Hill Street Blues (TV Series)

7.2

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Original title: Hill Street Blues (TV Series)
Year: 1981
Running time: 60 min.
Country: United States
Director: Steven Bochco (Creator), Michael Kozoll (Creator), Gregory Hoblit, Christian I. Nyby II, David Anspaugh, Thomas Carter, Rick Wallace, John Patterson, Georg Stanford Brown, Gabrielle Beaumont, Robert Butler, Scott Brazil, Jeff Bleckner, Stan Lathan, Randa Haines, Arthur Allan Seidelman, Ben Bolt, Don Weis
Screenwriter: Steven Bochco, Jeffrey Lewis, Michael Kozoll, David Milch, Michael I. Wagner, Mark Frost, Anthony Yerkovich, Karen Hall, Jacob Epstein, Robert Ward, Walon Green, Dick Wolf, Elia Katz, Robert Crais, David Stenn, John Romano, Jonathan Lemkin
Music: Mike Post
Cinematography: John C. Flinn III, Jack Whitman, William Cronjager, Terry K. Meade
Cast: Daniel J. Travanti, Michael Conrad, Michael Warren, Bruce Weitz, Barbara Bosson, Betty Thomas, Charles Haid, Dennis Franz, Robert Prosky, Lindsay Crouse, Kiel Martin, Joe Spano, James B. Sikking, Jeffrey Tambor, Lisa Sutton, Lynne Moody, Ken Olin, Jennifer Tilly, Veronica Hamel, Lawrence Tierney, Mykelti Williamson, David Caruso, Jane Kaczmarek, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, Danny Glover
Producer: Broadcasting by National Broadcasting Company (NBC); MTM Enterprises / National Broadcasting Company (NBC)
Genre: TV Series. Drama | Cop Movies. Crime
Synopsis / Plot: TV Series (1981-1987). 7 Seasons. 146 episodes. The lives and work of the staff of an inner city police precinct in New York. The original "ensemble drama," this is the story of an overworked, under-staffed police precinct in an anonymous inner city patterned after Chicago. We follow the lives of many characters, from the lowly beat and traffic cops to the captain of the precinct himself. This is the show that blazed the trail followed later by such notable ensemble dramas as "St. Elsewhere" and "L.A. Law."

Awards: 1987: 3 nominations for Emmy: Supp. Actress (Thomas), Writing, Sound Mixing

1986: 7 nominations for Emmy: including Drama series, Directing and Writing

1985: 1 Emmy: Supporting Actress (Betty Thomas). 10 nom., including Drama series

1984: 5 Emmy Awards: including Drama series and Directing. 13 nominations

1983: 6 Emmy Awards: including Drama series, Directing, Writing. 11 nominations

1982: 6 Emmy Awards: including Drama series, Writing and Actor. 15 nominations

Show 17 more awards

1981: 8 Emmy Awards: including Drama series, Directing, Actor, Actress. 13 nom.

1985: 2 nominations for Golden Globe: Actor (Travanti), Supporting Actor (Weitz)

1985: 3 nominations for Golden Globe: Drama, Actor (Travanti), Supp. Actor (Weitz)

1983: 2 nominations for Golden Globe: Drama, Actor (Travanti)

1982: Golden Globes: Best Drama Series. Nominated for Actor (Travanti)

1981: Golden Globes: Best Drama Series and Actor (Daniel J. Travanti)

1984: Directors Guild of America (DGA): Best Director Drama Series

1983: Directors Guild of America (DGA): Best Director Drama Series. 3 Nominations

1982: Directors Guild of America (DGA): Best Director Drama Series

1981: Directors Guild of America (DGA): Best Director Drama Series. 3 Nominations

1987: Writers Guild of America (WGA): 2 Nominations for Best Screenplay in Episodic Drama

1986: Writers Guild of America (WGA): 2 Nominations for Best Screenplay in Episodic Drama

1985: Writers Guild of America (WGA): Nominated for Best Screenplay in Episodic Drama

1984: Writers Guild of America (WGA): Best Screenplay in Episodic Drama. 3 Nominations

1983: Writers Guild of America (WGA): Best Screenplay in Episodic Drama. 3 Nominations

1982: Writers Guild of America (WGA): Best Screenplay in Episodic Drama. 2 Nominations

1981: Writers Guild of America (WGA): Best Screenplay in Episodic Drama. 2 Nominations

Critics' reviews

"The very insistence of 'Hill Street Blues' in being seemingly messy is what gives the show its distinctive personality."

John J. O'Connor: The New York Times
"It was racy stuff in the Eighties to show an unmarried couple who liked to share a bathtub. So many landmark dramas came out of this precinct"

Rob Sheffield: Rolling Stone
"The cop show that changed TV (...) A massive ensemble piece, grimy, gritty, with an underlying sense that the cops were putting a band-aid over the issues."

Richard Whittaker: Austin Chronicle
"'Hill Street Blues' defined TV sophistication (...) Steven Bochco's decision to tell open-ended stories, rare for prime-time dramas at the time, established the model that quality TV still follows"

Noel Murray: Los Angeles Times
"In terms of character development, storytelling, and world building, television had seen nothing like it before (...) It’s a show of its time, but it’s also a show that feels unexpectedly modern"

AV Club
"It was well-written, boldly directed and creatively revolutionary."

CNN
"[A] prime-time phenomenon, if not in numbers, in intelligence and sensibility"

Chicago Tribune
Show 2 more reviews

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