10 Robin Williams TV Appearances You Must Watch

By Douglas Scarpa /

3. Homicide: Life On The Street

Before Robin€™s guest appearance on Law and Order: SVU, he starred in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. Homicide was a spiritual relative of Law and Order taking place in Baltimore, Maryland. Interestingly, the Baltimore-based show is where the character of Detective Munch -- portrayed by Richard Belzer -- got his start, before being €œtransferred€ to New York€™s Special Victims Unit. Robin€™s performance on Homicide is quite different than that of his SVU episode. While he played a criminal on L&O, he portrayed a scared, helpless victim on Homicide. In the second season premiere, entitled €œBop Gun€, Williams played a tourist whose wife was murdered. Left with his two children, Robin deftly portrayed his character€™s pain and anguish, as well as his fear and guilt. It was a riveting episode of an underrated procedural series. There€™s far less action and excitement than Robin€™s SVU appearance. Instead, this edition of Homicide simply acted as a character study of the abashed tourist. It is one of Williams€™ overlooked and forgotten performances, but is quite possibly one of his best.