John Munch

Sgt. John Munch
Law & Order character
First appearance	"Gone for Goode"(Homicide: Life on the Street) "Payback" (SVU)
Last appearance	"Forgive Us Our Trespasses" (Homicide: Life on the Street) N/A (SVU)
Portrayed by	Richard Belzer Joseph Perrino (teen) David Rudman (Muppet)
Time on show	1993–1999 (Homicide: Life on the Street) 1999–present (SVU)
Information
Nickname(s)	Johnny (in childhood)[1] Munchkin (as Baltimore detective)
Occupation	NYPD Police Officer Sergeant
Title	Sergeant former Homicide Detective
Family	Bernard Munch (brother) Andrew Munch (uncle) Lee Munch (cousin) Mr. Munch (father; deceased)

Sergeant John Munch is a fictional character played by actor Richard Belzer. Munch first appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street. Upon that series' cancellation, the character was transplanted to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the first spin-off of the Law & Order franchise. He made his 300th appearance on the SVU episode "Unorthodox".

Character progression

Munch first appears 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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

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 was 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, took 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.^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[7] He is temporarily put in charge again when Cragen gets suspended after the detectives mishandled the Nikki Sherman rape case.^[8]

Munch makes a cameo appearance on a fifth season episode of The Wire.^[9] Munch can be seen at Kavanaugh's Bar arguing with the bartender over his tab. He also appears on a fifth season episode of The X-Files, still a member of the Baltimore Police Department in episode 5x03, "Unusual Suspects". Munch was also mentioned as a liaison with Britain "in New York's Special Victims Unit" by main character DCI John Luther in a first series episode of BBC's TV programme Luther.

Character biography

Though his age is never directly stated on Homicide, a few clues are presented pointing to it. In episode 5.17, "Kaddish", Munch talks about his high school years and looks at a yearbook from 1961. In episode 6.95 "Full Court Press", Munch says: "Going to high school was no day at the beach for a teenage Jew in the '50s". Because first grade began at age six and high school ended in 12th^[10] grade in Maryland during this time, it is likely Munch was born in 1944, the same year as Belzer. Munch is described, however, as being 48 years old in SVU episode 1.18, "Chat Room". To be 48 at the time this episode took place, Munch would have been born circa 1951, depending on when his birthday falls. Also noteworthy is a seventh season episode of Homicide in which the ongoing conflict between Munch and Det. Stuart Gharty (played by Peter Gerety) culminates. After a confrontation inside the Waterfront bar, Gharty asks Munch how old he was during that period of the war (1970), to which Munch responds "eighteen", putting the year of his birth circa 1951.

SVU and Homicide also have Munch growing up in different places. He is a native of Maryland on Homicide and attended high school in Pikesville, which has a large Jewish community. Also, Munch said that he took many field trips to Ft. McHenry as a kid, which would likely only happen were he to live in the area.^[11] Munch tells Det. Olivia Benson in SVU episode 2.4 (E1401), "Legacy", that he grew up on the "Lower East Side".^[12] Munch said to Det. Fin Tutuola in that same season that he "came back from Baltimore" after his marriage broke up, suggesting that he is originally from New York. One possible scenario has Munch being born in New York^[13] and moving to Baltimore where he attended Pikesville High School for four years.^[14]

When Munch was a teenager, his father committed suicide, and Munch still regrets that he told his father he "hated his guts" just before the tragedy occurred; for years afterward, he believes that it was his fault.^[15] It is revealed that Munch also has an uncle, Andrew (played by Jerry Lewis), who had been diagnosed with depressive pseudodementia.^[16] The elder Munch is found by Elliot Stabler living as a transient in Manhattan, and is subsequently reunited with his nephew. Andrew, however, reacts badly to his antidepressant medication, which triggers a mania that results in his taking a personal vendetta against a suspected rapist/murderer SVU is investigating, eventually killing the man by pushing him in front of a subway train. Andrew refuses to plead insanity and take further medication, and says goodbye to his nephew one last time before being sent to prison. In a deleted scene from the 3rd season of Homicide, Munch mentions to both Meldrick Lewis and Tim Bayliss that he had an uncle who lived up north but was unsure of what became of him — this is presumably Andrew. Munch is also affected by the death of a young girl who lived near him when he was younger; he blames himself, at least partially, for not noticing that she was being abused by her mother, despite seeing her every day when he came home from school.

Munch's partner at the start of Homicide is Stanley Bolander (played by Ned Beatty), an experienced police detective with more than 20 years under his belt. The two are partners through the show's first three seasons until Bolander is first suspended and then retires. Despite the tremendous amount of grief the two give each other, Munch respects him and counts him as a dear friend.

