On Wednesday, September 26, 1990, a truly unique cop TV show premiered: Cop Rock. Created by Steven Bochco, the showrunner behind Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue, the program offered something the police genre had never seen before: original musical numbers performed by the cast and built into the storyline.
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Although Los Angeles is never mentioned, the actors wore LAPD-style uniforms and drove patrol cars with LAPD-style livery. The storylines were standard police drama fare. One officer grieves the loss of her partner and then has to adjust to a new partner with very different methods. A detective struggles to hide a drug problem. Another officer is arrested for murder, forcing his fellow cops to decide where their loyalties lie when they are called to testify against him. In the middle of all this, dialogue turns into song, often with choreography.
Each episode featured three to five original songs, launched Broadway-musical style. A sergeant conducting pre-shift roll call ends with “Let’s Be Careful Out There,” a song that names the cops in the room, mentions recent crimes and features an electric organ solo from an instrument built into the back of his briefing podium. Look for a Hill Street Blues cameo at the end of the scene. A jury, asked to deliver its verdict, croons “He’s Guilty” in gospel-choir style. The opening theme, “Under the Gun,” was written and performed by Randy Newman, with former California Lt. Gov. Mike Curb on second piano. The cast members are introduced as they watch the performance.
There was also some drama involving the chief of police and the city’s mayor. The mayor was played by Barbara Bosson, who appeared in several Bochco productions, including Hill Street Blues, where she played Fay Furillo. She also happened to be married to Bochco.
Many of the songs leaned humorous, and the show struggled to be a drama, a comedy and a musical all at once. Pundit Bill O’Reilly listed it as one of the five worst TV shows of all time. To be fair, another show on his list was Friends, which did just fine.
Cop Rock was entertaining, sometimes silly and never quite able to find an audience. It lasted only 11 episodes before being pulled from the prime-time schedule. Some cast members went on to steady careers, while others faded into the “Who?” category of actors whose names most viewers never learned. It was a brave experiment, but maybe not one suited to its time. Or, really, any time.
If you missed it, the full 11-episode run is available for free on YouTube.
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