Season One, Episode 16: “Jungle Madness (Part One)”
written by Michael Kozoll, Steven Bochco, and Anthony Yerkovich
directed by Corey Allen
original airdate: May 26, 1981
“Previously on Hill Street Blues…”
Roll Call: Item 15. Night shift got shot at after breaking up a 3 a.m. conga line at Cutter’s Hill. Phil notes that this may be a residual effect of the shooting for which Weeks is under investigation. Item 16, calling back to last episode when Andy had Bobby sign out for him, is Phil being really angry about unauthorized signouts. His rant is interrupted by a loud banging, and a belly dancer follows a drummer into the roll call room. Happy birthday, Phil. Everyone seems to be in on it, as we see the precinct’s senior officers, including Frank, standing on the stairwell watching with amusement. Phil’s deeply embarrassed, and this eats up three minutes before we roll credits — without Phil’s trademark “Let’s be careful out there.”
It’s the Andy and Bobby show as we return, with Bobby trying to guess who gave Andy a hickey. Obviously, it’s Sandra. They’re interrupted by a drunk, and then they wander off camera to be replaced by Phil and Ray. Ray’s teasing Phil about the belly dancer, and Phil’s making his displeasure known. Frank crosses paths, and Phil asks if he knows who was responsible. Frank has no idea.
Next we check in with J.D. and Neal. J.D.’s working the phone, trying to contact Jennifer Cross (the owner of the necklace Belker caught J.D. trying to pawn last episode), and Neal asks if he’s gotten his car fixed yet. Phil hits them up, too, taking the wink-wink nudge-nudge approach. Nope, not them either. Fay strolls in then, all dressed up, and heads to Frank’s office where she interrupts him talking to Joyce. She’s dumped coward Harvey… and now she’s dating Doctor Redman, the former all-pro turned orthopedist. And her reason for dropping by? To ask if Frank can take Frank Junior for the weekend so she can run out of town with her new beau. Phil interrupts, ostensibly to tell Frank he’s going to be late for his meeting with Chief Daniels. He’s a bit delayed ogling Fay, on which more in a bit.
Cut to an athletic club where Daniels is playing racquetball against Lieutenant Digby from Division. Frank gets called to the courtesy phone while he’s waiting, and gets an update from Neal on the Pinky Ryner stakeout; after that call ends, J.D.’s still desperately trying to get hold of Jennifer. That doesn’t stop him from hitting on the girl at Jennifer’s message service. Ryner gets in a car and leaves, while Neal tries to get J.D. off the phone to come with him to follow. J.D. isn’t budging, and Neal takes off in a hurry.
Back at the club, Daniels has staged a miraculous comeback to win the racquetball match (it’s subtly hinted that the Digby threw the game, the suckup). There’s a commotion from the court next door; a guy who’s face has been busted is being helped out of the court, and Howard follows with a broken racquet. After Daniels and Howard shower (“Last one in the shower has to hold the soap,” the chief says), Daniels meets Frank for lunch. Daniels wants Weeks processed. Frank’s intent on investigating thoroughly, and Daniels is pissed. He wants Weeks gone, guilty or innocent.
Cut to Bates and Coffey on patrol, where they see some guys loading tires into the trunk of a car. We viewers know these are the same guys Henry pulled his service revolver on a couple of months prior, but Bates and Coffey have no idea. A fracas ensues, with the pair trapped in their squad car and radioing for help. A bunch of units respond, including Hill and Renko; another cop accidentally fires every round in his weapon into the ground, exacerbating the situation. Afterward, their unit gets towed, while Andy and Bobby catch a call on the radio at Shirett Anders’ address.
The pair arrive and have to break into the apartment, where the bathtub is overflowing, the kids are alone in a playpen, and the neighbors are going berserk. One of the neighbors knows where Shirett is. We cot to Bobby pounding on a door, answered by a guy named Leon. Shirett’s in his bed, naked. Bobby loses it, and engages in a little police brutality on Leon’s skull. Bobby storms out after Andy stops him, presumably leaving Andy to get Shirett dressed and down to the squad car.
