Hill Street Blues had an extensive ensemble cast, in some ways large even compared to the primetime soap operas which had arisen in the same era. Dallas may have had more characters, but outside of a small handful everyone else was just incidental with temporary subplots being largely driven by in-and-out guest stars; Hill Street‘s ensemble consisted of as many as fifteen main cast members at a time, with as many as a dozen additional major recurring characters (who themselves often had key recurring storylines) alongside them.
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Category: Hill Street Blues Rewatch
Hill Street Blues Rewatch: Introduction, Part One
It was January 15, 1981, five days before Ronald Reagan would take residence in the White House. NBC was still reeling from the disastrous beginning of Fred Silverman’s three-year tenure as network head (Supetrain, anyone?), the loss of inventory resulting from the United States-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and the 1980 writer’s strike. A new show hit the airwaves in the 10:00 time slot. Hill Street Blues was not immediately a hit. In fact, although it would achieve respectable ratings, it would never finish in the top 20, and was consistently beaten in its own time slot by Dallas spinoff Knots Landing on CBS.
Continue reading “Hill Street Blues Rewatch: Introduction, Part One”