Greetings,
I recently reached out to my virtual friends for some ideas of things to review or about which to make top ten lists. Though I do have a fairly long to do list for that, I know other people can bring ideas to me that may have slipped or never entered my mind. I got a few responses, and one of them caught my attention.
A guy I knew from high school suggested a top ten list of all the shows on which Richard Belzer has portrayed the character of John Munch. Now I knew he had played this character on many different shows, but I didn't think it would be enough out of which to make a top ten list. Turns out, it actually is possible. Unfortunately, I have not seen all of these shows, and I'm not certain I would want to. So it seems unfair to rank things about which I am not properly informed. Still, as I was doing my research, I began to remember my fondness for both the man and the character. Therefore, I decided to simply do a tribute. And here we go.
Let's start with the man, in his pre-Munch days.
Richard Belzer was born in Connecticut in 1944, where he worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before going off to college in Massachusetts. He has had a diverse career as a stand-up comedian, author and a film and television actor. He spent about five years on Saturday Night Live and had some roles in movies and TV shows during the eighties. He also is known as a conspiracy theorist and has written a book on the subject called UFO's, JFK and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have To Be Crazy To Believe. No, seriously, that is the title. I actually read that one and found it quite entertaining, maybe for reasons that he didn't plan on, but I can give a thumbs up, nonetheless. Regarding his personal life, he's been married three times, but it's the last one to actress Harlee McBride that has seemed to stick. They've been married since 1985, and he has two step-daughters from that marriage. No, you're math is not playing tricks on you. He is a celebrity who has been married for nearly thirty years. And that is about all I know about Mr. Richard Belzer. Also, that he is awesome, but that should go without saying.
Now on to the character.
John Munch made his first appearance on the overwhelmingly underrated series Homicide: Life on the Street, where he was a detective in Baltimore. The character was based quite a lot on Jay Landsman, a figure in a true crime book by David Simon. Although, it has occurred to me over the years that some of Belzer has been melded into the character, what with Munch also being a bit of a conspiracy theorist himself. And something tells me that, like Munch, Belzer was probably also a hippie in his youth. Or am I just really hoping that was the case? Oh, to be a fly on a 1967 wall. He had several partners and even opened a bar with a few of them. And it was on this show where he was groomed for his later career in a few crossover episodes with Law and Order, the most memorable of these being when he discovered that Lenny Briscoe, portrayed by the late, great Jerry Orbach, had once "hooked up" with one of Munch's ex-wives. Yes, I said "one of", but we'll get into that later. After his time in Baltimore, he made his way to the Special Victims Unit of the NYPD on Law and Order: SVU. Here is where most people know him from. I will admit this. He is the reason why I decided to start watching that show.
As all the Law and Order series' tend to be more story driven than character driven, we have learned a precious few things about John Munch during his thirteen years in the NYPD. But what we have learned has been intriguing. He has been married and divorced four times and therefore pretty much only talks of his relationships in the past tense. In season five, he reveals that after a fight with him as a teenager, his father committed suicide. And in one of my favorite episodes called "Legacy", during a rooftop conversation with Olivia Benson, he tells a story of a young girl who lived in his neighborhood when he was a boy who was abused and ultimately killed by her mother. Munch has had a number of these moments where his emotions truly are revealed, and we can easily see why he has become so cynical about the world around him. As much as I love and need the comic relief that he often provides, it is these moments that I remember and appreciate most of all.
Over the years on L&O:SVU, his character has diminished a bit. I barely see him anymore, and I have no idea why they are doing this. He's one of the best characters in the franchise, and, considering how long it has been around and how many people have come and gone, that is saying a whole lot.
Now while these two are his most prominent, as I said, John Much has appeared on others series. He has been on The X-Files (what a surprise!), Arrested Development, a show I've never heard of called The Beat, and a few others. He even has had a muppet based on him on Sesame Street, and it was in that moment that he became a luminary.
Now I could go on even further about both the man and the character, but I think I've covered some of the most important things. We have been enjoying John Munch for twenty years and Richard Belzer for even longer. I just hope they both keep going strong for many years to come.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
