Steven Bochco, RIP

[barahona44]

The name may not be that familiar but Steven Bochco who created , wrote and produced two groundbreaking TV series with Hill Street Bluesand NYPD Blue has died at age 74. He also created popular, if less groundbreaking, series such as LA Law and Doogie Howser,M.D..He also had his share of notorious flops like Cop Rock (police officers singing and dancing like a Broadway show- and it wasn't a comedy)and Public Morals about vice cops that lasted one episode for being too vulgar for network TV.Bocho also had some interesting failures like Bay City Blues (minor league baseball) and Civil Wars (divorce lawyers)that I enjoyed.


https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...lue-dies-at-74

[Tom]

I liked his shows a lot.

Appears that our TOS here are now forever set in stone!

[RunForTheRoses]

I recently obtained a copy of the complete HSB and am slowly watching. That show was totally groundbreaking at the time.

YouTube

[JustRalph]

Great shows.

If I remember right one of our board members actually starred in a couple of episodes of Cop Rock.

[exactatom]

What I liked about Bochco is that his shows always had plenty of characters who reminded you of people that you knew in real life. I think he lost that to some extent L.A. Law. People can't associate with Corbin Bernsen's character, but they can respond with Frank Furillo.

Hill Street Blues in some ways reminds me of the backstretch at a racetrack: kind of old & broken down work facilities, every person has a story and the interaction among people are similar.

And by the way who could forget Detective Norman Buntz as a bullpen coach?

[RunForTheRoses]

I didn't watch NYPD Blues or LA Law, am I missing anything? Loved HSB was must see TV back in the day and still holds up fairly well (although it is a little out of date, much of what they did was cutting edge then but a bit cliche nowadays).

[barahona44]

Originally Posted by RunForTheRoses

I didn't watch NYPD Blues or LA Law, am I missing anything? Loved HSB was must see TV back in the day and still holds up fairly well (although it is a little out of date,[uch of what they did was cutting edge then but a bit cliche nowadays).

That's because Bochco invented those cliches!

LA Law was pretty slick and it was quite yuppie-ish, but the story lines could be compelling and it showed how California was turning fom the 50's & 60-s paradise into a place that becoming more nightmare than dream.NYPD started getting very samey the last few years: crime gets committed, 'perp' arrested, Dennis Franz threatens to beat the crap out of him,perp confesses or points the police in the right direction, lather, rinse, repeat.Same thing, more or less the next episode.Had it's moments but went on far too long about 12 seasons, I think.Murder One which followed a single case over an entire season was really good but never caught on.

After a while it's hard to keep the originiality and creativity going.

[kingfin66]

Unfortunately, HSB also begat perhaps the worst spinoff show in the history of television, Beverly Hills Buntz.

YouTube

[PointGiven]

Originally Posted by RunForTheRoses

I didn't watch NYPD Blues or LA Law, am I missing anything? Loved HSB was must see TV back in the day and still holds up fairly well (although it is a little out of date, much of what they did was cutting edge then but a bit cliche nowadays).

I didn't watch Nypd Blue in it's original run. But went back and watch after seeing that David Milich worked on it with him. The show is absolutely brilliant to me. They handled character changes as good as anyone except probably MASH.

The dialogue was outstanding. Just an all around great show.

[Tom]

The dialog was OK, but the hand gestures were outstanding!
We could use Andy Sipowicz in Congress today.....