Note: I originally wrote a series of stupid TV moments years ago on That Guy With The Glasses and I won't deny I thought
about re-reviewing this thing after the death of it's creator, Steven
Bochco, but this is not to make fun of the man. This is to make fun
of a series he did that was very flawed, but it doesn't take away
both him being very passionate about it nor his skills that were
responsible for the modern police drama as well as modern legal
dramas. So please, enjoy this look as the one time a bad idea bared
fruit from a smart man. Thanks.
If it wasn't for the fact that we had stuff like Hill Street
Blues, there'd be no Brooklyn Nine-Nine. While you can
argue what changed legal dramas first, since the debuts of L.A.
Law (1986) and Law & Order (1990) were just a few
years apart, but L.A. Law focused on the human element of the
attorneys just as much, if not more than, as it focused on their
jobs. One way or another, all modern legal and police drama, as well
as comedies, that most of us have grown up on to this very day
wouldn't exist without the creative mind of Steven Bochco, who wanted
to look at the humans behind the badge, the people that defended the
people, etc.
Unfortunately, he also decided at one point they should carry a tune,
thus we were given Cop Rock.
The idea for this came when somebody had the suggestion of turning
Hill Street Blues into a musical...
(Waits for the laughing to stop)
...and those plans fell through. Well, proving that any idea, even a
bad one, can stick to you like glue, Bochco decided to go with it.
And I'm willing to bet some of you were wondering how the heck could
this idea go through, especially since I anticipated you readers
laughing at the idea of a Hill Street Blues musical, right?
Well, Bochco's shows gave any network he was on at the time the best
ratings they ever saw, be it legal dramas like L.A. Law or
medical dramedies like Doogie Howser M.D., thus giving him
enough clout to...
Only say “Cop Rock” to get the okay. Yeah. No pilot, no
trailer, not even a writer's bible, just the title and the minute his
bosses heard the first word of it, “Cop,” they thought
“Cha-ching!”
Did I mention it lasted only one season and was out before it's only
year, 1990, was over?
So, just how stupid can it be if I can write about it without seeing
an episode (Don't have the DVD from Shout! Factory...as of this
writing anyway...) but I still feel like I can write about it? Well,
for every moment of awesome that's this...
You have moments like this...
For things like a powerful opening like “Under the Gun...”
You have...whatever this is supposed to be...
Oh, and if you're wondering if the ladies get their own “Bumpy”
song, well for every moment that shows the girls ready to kick some
ass...
You get this...
To top it all off, one of the main overacing plots was about baby
kidnapping...yeah, try to process that with half the songs I showed
you, throwing in with it an entire song about how you should think of
the local sleaze ball “Baby broker” as your new best friend.
It's kinda easy to see why with all of that it lasted only one
season, but they actually went out with a bang with the entire cast
actually singing the final song, complete with the fat lady singing
because, get it?
Bochco would go on to create other successful dramas such as NYPD
Blue, and whenever he or the cast of this show are interviewed,
they have nothing but praise for the show, saying it's some of the
most fun they ever had so there's that at least. Top it all off,
some of the show's fans say that the camp value makes it more fun,
and some of the songs that I looked up for this were pretty catchy...
I SAID SOME!
For awhile, VH1, A&E, and currently defunct network Trio actually
aired this show, and most of them promoted all the eps as “Stupid
fun,” something that, via the camp value I mentioned, the fans
agree with. If you guys liked this article enough, I'll get my hands
on the DVD from Shout! Factory and review the episodes proper, but if
you wanna see this thing for yourself, Shout! released it a couple of
years ago on DVD, so chances are you can still get a copy.
Just remember, it's a “Bumpity Bump bump” ride.
...I'm...sorry...
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