Enjoying the fruits of retirement.

Vietnam veteran, character actor and multi-Emmy winner Dennis Franz has been taking it easy since his signature character, Det. Andy Sipowicz, signed off in the series finale of "NYPD Blue," on March 1, 2005.

But that's not to say he's been bored.

"I certainly have my hands full with grandkids, golf and cleaning my garage," he told "Entertainment Weekly."

He's only popped up a few times since, and then very briefly. Most recently, he performed a dramatic reading of the story of a fellow Vietnam veteran at the National Memorial Day Concert that aired on PBS on May 27.

Prior to that, his only appearances on screen have been in interviews, such as in the 2009 documentary "We Believe," about his beloved Chicago Cubs. That documentary, incidentally, was narrated by Franz's friend and fellow Chicagoan Gary Sinise, who hosted the Memorial Day Concert.

Indeed, Franz has spent a lot of his retirement hanging out with his friends. The "Entertainment Weekly" quote above came from a photo shoot he did for that magazine's reunions issue, which featured Franz and all of his former "NYPD Blue" partners (all but Mark-Paul Gosselaar, that is, who was out of town on a film shoot).

He raved to the magazine about what a pleasure it was seeing his old friends again, and said that, "When we were working, I felt something every day I went to work.''

His first partner on the series, David Caruso, replied, "I can feel that same sort of thing happening again, just being here together."

Franz offered some hope in the interview that fans might see more of him. "I'd still consider getting back in the game if that right [project] were to come along."

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