Cut to Lucy and Joe at lunch. Joe’s loopy over Lucy, who thinks he’s playing around because she’s kinda got the hots for him too. He’s not. They kinda get in a fight, because Lucy doesn’t want their work relationship to turn into White Knight and Damsel in Distress.
LaRue stops by a porn shop, where he gets a two-thousand dollar loan from Tanner, the proprietor. Meanwhile, Belker’s trying to find J.D. and he’s on the phone with Phil leaving a message. Prentiss and Amico are watching Mick via the closed-circuit, and Amico’s telling Prentiss about one of Mick’s legendary (to viewers) phone calls with his mom. Just then a guy comes in and tries to rob the pawn shop. Mick completely clowns him, with the aid of two shotguns aimed through holes in the wall by Amico and Prentiss.
Back at the squad, Phil’s thanking Leo for his birthday present. Another swing and a miss, as it wasn’t Leo. Belker brings the perp in, slams the perp’s shotgun down on the counter. It goes off, blowing the Busy Baker vending machine to smithereens. Andy and Bobby bring Shirett in, and they can’t find the welfare agent. Mick asks Andy if he’s seen LaRue; Andy moans about not being able to use the vending machine, and Mick snarls a bit.
Neal’s still tailing Ryner. He tries to raise J.D. on the walkie-talkie, but can’t; Ryner manages to shake Neal in a crowded shopping area. J.D. is busy on the phone talking to a pool hustler, who’s taken J.D.’s two grand and is trying to roll it up.
Mick’s on the phone with his dad for once. Dad wants to leave mom because he’s found him a younger woman. She’s 68. They’re knockin’ boots. A lot. Meanwhile, Bobby’s in an interrogation room with Shirett and he’s really mad and disappointed and ashamed.
Neal comes huffing into the squad, updating Furillo on Ryner’s escape. Frank asks where LaRue is, and while not really covering for him Neal simply says “Couldn’t say… he’ll turn up.” J.D’s calling the pool hall again from a pay phone. He’s up six grand now. J.D. says he’s on the way over. After a commercial break, J.D. arrives. The pool hall is empty. The hustler is stuffed in the bathroom, worked over pretty brutally. The money’s all gone. J.D. gets the kid on his feet and takes him to the E.R.
Lou, the Busy Baker guy is at the precinct, and he’s taking his vending machines out of the station because he’s had enough. Meanwhile, Fuchs and Weeks arrive. Weeks runs into Washington and asks why he cares. Neal doesn’t answer, and we cut to the briefing room where Frank’s updating everyone on the stakeout. J.D. arrives, and Neal quietly tears him open.
Phil has worked things out with the Busy Baker guy, and the workday ends for the squad. We cut to a fancy restaurant, where Andy’s in a suit sitting with Sandra; he gives her a pair of earrings, which she tries to decline. Bobby, also in a three-piece, joins them after a moment. Then Joyce walks in to meet Frank for dinner, and Bobby spots her and says hello. Engage Defcon One, as Joyce hustles Frank out of there quicker than you can say “conflict of interest”. They solidify their vacation plans, though.
Staking out the hairdresser, J.D. and Neal are in a car from the motor pool, while another carload of narcotics officers are down the street. Ryner shows up and heads into the hairdresser’s. Since they have a warrant for the shop, the narcos don’t want to stop Ryner before he enters. Neal tries to get them to collar him on the street, trying to clear Weeks. They stall, Ryner goes inside, and only then do the narcos pursue. J.D. throws the car in drive and heads down the street. A squad car enters the street, sirens blaring, forcing J.D. to brake and turn. The brakes are shot, and the car goes flying through the storefront.
