"Let's be careful out there" - Sgt. Phil Estherhaus

Did anyone else like Hill Street Blues?  It followed officers of the Hill Street Precinct (in a never specified city) and starred (among a cast of great actors) Daniel J. Travanti as Captain Frank Furillo (TRIVIA:  In French language, Hill Street Blues was re-titled 'Captaine Furillo')

Hill Street Blues won a record 8 Emmy Awards for it's first season.  Despite low ratings, NBC renewed it for a 2nd season, and the show ran for a total of 7 seasons (1981-1987), earning 98 Emmy Award nominations along the way.  Along with this success, the show's theme song as performed by TV composer Mike Post reached US #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981

As Hill Street Blues was an MTM production, at the end of each episode following the credits, Mimsie the MTM kitten is seen wearing a policeman's cap while she meows


Season 1 and Season 2 are currently on DVD.  If you look on the back of the Season 1 packaging, there is a picture of Dennis Franz (who played Norman Buntz).  That is an error as he didn't appear on the show until season 3, where he played a crooked cop named Sal Benedetto in a 5-episode story arc.  He later would join the cast in the 6th season as Det. Norman Buntz.  When the series ended, he got a spin-off titled "Beverly Hills Buntz" which was not a success

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000BOH8YG.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KGNN3YR4L.jpg


Inside the Season 2 set is a card advertising for "Season 3: Coming Fall 2006", but it has yet to be released.  Makes me wonder if maybe sales were low for Season 2 :\'(

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/5873/hillstreetbluess3comingip0.jpg

I watched this show on and off during its run. This was another one of my dad's personal favorites.  :) I'd like to get the DVD sets sometime-I saw both seasons the other day at Best Buy.

I got volume one on DVD.

Definitely.

It paved the way for NYPD Blue (same producer), Law & Order, Homicide, and other "crime dramas" with real dialogue and plotlines more complex than the Flintstones!

Cagney and Lacey was similar, but I never got into that one.

HSB looks rather dated and hokey nowadays, but you have to compare it to the cop shows that were running at that time--
CHIPs, TJ Hooker, and so forth!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/15/toothy5.gif

Just finished the first season, and boy oh boy am I loving watching this show again.  I love the story arcs that span several episodes, and like most old TV Shows, it's always fun to see guest appearances of then up-and-coming actors who became big names (James Remar, Dwight Schulz to name a few)

One of my favorite shows of the 80's! Watched it every week, Thursday nights at 10:00 pm on NBC.