Rich Heldenfels answers readers' TV questions.

Q: I would like to find out what happened to Dennis Franz, who played Andy Sipowicz beautifully on “NYPD Blue.” Did he play any TV roles previously?

A: Franz retired from acting after his Emmy-winning, 12-season run on “NYPD Blue” ended in 2005. “I needed a break,” he told the New York Post a few years ago. “I was just tired. … When we finished up, I told my agents I needed a year off, and that year went by in about 10 minutes. I realized I’m pretty good at this and I’d like another year to think about what’s next — and during that second period of time, I sort of made my mind up that this is where I wanna be. I just wanted to live an enjoyable, irresponsible, spend-time-with-my-family kind of life. I haven’t regretted one minute of it. I’m pretty good at doing nothing.” He did indicate he might return for the right role, but that has not happened yet.

As for Franz before “NYPD Blue,” he played a lot of tough guys in movies and on TV. His breakthrough came in 1983 on “Hill Street Blues” as rogue detective “Bad Sal” Benedetto. That character was killed off, and Franz took jobs on other shows, but he had made such an impression on “Hill Street” that he was brought back to play another detective, Norman Buntz. After “Hill Street” ended, Franz starred in a single-season sequel, “Beverly Hills Buntz.” Other work followed, and he would strike gold again with “NYPD Blue.”

Q: My husband and I watch “Project Runway” together and were wondering when the next season will start. We know it moved back to Bravo but I can’t find out anything about the 17th season online.

A: Look for the new season in 2019, offering what Bravo has called “the next evolution of the franchise.” The series originally aired for five seasons on Bravo from 2004 to 2008, then went to Lifetime. As Variety reported, that network ended its deal following the reports of sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein, whose company owned the show. Another company has since acquired the Weinstein company’s assets, making the Bravo deal possible.

Q: Is there really anywhere in New York City with a lovely home and yard like the Reagan family home on "Blue Bloods"?

A: According to a Brooklyn Eagle report in 2017, the exterior of the Reagan home belongs to a house in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, one of the five boroughs of New York City; interiors are a studio set.

Q: I was excited to see a new summer show, “Yellowstone,” that rather looked like a modern-day western. I could only stomach the first 15 minutes. We do not subscribe to Showtime or HBO because of the language that is used in many of their programs and movies, so why does this show think it is OK to subject their viewing audience to foul language on prime time? Please tell me that television shows are not going this direction.

A: About 30 years ago, one of my colleagues was outraged that a prime-time network show had a character saying, “You suck!” Clearly the standards have changed over the years, as movies, television and other entertainment reflect changes in the way many people talk in everyday life. If “Yellowstone” shocked you, stay away from the real-life coach ranting in the third season of Netflix’s “Last Chance U.” And Kate Aurthur of BuzzFeed noted back in January that “it makes sense that in a world in which President Trump uses the word ‘----hole’ during a policy meeting, which was then followed by news divisions’ decisions to repeat the obscenity, these (language) standards are always evolving.”

While broadcast television still hews to federal standards, cable does not. Premium channels such as HBO and Showtime, which viewers pay for directly, long ago got more explicit; recent years have seen a growing number of basic-cable stations such as AMC, FX, Syfy, USA and the “Yellowstone”-carrying Paramount Network break the F-word barrier. Aurthur quoted Sera Gamble, co-creator of Syfy’s “The Magicans”: “We all just feel more like ourselves when we can use the word. … It feels honest. And it’s just a perfect word.” Of course, you disagree. But that just means, as always, that you have to be more selective in your TV viewing — and watch out when a show has a TV-MA rating in your program guide.

Q: Would you be kind enough to advise if “The Crown” will have another season and if so when it is scheduled to start? I sure hope so as there is still a lot of story left untold.

A: The drama about Queen Elizabeth II will return for a third season in 2019. But there will be big changes from the previous season. As the characters age — the third season will bring the story into the 1960s and ’70s — the actors from the first two seasons are being replaced. For example, Olivia Colman has succeeded Claire Foy as Elizabeth, and Tobias Menzies follows Matt Smith as Philip. We will see how this works. But I bemoan the loss of the wonderful Vanessa Kirby as Margaret; Helena Bonham Carter is assuming the role.