HILL STREET BLUES

Show Type: Police Drama

First Telecast: January 15, 1981

Last Telecast: May 19, 1987

Theme Music: "Hill Street Blues," by Mike Post

Broadcast History:

January 1981, Thursday /Saturday 10:00-11:00 on NBC

January 1981 – April 1981, Saturday 10:00-11:00 on NBC

April 1981 – August 1981, Tuesday 9:00-10:00 on NBC

October 1981 – November 1986, Thursday 10:00-11:00 on NBC

December 1986 – February 1987, Tuesday 9:00-10:00 on NBC

March 1987 – May 1987, Tuesday 10:00-11:00 on NBC

Cast

Captain Frank Furillo..... Daniel J. Travanti

Sergeant Phil Esterhaus (1981-1984)..... Michael Conrad

Officer Bobby Hill..... Michael Warren

Officer Andy Renko..... Charles Haid

Joyce Davenport..... Veronica Hamel

Detective Mick Belker..... Bruce Weitz

Lieutenant Ray Calletano..... Rene Enriquez

Detective Johnny "J.D." LaRue..... Kiel Martin

Detective Neal Washington..... Taurean Blacque

Lieutenant Howard Hunter..... James Sikking

Sergeant/Lieutenant Henry Goldblume..... Joe Spano

Officer/Sergeant Lucille Bates..... Betty Thomas

Grace Gardner (1981-1985)..... Barbara Babcock

Fay Furillo (1981-1986)..... Barbara Bosson

Captain Jerry Fuchs (1981-1984)..... Vincent Lucchesi

Detective/Lieutenant Alf Chesley (1981-1982)..... Gerry Black

Officer Leo Schnitz (1981-1985)..... Robert Hirschfield

Officer Joe Coffey (1981-1986)..... Ed Marinaro

Chief Fletcher P. Daniels..... Jon Cypher

Officer Robin Tataglia (1983-1987)..... Lisa Sutton

Assistant D.A. Irwin Bernstein (1982-1987)..... George Wyner

Jesus Martinez..... Trinidad Silva

Judge Alan Wachtel..... Jeffrey Tambor

Detective Harry Garibaldi (1984-1985)..... Ken Olin

Detective Patricia Mayo (1984-1985)..... Mimi Kuzyk

Mayor Ozzie Cleveland (1982-1985)..... J.A. Preston

Sergeant Stanislaus Jablonski (1984-1987)..... Robert Prosky

Lieutenant Norman Buntz (1985-1987)..... Dennis Franz

Celeste Patterson (1985-1986)..... Judith Hansen

Sidney "Sid the Snitch" Thurston (1985-1987)..... Peter Jurasik

Officer Patrick Flaherty (1986-1987)..... Robert Clohessy

Officer Tina Russo (1986-1987)..... Megan Gallagher

Officer Raymond (1987)..... David Selburg

SYNOPSIS

This critically acclaimed series focused on the officers of Hill Street Station, located in the blighted ghetto area of a large, unnamed Eastern city. In command was Captain Frank Furillo, a quiet yet forceful man with the patience of Job. Every day and long into the night, he dealt with the sleazy characters living in his precinct, which was rife with drugs, prostitutes, burglary, murder, and the decay of a rotting neighborhood.

As if that weren’t enough, Frank had to cope with police bureaucracy and a chaotic personal life – an ex-wife (Fay) who constantly badgered him for more alimony, and a contentious public defender (Joyce) who was also his secret lover. The crazy assortment of cops under his command included the vaguely maniacal Belker, a scruffy little undercover officer who sometimes bit offenders and barked at startled dogs – but who regularly got calls from his Mom at home. To surly criminals he was a terror ("Would you like to sit down, hairball or would you prefer internal bleeding?"). Henry Goldblume was the dedicated and idealistic community affairs officer, who sometimes took the brutality he saw around him too much to heart; Howard Hunter was the trigger-happy leader of the precinct's S.W.A.T. team, ready to blast away at any excuse; Ray Calletano was the second-in-command at the precinct; and J.D. LaRue, a cash-poor vice cop who was frequently in trouble. Hill and Renko were two young partners who were shot in the first episode and had difficulty adjusting to life on the streets after that. There was also an assortment of cocky street-gang leaders, notably the pushy Jesus Martinez, with whom Furillo had to deal almost as an equal. Only tall, fatherly Phil Esterhaus, the head sergeant, provided a haven of calm in the storm. He ended each roll call with the same words, "And, hey - let's be careful out there."

Viewers followed dramatic turns in the lives of their favorite characters as stories unfolded from episode to episode in semi-serial fashion. Chesley and Goldblume were promoted to Lieutenant, with Chesley moving on after the first full season. Frank and Joyce finally went public with their relationship, and were married in the 1983-1984 season – in a quickie, lunch-hour ceremony. The manipulative Chief Daniels, to whom Furillo reported, ran for Mayor that same season, but lost in a bitter contest, to everyone’s relief.

In another story in early 1984, a despondent Hunter attempted suicide, only to survive when it turned out that his co-workers had removed the bullets from his service revolver. In one of the most famous episodes, in 1982, the normally quiet Ray Calletano, who was proud and sensitive about his Colombian heritage and unhappy about the status of Hispanics in American society, was honored as the department's "Hispanic Officer of the Year." At his testimonial banquet, after being misidentified as Puerto Rican and served Mexican food, he threw away his acceptance speech and told his stunned audience: "Why is it... that I look around the room – full of ranking officers – and the only other Hispanics I see are waiters and busboys?"

Probably the most dramatic development was the sudden death of kindly Sgt. Esterhaus in the middle of the 1983-1984 season (following the death of actor Michael Conrad). He had been having a passionate affair with Grace Gardner, the middle-aged widow of a fellow officer, and according to the story, he suffered a heart attack while making love to her. “The Blues” were deeply touched by his passing.

Hill Street Blues was a most unusual mixture of drama and comedy, fast-paced and deliberately choppy, as was life at the station house (each episode began with 7:00 AM roll call and ended late at night, with several stories interwoven). Although conceptually similar to ABC's Barney Miller, its rough texture and hard reality gave it a greater sense of honesty. The humor in it was the nervous humor of frustration and life in the streets. If Barney Miller was a police comedy with occasional dramatic overtones, Hill Street Blues was a police drama with occasional comedic moments.

Although the city in which the series took place was never mentioned, the real-life station house seen in exterior shots was the Maxwell Street Precinct in Chicago. The theme song from the series was on the record charts in late 1981.

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