In SVU, Munch is first partnered with Brian Cassidy (played by Dean Winters), whom he thinks of as a kind of younger brother, alternately poking fun at him and imparting (often questionable) advice on life and women. When Cassidy leaves the precinct in 2000,^[17] Munch is briefly partnered with Monique Jeffries (played by Michelle Hurd),^[18] and then with Odafin Tutuola (played by rapper Ice-T).^[19] He and the gruff, uncompromising Tutuola get off to a rough start, but gradually come to like and respect each other. After Munch is shot by a suspect during a trial;^[20] the dialogue he shares with Tutuola in the hospital demonstrates the regard and respect the characters have gained for one another. When Tutuola gets frustrated over a potential witness being unable to testify due to relapsing on heroin, Munch mentions a former partner who took cases that personally — and who eventually committed suicide as a result.^[21]

In Homicide, along with Tim Bayliss (played by Kyle Secor) and Meldrick Lewis (played by Clark Johnson), Munch is co-owner of "The Waterfront", a bar located across the street from their Baltimore police station. In the episode "Took" from the fifth and final season of The Wire, Munch makes a small cameo in which he refers to having owned The Waterfront in the past-tense. Even during the severe recession of the late 2000s, he talks about wanting to buy a bar again in New York.^[22]

Characteristics

Munch is Jewish, but once commented that the only thing he and Judaism had in common was that he "didn't like to work on Saturdays." However, he is sensitive to anti-Semitic jokes, though conversely, he also occasionally makes comments that play on Jewish stereotypes, usually in an ironic fashion. He indicates that he is familiar with Jewish prayers, and eventually says the titular one at the end of an episode of Homicide called "Kaddish" in memory of a Jewish murder victim.^[23] He is also familiar with common Yiddish words and phrases. Munch interacts with an Orthodox Jewish witness, using one Yiddish word, farshteyn ("understand"), and referring to the twelve Israelite tribes from the Bible.^[24] The man remarks that Munch must be Jewish and, consequently, agrees to help him out of a fraternal connection. After the interaction, Munch reciprocates by offering the man a ride back to the Riverdale neighborhood in The Bronx. He identifies his ethnic background as Romanian.^[25]

He has a younger brother named Bernie who owns a funeral parlor; he at one point jokes that he occasionally "throws him some business". He mentioned another brother who is in the drywall business.^[26] His cousin, Lee, acts as his accountant—and the accountant for The Waterfront—when he lives in Baltimore.

Munch has been described as a stubborn man who can "smell a conspiracy at a five-year-old's lemonade stand." Munch can often be seen lecturing his co-workers on a variety of conspiracy theories, which he views as obvious truths. In his very first case with SVU, he rants about the government cover-up in the Kennedy Assassination.^[27] However, Munch doesn't seem to believe all conspiracy theories; in The X-Files episode "Unusual Suspects" -- a cross-over episode with Homicide -- Munch vocally disbelieved the Lone Gunmen's claims of a government plot to expose Baltimore residents to a hallucinogenic gas.^[28]

Munch's most notable features are his sarcastic wit and dark humor. He is known to make jokes at crime scenes and insult witnesses and suspects in murder investigations. A very cultured, articulate individual, Munch has many interests in art, philosophy and other intellectual activities. This, contrasted with the working class officers he worked with, has often led him to be viewed as bizarre by others. He seems to view himself as more intelligent than many of his colleagues noting that in Baltimore he "was surrounded by intellectual insects". He is also known for his trademark dark glasses and his very thin appearance which he claimed was "from only having fifteen hundred calories a day".

At the onset of Homicide, he had been divorced twice, but by the seventh season he had had a total of three ex-wives, until marrying his fourth, Billie Lou;^[29] each one of the previous three is "beautiful, spoiled, and none of them matched John Munch intellectually". Before leaving Baltimore, Munch had divorced his fourth wife and never shies away from cracking sarcastic divorce jokes.^[27] Dr. Aubrey Jackson has noted however that despite his romantic troubles, Munch still believes in true love, and is crushed by the fact he has not found it.^[30]

He once stated that he and his first wife, Gwen, had sex once after their divorce. Her first on screen appearance is the season six episode of "Homicide" titled "All Is Bright" where she is played by Carol Kane. Gwen shows up at 'The Waterfront' bar to inform Munch her mother has died. As the two catch up, he agrees to arrange for the funeral of Gwen's mother despite the fact that his ex-mother-in-law loathed him and did everything in her power to disrupt her daughter's marriage to him. Near the end of the episode, Munch performs a touching toast to his former mother in law in one of the few time his cynical facade slips. Carol Kane next returns as Gwen in the season 10 finale of Law and Order: SVU and is portrayed as a paranoid schizophrenic. While working with Lennie Briscoe (played by Jerry Orbach) in the season four episode of "Homicide", 'For God and Country', a crossover with "Law and Order", Munch loses badly to Briscoe in a pool game and learns Briscoe had briefly dated, and had sex with, Gwen.^[31] He goes on to get quite drunk and proclaims that he forgives Gwen and still loves her. Despite this, it appears that he and Briscoe become quite good friends—their interaction in the two following crossovers between Homicide and Law & Order, as well as in a crossover between Law & Order and SVU, is generally friendly.

While Munch could never be accused of being sentimental, his cynical façade has occasionally slipped, revealing a deep compassion—especially for children—borne from his unhappy childhood. When Munch emerged unscathed from an ambush shooting during a third season episode of Homicide that left three of his colleagues in the hospital, he tried to maintain his cynical demeanor by complaining to his commanding officer (Al Giardello) that "they got blood on my shoes, Gee" but he breaks down in tears anyway. In the second season of SVU, after solving a case dealing with an abusive mother who put her daughter in a coma, Munch told Benson a story about how when he was in high school, he saw an abused girl on her porch every day. One day she wasn't there because her mother had thrown her through a window, killing her. He stated that it was the first time he saw a grown man cry (the girl's father) and that the mother didn't care at all.

