Overrated and overhyped

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

At one time it was thought of just as a simple cop show. Not so, in fact Hill Street Blues went on to win over sixty awards during its career, which also became the first television series to use adaptive camera action. For instance whenever the episodes started we always got the roll call scene for which Sergeant Esterbrook could give his daily routines to the troops while at the same time camera shots of various policemen or women would be included using a shaky cam movement. It was then that other television series started to use the same ingredient to heighten or flex the moods.Basically it was just a story about a bunch of gritty cops who are used to the city streets for both crime, and resolves in catching the bad guys nearly every day of their entire length of tour. People like Renko, Furillo, Davenport, Belker, and other cops who make up the best ensemble in recent history. It also paved the way for some actors who went on to star in films later in their careers such as Stephen Bauer in Scarface. Mimi Rogers, and a host of other famous people who made their own corner stones in film.Hill Street Blues became one of the most beloved television series of all time because it addressed issues of different natures. Corruption, internal affairs, criminal elements who used the system or loop holes to stay out of jail or more psychological aspects to the human condition if and when a cop gets shot while on duty or that they must overcome the nightmares that follow. It holds emotional turmoil while trying to circumnavigate outside interventions such as the DA or the city mayor while trying to keep a solid police station from falling apart at the seams.Since its inception Hill Street Blues has remained as one of the best classics to come out of the eighties, which still turns heads for the home audiences who has never seen the series. It still amazes those new viewers who only watch reality television, and by comparison has no equal as far as I am concerned. This is a highly recommended series for all those who love to watch a good story, along with some realistic acting that you might find more appealing than just a pretty girl stacked to the nines on some stage with men who has less than ten percent body fat. It is a real down to earth kind of series that holds no punches. You will not be disappointed.

I haven't seen this show since it went off but this January 2016, Decades TV is running a look back and I haven't been able to change the channel. A lot of TV does not age well and there are times I wonder why I ever watched a show. But the acting here is still terrific and the writing almost prescient. Perhaps Bruce Weitz's Belker is over the top but does provide comic relief in a show that is gritty even by cable show standards. Travanti is still great as the idealistic cop stuck in an ugly precinct and trying hard not to let the muck suck him down. And the rest of the cast just brings non stop talent to the small screen: Michael Warren, Joe Spano, Kiel Martin, Betty Thomas, Charles Haid, Michael Conrad,James Sikking, and Veronica Hamel. By any standard this was quality TV and I hope others get a chance to either discover it or rediscover it.

What Steven Bochco did in Hill Street Blues for the Eighties was later perfected in NYPD Blue for the Nineties. It was the concept of a police soap opera. The accent in Hill Street Blues was more on character development than on action, though there certainly was enough of that.You had about 10 to 12 regulars on the show, some didn't make it through the seven year run of the series and were replaced by others. A few of the regulars were killed off, one Michael Conrad as Sergeant Esterhaus actually did die during the run and had to be written out. But that was like life itself.We got to know the police and assorted folks at the Hill Street precinct, their problems and frustrations with their job and with every day life. Presiding over it all was Daniel J. Travanti as Captain Frank Furillo, a man with a broken marriage which he healed with Veronica Hamel and a drinking problem which he healed with Alcoholics Anonymous. He was a real human being, but a flawed one.All of them were flawed in some way which was what I liked about the show. Rene Enriquez as Lieutenant Cayateno was a Latino who may or may not have been advanced due to an unofficial affirmative action policy by the department. He knew it and was trying extra hard to prove he was up to the job for real.Kiel Martin was detective J.D. LaRue also with a drinking problem. It took him a couple of seasons to get into Alcoholics Anonymous and I still remember the episode at his first meeting when he saw Travanti there.Veronica Hamel was cool, professional, and drop dead gorgeous. She was a Legal Aid attorney by day and later the second Mrs. Furillo. You can see why Travanti was so attracted to her. First wife Barbara Bosson was the neurotic's neurotic. Maybe it was the pressure of being a cop's wife, but I suspect quite a bit more drove Furillo from here. Bosson later became a victim's advocate and as one who worked in that field, I can tell you that you have a few neurotics working there just like Faye Furillo.James Sikking was Lieutenant Howard Hunter who had a mask of confidence and unflappability to hide some insecurities. He was constantly sucking up and not above disparaging a few colleagues to push himself up in the department.Ed Marinaro was Officer Joe Coffey, an all American type former football player as he was in real life. There was a great episode where he busts his former high school coach for patronizing some street kids. Made him reevaluate a few things.We got to know all these guys inside and out, but my favorite on the show was Bruce Weitz as undercover Detective Mick Belker. That man looked like he lived in a sewer, but that's what made him so effective in dealing with lowlifes and making arrests. It was like Belker found his niche in life and I don't think he was interested in promotion or advancement. In many ways he was the most well adjusted character on the show.Cops really became three dimensional on this show more than any other up to that time. Bochco had no ending episode for Hill Street Blues, the last episode was like any other day at the Hill Street precinct. With the deaths of Michael Conrad, Rene Enriquez, and Kiel Martin, I'm sure that mitigated against any revival episode. But this is one series I wouldn't mind seeing a twenty year anniversary with some of the surviving regulars.I'll bet there are a lot of fans who'd like to know what the Hill Street precinct is like in the 21st century.

My stepdaughter just bought me the 2nd. season as a gift. I will be spending the next 48 or so hours watching it. I certainly won't disagree with any of the descriptions or comments of the show's quality. I consider it both timely, for being the best show to come along; and timeless for it's ability to be watched at any time and still be enjoyed. Lots of quality television shows owe their lives to the creation of HSB. There is a small trivial fact, however, that I've seen no note of. There were two(2) shows created from HSB, spin-offs if you will, that I fondly remember. They were both short-lived series. I don't remember their sequence but one was "Beverly Hills Buntz", a Dennis Franz character continuation show. The other was "Bay City Blues", a story of a minor league baseball team; interestingly, once again starring Dennis Franz. I remember enjoying them both.