7 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Hill Street Blues’
Groundbreaking and influential, NBC’s Hill Street Blues, which premiered 44 years ago today on January 15, 1981, aired for seven seasons from 1981-87, piling up awards and nominations year after year during its run. The series was a critical darling, but never a major ratings hit — its first season, which starred Daniel J. Travanti, Bruce Weitz, Veronica Hamel, Michael Warren and Michael Conrad was No. 87 in the ratings. The show peaked at No. 21 during its third season and was down to No. 42 in its last. Still, more than four decades after the show’s debut, its legacy endures. In 2014, CNN labeled it the most influential TV show ever.
Here are seven things you (probably) didn’t know about Hill Street Blues.
1It was based off a Paul Newman thriller
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection
The series was directly inspired by the 1981 Paul Newman movie Fort Apache, the Bronx, in which Newman plays an NYPD officer. Then-NBC President Fred Silverman was a fan and he asked television producers Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll to create a cop show for the network with the movie in mind. They came up with Hill Street Blues.
2 It was a talent incubator
The show’s writers’ room on the series was full of major talent who would go on to shape the next decades of TV and film. Former writers include Law & Order creator Dick Wolf, Miami Vice creator Anthony Yerkovich, Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost, playwright David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross), novelist Robert Crais (the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike novels) and screenwriter John Romano (The Lincoln Lawyer).
3 One actor almost had a very different role
Everett Collection
Ed Marinaro, who played Officer Joe Coffey, landed his role in a most unusual way: he visited the office of production company MTM Enterprises, who were casting for Hill Street Blues, but not to audition for the cop show. Instead, he was there to audition for a movie they were making about male strippers. His timing was fortunate and he was able to audition for Coffey while he was there, quickly winning the part.
4 Audiences hated the pilot
Complaints test audiences had about the pilot included:
-The main characters were not good at their jobs and had flawed personalities
-The ending wasn’t satisfying and there were too many loose ends
-The police station wasn’t realistic, there was too much chaos and the officers couldn’t control their own workplace.
Bochco said it took audiences a full year to figure the series out.
5 It had a shocking budget
Hill Street Blues‘ budget was unprecedented for television. It cost $1 million for a single episode (roughly $3 million in today’s dollars), making it the first weekly series to hit that figure.
6 Guest stars went on to bigger & better things
The list of guest stars who appeared in small roles before they found fame is extensive and impressive. They included Tim Robbins, Joaquin Phoenix, Forest Whitaker, Andy Garcia, Linda Hamilton, Don Cheadle, Laurence Fishburne and many more.
7 Dennis Franz played two roles on the show
MTM Enterprises/Courtesy Everett Collection
Dennis Franz played two different parts on the series — and the second one got his own spinoff. First, he played corrupt cop Sal Benedetto in five episodes, before reappearing in the final two seasons as Lt. Norman Buntz. After Hill Street Blues ended, Franz played Buntz on the short-lived Beverly Hills Buntz. NBC only broadcast nine episodes.
Hill Street Blues is currently only available for purchase from Vudu, Amazon and Apple+
