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Remembering Hill Street Blues
For me, it was the greatest cop show of all time.
Over the years I’ve watched a lot of police shows. My favorite is Hill Street Blues. It combined action, interesting characters, humor, and perhaps most importantly great writing. The characters are nuanced. It makes for an interesting watch. So, here are some things you might not have remembered about Hill Street Blues.
1: Initially the show had terrible ratings but critical acclaim.
Hill Street won eight Emmies in its first year. That gave it a tremendous Emmy-to-viewer ratio.
2: Joe Spano wanted to play Andy Renko.
Of course, he ended up playing Lieutenant Henry Goldblume. Spano also hated wearing a bow tie. Well, kudos to Joe for that. BTW, I can’t see Joe Spano as Renko.
3: Hill Street cops were tough to kill.
Charles Haid’s Andy Reno character was supposed to be killed off in the pilot and Ed Marinaro’s Joe Coffee was supposed to die at the end of the first season. It seems like there should have been a series about the doctors in that area. If they were bringing guys back from the dead, that seems to be the ultimate display of medical skill.
