jkberden

Season one of Hill Street Blues is being released soon. I was too young for it when it originally aired. I am well aware of how much critical acclaim the series has received. That said, I was wondering if the show still holds up today when compared to shows such as The Shield, Homicide, NYPD BLUE, etc. I am a huge fan of "cop shows", and wondering if this show is worth getting or not.

the big train

I couldn't really say how it compares because I've never really watched any of those shows. However I will point out that you're really missing something if you never see Hill Street Blues (particularly the first episode).

Forum Troll

This is one of the best cop show that ever was. Get it, no questions. Now, let's all be careful out there.

kitkat

I'm not sure it does hold up. I was a huge fan back when it was airing, but a few years ago I caught some eps in syndication and it wasn't the same. It was only a few eps, and not in order, so I may be dead wrong about this. Maybe rent the first disc to see what you think? It was a brilliant, gritty, groundbreaking show for its time. It was one of the first ensemble cast dramas, and one of the first to have continuing storylines. Today, Homicide would blow it out of the water, but HSB does deserve to be seen.

Actually, I hope it does really well on DVD because I never got to see the finale, and that still bugs me to this day.

cdoug57

Let's just say Buntz gets to do what every viewer wanted to do to Chief Daniels. Great ending and explains why he became Beverly Hills Buntz.

kitkat

Ah, Beverly Hills Buntz! I never did get into NYPD blue, and I think at least part of the reason was because when I saw Dennis Franz playing a cop I saw Buntz. I just couldn't take him seriously (the other reason was that their style of shakeycam made me sick).

Jack Straw

In answer to the OP's question, amazingly well. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching S1-S2. From Belker's "Park it dog breath" commands to Howard's "Judas-H Priest Frank...", it's a great re-watch all the way around.

I was wondering what the status is for release of S3 and beyond? Anyone have any info on when I can get my HSB fix again?

Jack Straw

Finally!!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GSTHCHQ/...LW1FLE&coliid=

conscience

redsea

I've watched seasons 1 and 2 fairly recently. It holds up well, both as a procedural and as a character driven show.

Paff

Last time I watched the whole run was 2002ish, when Bravo ran it. It did hold up very well. So well that I actually stopped watching NYPD Blue as I realized that even the best NYPD Blue episodes were only a pale imitation of what he (Bochco) had already done in Hill Street. And without subjecting us to Dennis Franz' ass.

Hill Street was so great, as it had everything connected with law enforcement. Stories were told from all aspects, from beat cops, to detectives, to the captain and chief, the public defender. Similar to Law and Order, it wasn't uncommon to see a case go through all phases from stakeout to arrest to trial. It did require a patient viewer though. And there was also the personal lives of everyone, and the intra departmental politics. It really was the most complete cop show ever done. I'm probably buying that box set.

Geofferson

I'd like to pick this up (along with China Beach if the price comes down considerably). Concern though here is time. Given the current slate of shows I watch along with a few other recent ones I'm catching up on, I'd likely be stuck in 80s TV land for the foreseeable future.

Either way, glad to see it's getting a (long overdue) series release.

cdoug57

Looking forward to getting this. Has taken to long for this to happen.

Doug

Paff

I haven't gotten the box set yet ("yet" being the operative term here), but my provider recently added the "H&I" channel which runs two hours of Hill Street every night. I don't know why I keep being surprised by this, but it seems every time I revisit HSB (which is about 10 years or more in between), I'm suddenly amazed by how good it was.

I won't be sticking with this H&I version, as I'm positive it's being edited for length. The commercial breaks come in extremely abruptly, and they go on FOREVER. It's not standard commercials, it's actually a mini infomercial at each break. No way are the shows being aired in entirety.

What I love about it is the way it combined multi episode story arcs and single episode cases at the same time. Plus, as I mentioned in a post a few years ago, it wasn't just one aspect of a police department like detectives, it was everything from beat cops to the SWAT team to the politics of the captain and chief.

In a handful of episodes I watched this week, there was an arc about a dirty cop from another precinct that was killed. The chief and a councilman were running for mayor and were planning to throw that precinct's captain (who was covering for the dirty cop) under the bus. So you had the investigation of the dirty cop, the politicking of the chief, and of course Captain Furillo trying to save the other captain, a longtime friend. It really was an interesting arc. Sprinkled around this were cases of a Vietnam veteran in an increasingly bad domestic situation, a teenage girl (abused by her mom) who abandons her baby, and a comedic subplot involving Officer Hill and a painful boil on his ass.
Of course, the depressing part about watching these episodes was the teenage girl plot, as it was the final role of Dominique Dunne before she was killed by her boyfriend. It's especially gut-wrenching when you know that the bruises she had on screen weren't makeup, but the results of real-life beatings from her boyfriend, and no one stepped in.

Anyway, aside from that ugly little aspect, the answer to the original question (posed more than 10 years ago) is an overwhelming "YES!". It does hold up today. In fact, it's better than most of the serialized dramas on air today.

Gotta see if I can find that box set on sale...

Count Dooku

I've had the same experience with the new H&I channel, and catching reruns of the early episodes.

It is impossible to recapture that experience of 35 years ago when just about everything about the show seemed like an innovation, and so much of what was new now seems kind of old-fashioned.

But it is still a completely engaging show. The story-lines are interesting. Good acting.

Sort of a learning experience too see how reductive a lot of the race/sex/class issues are looking back, when it was all so revolutionary back then.

Still hate Fay.

Trevor

This (and so many other TV sets) is in my watch once and sell/gift pile. Haven't watched it since it originally aired, but am pretty sure it'll hold up for me.

mike7162

Obligatory Cop Rock mention...

Paff

reading up a little bit I learned that at the 1982 Emmy awards, every single nominee in the Best Supporting Actor category was someone from Hill Street Blues. Only time in history that's happened.

james2025a

I used to love this show and just yesterday i watched the opening credits on Youtube. That theme song is one that sticks with you. Great show.

Josh-da-man

Gods, yes. The theme is just brilliant. You see the police cruisers going out on their shifts to the backdrop of a melancholy, world-weary jazz piece and you just completely understand what the show is going to be about.

Jack Straw

I ordered the series box set from Shout when it was released and re-watched the entire show. The show's writing and acting really hold up well. It's great to see Jeff Tambor's many transformations during the show's run. Well worth the investment of time and money, imo.

stopgap

Was that a spin-off to this?

Count Dooku

http://www.avclub.com/article/baby-s...op-rock-221713

http://www.avclub.com/article/arrest...op-rock-236626

If you want to know about Cop Rock

Paff

So, I'm watching these eps on H&I (and doing my damnedest not to hit "Series Record" on the DVR), and I know they're edited for time. But I have a question about a recent episode, maybe some of the hardcore fans will remember?

They recently finished up the Sal Benedetto (Dennis Franz) arc. This is before Franz was reincarnated as Norman Buntz. Anyway, as Benedetto is holed up in the bank vault, LaRue encourages him to "do the right thing, Sal!" (meaning to kill himself), which he promptly does. Sorry, not spoiler tagging that for people who haven't seen HSB; if you can't tell that Benedetto is not going to survive his story arc, well I don't know what to say. Anyway, LaRue was visibly shaken, and I swear I remember a scene of Furillo talking JD out of hitting the bottle to calm his nerves. But there was one scene at the squadhouse after that, then the episode (and season) ends.

I know that scene happened, but maybe it was a different episode? Anyone remember?

Count Dooku

Just watching an episode from early 1984 right before Phil dies.

This season has a new opening credit sequence. Does anyone know if they sped up the theme song, or is this H&I compressing for time?