After a dozen seasons and 260 episodes on the air, "NYPD Blue" will catch its last case at the end of February sweeps.

ABC, which announced earlier this year that this season would be the last for "Blue," has set a series finale date for the venerable cop show. "Blue" will bow out with a two-hour episode on Tuesday, March 1 -- one day before the February sweeps period ends.

The network is also sticking to its promise to air the final season without repeats. After an original episode on Tuesday (Dec. 21), "Blue" will take two weeks off -- including one for the broadcast of college football's Orange Bowl on Jan. 4 -- then return for a final run of eight episodes starting Jan. 11.

Other than the date and its duration, details of the finale are being kept quiet.

"NYPD Blue" debuted on ABC in 1993 to huge critical acclaim as well as a fair amount of controversy over its liberal-for-broadcast use of profanity and occasional shots of naked backsides. It endured affiliate and advertiser boycotts during its first season and picked up an astounding 27 Emmy nominations, including all five for outstanding writing for a drama series.

It won six awards that year, including the first of Dennis Franz's four statues for outstanding actor in a drama, and has picked up 14 more in the years since then, including an outstanding drama series win in 1995.