 The character of Munch has appeared in more television series than any other fictional character, appearing in nine series on five networks since the character's debut in 1993. With his retirement in the character's 22nd season on television, he was on U.S television longer than Marshal Matt Dillon (''Gunsmoke'') and Frasier Crane (''Cheers'' and ''Frasier''), both of whom were on television for 20 seasons. == Character progression == Munch first appeared as a central character in the TV series ''Homicide: Life on the Street,'' as a homicide detective in the Baltimore Police Department's fictionalized homicide unit, which debuted January 31, 1993. The character was primarily based on Jay Landsman, a central figure in David Simon's true crime book ''Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets'', a documentary account of the homicide unit's operation over one year. However, Munch's storyline also touched on the book's depiction of the relationship between real-life detectives Donald Worden and David Brown, in which Worden was relentless in his tutelage/hazing of the younger detective but also genuinely wanted him to succeed and was impressed when the younger cop did excellent work. A storyline in the book involving Brown's cracking a very difficult hit-and-run homicide was included almost verbatim in the show's pilot. Barry Levinson, co-creator and executive producer of ''Homicide'', said Belzer was a "lousy actor" during his audition when he first read lines from the script for "Gone for Goode," the first episode in the series. Levinson asked Belzer to take some time to reread and practice the material, then come back and read it again. During his second reading, Levinson said Belzer was "still terrible," but that the actor eventually found confidence in his performance. Munch appeared as a regular character in every season, and in almost every episode, of ''Homicide''. After ''Homicide: Life on the Street'' concluded its seventh season in May 1999, the character transferred into the ''Law & Order'' universe as a regular character on ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (both ''Homicide'' and the original ''Law & Order'' had crossed-over numerous times before, and Munch had featured centrally in each crossover). It is explained that Munch had retired from the Baltimore Police Department, taken his pension, and moved to New York to join a sex crimes investigation unit, where he was eventually given a promotion to sergeant. Munch joined the BPD's homicide unit in 1983. During the fourth-season premiere of ''Homicide: Life on the Street'', he signed up to take a promotion exam in hopes of becoming a sergeant, but a "comedy of errors" prevented him from showing up for it. In the first episode of the ninth season of ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', it is revealed that he passed the NYPD sergeant's exam, having taken it on a bar bet, and earned his promotion. In that scene, his shield number is clearly visible: 0231. He is temporarily promoted to commanding officer of the Special Victims' Unit following Cragen's temporary reassignment but is depicted as happily relinquishing control back to Donald Cragen, commenting upon Cragen's return, "This job sucks." He has, however, kept his rank, as he is still referred to as Sergeant in later episodes. He is temporarily put in charge again when Cragen gets suspended after the detectives mishandle a case. Munch makes a cameo appearance on a fifth season episode of ''The Wire''. Munch can be seen at Kavanaugh's Bar arguing with the bartender over his tab. He appears in "Unusual Suspects," the third episode of the fifth season of ''The X-Files''—the episode is set in 1989, when Munch was still at Baltimore Police Department. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Munch」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|