Ensembles, Cop shows and Hill Street Blues

I have recently been engaged in the most rewarding exercise of watching the entire seven seasons of Hill Street over recent weeks; I am up to series 5 (of 7) as I write. It is, I think, difficult for people born after its original transmission in the UK in 1981 (praise be to Channel 4) to realise what an impact the show had on the relatively small number of people who consistently watched it. It was not only unlike any other 'cop show' at the time, or before, but also unlike any programme at the time.

The programme's first innovation was to gather an ensemble cast of 12 to 13 members supported by an irregular appearing cast of about the same number who appeared or did not appear depending on where the main thrust of the storyline(s) lay. Previous examples of the genre had largely revolved around a central character, Kojak, Morse, Columbo, Jack Regan etc, who was usually accompanied by a sidekick; it was rare for there to be more than two central characters and one of those was invariably subordinate. This allowed for character development on a scale rarely seen in TV drama before 'the Hill' although it placed a much greater burden on the writers since in many respects plot, though essential, no longer entirely drove the storylines. As important as was plot to each episode, just as important was the, sometimes, complex interplay and development of character. This was not only groundbreaking but enormously influential; from ER, St Elsewhere; NYPD Blue to Babylon 5 and the reboot of Battlestar Galactica. It has become the norm, so much so that even before the final season of 'the Hill' had begun, it was clear that the format had run its course; such radical innovation suffers from its own success if it cannot continue with ever newer innovation.

The series also broke new ground in its quasi-documentary cinematographic and sound techniques. The use of hand-held Arriflexes weaving amongst the 'stage' of actors and sets; the narrow depths of field used which allowed for out-of-focus shots in the foreground as well as the background while maintaining focus solely upon the point of interest which was often middle ground; the use of multiple, different dialogues going on both on and off-screen at the same time; the amount of character-driven dialogue recorded outside of the strict confines of a set on a sound stage, often in moving cars; the edits were swift and moved rapidly between plotlines. These are all elements largely missing from earlier such programmes and lent a feeling of reality and pace to the show which was certainly missing from American TV at the time.

A further novelty at the time was to include both episodic and multi-episodic plotlines which developed the idea of  combining the best of the serial and series formats; the resolution of the series and the anticipation of the serial.

Although seasons six and seven can be seen as largely inferior to the first five, Bochco, a joint creator, had left at the end of series 5 and the ensemble cast had reduced in number, it still retained enough of the older characters and style of the original series to make it worthwhile to watch, although its style had been copied so much that it had started to look almost hackneyed.

It is interesting to note some of the bit players who later found success, moderate or otherwise:
Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon et al) as a gang leader;
Jonathan Frakes (drug dealer) and Brent Spiner (film director) from Star Trek: TNG;
Patricia Wellig (pregnant mother) and Ken Olin (detective) from Thirty Something;
David Caruso (NYPD Blue and CSI: Miami) as a gang leader;
Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption et al) as a rookie cop who hangs himself;
James Tolkan (the carrier commander in Top Gun) as a gay football coach;
Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker (LA Law) as a couple of hapless tourists stranded on 'the Hill';
Edward James Olmos from Miami Vice and Battlestar Galactica as an evicted Puerto Rican;
Peter Jurasik (Londo Morali in Babylon 5) as Sid the snitch.
I exclude Dennis Franz because although he played two roles (Det. Bernadetto in series 3 and Det. Bunz in series 6 & 7 in HSB) he is best known for another Bochco production, NYPD Blue.

And of course there is one of the most famous catchphrases in all television; Michael Conrad as Phillip Freemason Esterhaus at the end of  the 'roll call' which started every episode:  "Let's be careful out there!"
This must surely rank with 'Thunderbirds are go!', 'Hi, ho, Silver' and even Kojak's 'Crocker!'