Munch is a staunch believer in individual rights and occasionally finds that something he has to do in the line of duty goes against his sense of morality. A particularly disturbing experience for him was having to see patients on dialysis have their kidney transplants denied.^[32]

Munch enjoys fig milkshakes.^[33]

In the third season episode of "Homicide", 'Law and Disorder', Munch was suspected by Detective Tim Bayliss of having murdered Gordon Pratt (played by Steve Buscemi), a Baltimore man suspected of shooting four homicide detectives, including Munch. Munch had motive, opportunity, an unconfirmed alibi, and never actually denies killing Pratt, but Bayliss refuses to question Munch further or test his service weapon to determine if it had been fired recently. He closes the case, informing his shift commander that there is not enough evidence to charge anyone.

Munch is fluent in French, as shown when he chats with a victim in Law and Order: SVU's season 12 episode "Flight". He also has some conversational ability in Russian.^[34], Hebrew, Spanish, Greek, and Hungarian.

Appearances and crossovers

The character has spanned over 17 years and 18 seasons. Along with 122 episodes and 1 TV movie of Homicide and 272 episodes of SVU (of which he has not appeared in 3 episodes of Homicide and 52 of SVU), Munch has also appeared as a character in other TV series, movies and albums:

• Law & Order—four episodes: "Charm City", "Baby, It's You" (part 1), "Sideshow (Part 1)", and "Entitled (Part 2)"
• The X-Files—one episode: "Unusual Suspects"
• The Beat—one episode: "They Say It's Your Birthday"
• Law & Order: Trial by Jury—one episode: "Skeleton (Part 2)"
• Arrested Development—one episode: "Exit Strategy"
• The Wire—one episode: "Took"
• 30 Rock—one episode: "¡Qué Sorpresa!", the characters are watching a SVU episode, with dialogue written and action shot specifically for 30 Rock.
• Jimmy Kimmel Live!
• A Muppet representation of Detective Munch appeared in the Sesame Street sketch "Law & Order: Special Letters Unit" where he was portrayed by David Rudman.
• Munch also makes a cameo appearance on the 1993 Paul Shaffer album The World's Most Dangerous Party.

Munch has become the only fictional character, played by a single actor, to appear on ten different television shows. These shows were on five different networks: NBC (Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, and 30 Rock); Fox (The X-Files; Arrested Development); UPN (The Beat); HBO (The Wire) and ABC (Jimmy Kimmel Live!). Munch has also been one of the few television characters to cross genres, appearing not only in crime drama series, but sitcom (Arrested Development), late night comedy (Jimmy Kimmel Live!) and horror and science fiction (The X-Files).^[35] He has also played a role in international television series, beginning with UK crime drama Luther where he is mentioned as an American contact for the series' Serious Crime Unit (SCU). Notably Luther stars Idris Elba, the actor who played Stringer Bell in the HBO drama The Wire where Munch had cameoed previously.

See also

• Fictional crossover

References

1. ^ Episode 5.17, "Kaddish"
2. ^ Simon, David (1991, 2006). Homicide, A Year on the Killing Streets. New York: Owl Books. p. hoto insert section. 
3. ^ Mendoza, Manuel (2003-06-11). "Revisit 'Life on the Street'". The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas): p. 1E. 
4. ^ Levinson, Barry (2003) (Audio commentary). Homicide Life on the Street - The Seasons 1 & 2 (DVD). A&E Home Video. 
5. ^ Homicide: Life on the Street episode "Gone for Goode"
6. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Alternate"
7. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Savant"
8. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Turmoil"
9. ^ The Wire episode "Took"
10. ^ In 1958, Maryland required students complete 12th grade to receive a diploma.
11. ^ Homicide: Life on the Street episode "A Many Splendored Thing"
12. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Legacy"
13. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes "Legacy" and "Manhunt"
14. ^ Homicide: Life on the Street episode "Kaddish"
15. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode 5.13 "Painless"
16. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Uncle"
17. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Disrobed"
18. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Limitations"
19. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Honor"
20. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Raw"
21. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Sacrifice"
22. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Trials"
23. ^ Homicide: Life on the Street episode Kaddish"
24. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Hysteria"
25. ^ Law and Order: Special Victims Unit season 2 episode "Legacy"
26. ^ Homicide: Life on the Street episode "Gone For Goode"
27. ^ ^{a b} Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Payback"
28. ^ The X-Files episode "Unusual Suspects"
29. ^ Homicide: Life on the Street episode "Forgive Us Our Trespasses"
30. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Slaves"
31. ^ Homicide: Life on the Street episode "God and For Country"
32. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 6 episode "Parts"
33. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 7 episode "Raw"
34. ^ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 1 episode "Russian Love Poem"
35. ^ http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0004858/

External links

• Detective John Munch at the Internet Movie Database.