'NYPD Blue' Producer Deems TV Too 'Conservative'
01-21-05, 11:20 AM
#1
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'NYPD Blue' Producer Deems TV Too 'Conservative'
'NYPD Blue' Producer Deems TV Too 'Conservative'
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In 1993, many ABC network affiliates and conservative watchdogs told Steven Bochco that an adult-themed drama like "NYPD Blue" had no place on network television.
Bochco, the man behind such hits as "Hill Street Blues" and "L.A. Law," prevailed and got his gritty cop show on the air, but he thinks that wouldn't be possible in today's politically charged media landscape.
"The medium has become increasingly conservative," he told reporters who visited the "Blue" set on the 20th Century Fox lot Thursday as part of the Television Critics Assn. winter press tour.
The Emmy-winning police drama, co-created by Bochco and David Milch, will conclude its 12-season run March 1. "I don't think today we could launch or sell a show like 'NYPD Blue,"' Bochco said.
He had hoped the series would pave the way for more sophisticated drama, but said the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction in the past five years. After the controversy generated in large part by Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during last year's Super Bowl halftime show telecast on CBS, "NYPD Blue" has had to fight with ABC over content issues that never were questioned in the past, Bochco said.
"So you stop doing them," he said. "It's a setback."
Ultimately, he said, TV will go back to allowing more adult drama. "You're never going to put the genie back in the bottle," Bochco said. "We're never going to see television go back to what it was 20 years ago."
Bochco, whose latest police drama, "Blind Justice," premieres in March on ABC, said there are no plans to tie up loose ends on the "NYPD Blue" finale or bring back characters who left the series. Charlotte Ross, who played the wife of Dennis Franz's Andy Sipowicz, was invited to return but declined. Life will go on at the 15th precinct, Bochco said, "you just won't get to visit it every week."
In retrospect, he mused, the infamous departure of co-star David Caruso early in the show's second season was beneficial. "If David had stayed with the show, my guess is the show wouldn't have lasted this long," he said.
Caruso's departure resulted in a reconfiguration of relationships, which gave the series a new thrust and focus, Bochco said.
Ending the series was the suggestion of ABC, not Bochco, but the executive producer said he had no problem with the decision. "I'd rather leave the party an hour early than an hour late," he said.
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Agree or disagree?
I think he may be right but it doesn't phase me. I still think Blue is a top-notch show and others like 24 and Lost are likewise excellent, even if there is a change in the "what's OK" climate. Plus there's always F/X and HBO.
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In 1993, many ABC network affiliates and conservative watchdogs told Steven Bochco that an adult-themed drama like "NYPD Blue" had no place on network television.
Bochco, the man behind such hits as "Hill Street Blues" and "L.A. Law," prevailed and got his gritty cop show on the air, but he thinks that wouldn't be possible in today's politically charged media landscape.
"The medium has become increasingly conservative," he told reporters who visited the "Blue" set on the 20th Century Fox lot Thursday as part of the Television Critics Assn. winter press tour.
The Emmy-winning police drama, co-created by Bochco and David Milch, will conclude its 12-season run March 1. "I don't think today we could launch or sell a show like 'NYPD Blue,"' Bochco said.
He had hoped the series would pave the way for more sophisticated drama, but said the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction in the past five years. After the controversy generated in large part by Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during last year's Super Bowl halftime show telecast on CBS, "NYPD Blue" has had to fight with ABC over content issues that never were questioned in the past, Bochco said.
"So you stop doing them," he said. "It's a setback."
Ultimately, he said, TV will go back to allowing more adult drama. "You're never going to put the genie back in the bottle," Bochco said. "We're never going to see television go back to what it was 20 years ago."
Bochco, whose latest police drama, "Blind Justice," premieres in March on ABC, said there are no plans to tie up loose ends on the "NYPD Blue" finale or bring back characters who left the series. Charlotte Ross, who played the wife of Dennis Franz's Andy Sipowicz, was invited to return but declined. Life will go on at the 15th precinct, Bochco said, "you just won't get to visit it every week."
In retrospect, he mused, the infamous departure of co-star David Caruso early in the show's second season was beneficial. "If David had stayed with the show, my guess is the show wouldn't have lasted this long," he said.
Caruso's departure resulted in a reconfiguration of relationships, which gave the series a new thrust and focus, Bochco said.
Ending the series was the suggestion of ABC, not Bochco, but the executive producer said he had no problem with the decision. "I'd rather leave the party an hour early than an hour late," he said.
---
Agree or disagree?
I think he may be right but it doesn't phase me. I still think Blue is a top-notch show and others like 24 and Lost are likewise excellent, even if there is a change in the "what's OK" climate. Plus there's always F/X and HBO.
01-21-05, 12:16 PM
#4
DVD Talk Hero
I definitely agree that I don't think Blue would have lasted as long if Caruso wouldn't have jumped ship. The show would have just been weird had Franz not been the main character.
01-21-05, 01:11 PM
#6
DVD Talk Godfather
Originally Posted by Groucho
I don't know if I agree. Arrested Development did an anal sex joke last month, and they're on during the "family hour."