Later, Frank shows up, and Ray’s on scene. It wasn’t cocaine; it was jewelry being moved. Frank checks in with Neal, who has a broken nose. Frank tells him to get to the hospital, but Neal’s waiting for the mop-up first. And then Frank stalks toward LaRue and gives him an ultimatum: rehab or unemployment. J.D. breaks down sobbing, cradling his pint bottle to his chest.
In a first, we cut to the next morning. Fuchs is in Frank’s office with Weeks, Neal, and Henry. Neal thinks he can still shake things loose. Frank’s expecting to lose a buttcheek in Daniels’ office in half an hour, so he okays another run at the manager of the clothing store behind which the shooting occurred. On the way out, Weeks hits up Washington again, wanting to know why he’s on his side. Neal finally tells him.
And then, in the bathroom, J.D. confronts Neal, and gets his head handed to him. J.D. tries to tell Neal he can change, he’s just got to get his life straightened out first. Neal tells him, rightly, that he’s got the order exactly backward there… and that he doesn’t think J.D. can do it. J.D. takes a drink, and the credits roll.
Look, Pizza Man: Joyce freaks out of the possibility of Frank’s officers seeing them on a date, and it’s played as though she’s the one being obstinate. But folks, this is actually a relevant issue. Of course, she could solve it by simply not being assigned to cases on the Hill, but that would be too easy.
Would You Prefer Internal Injuries?: “You SMILE, dogbreath. You’re on Candid Camera.” Mick with the #MicDrop on the would-be robber.
I’m Unarmed: Henry appears in exactly two scenes: watching the belly dancer, and the final meeting in Frank’s office. He only has one word of dialogue: “Sure.”
My Car!: “She’s the only woman I know who can speak French to me without me wanting to punch her out.” Andy, being totally 1981.
Judas Priest!: “Doggone fiberglass, it doesn’t have the tensile strength of a good steel racquet…” Howard, more concerned over his sporting goods than the guy whose head he just busted open.
Mano a Mano: “You wanna get married, Lucy?” “I can’t today, Joe.” That’s the first appearance of Bates and Coffey this episode, which kicks off their entire subplot for the two-parter.
I’m Good For It: “My taste runs more to your double-decker bump and grind, if you get my thrust.” J.D.’s reaction to Phil asking if they set up the belly dancer, which is about the only thing J.D. does in this episode which isn’t sad and pathetic.
What’s Up, Lover?: “That’s the last time you screw me up, J.D. The LAST time.” Neal, at the briefing. He was, of course, completely wrong. Later, he slaps down Weeks, explaining why he’s bent on proving his innocence. “It has to do with something you wouldn’t understand: being a good cop.”
Not Now, Fay: “You’ve no idea the rut I was in,” Fay says to Frank, and he deadpans “Yes, I have,” which she doesn’t even acknowledge before continuing on with her story. Yeah, that’s really a Frank moment, but it’s her oblivious reaction that kills it.
Central Booking: Returning in their usual recurring roles were Ed Marinaro as Coffey, Jon Cypher as Chief Daniels, Robert Hirschfeld as Schnitz, and Vincent Lucchesi as Fuchs. Lucchesi’s next visit would be season two’s “Pestolozzi’s Revenge”.
Also returning are this story arc’s running guest stars, Mimi Rogers as Sandra Pauley, Van Nessa Clarke as Shirett Anders, Frantz Turner as Prentiss, and of course Charles Hallahan as Weeks.
Making their final appearances: Sarina C. Grant and Starletta DuPois as Shirett Anders’ neighbors,
It’s Jack Andreozzi‘s final appearance as John Amico, as well, although he’d return to the Hill in “An Oy for an Oy” midway through season six, recurring as Sal Binachi.
Lou, the Busy Baker Man, was played by Luke Andreas. He’d return twice, next in “Pestolozzi’s Revenge”. Reginald Dorsey and Ezekiel Moss, who’d previously appeared as unnamed characters tormenting Goldblume in “Double Jeopardy”, return to do the same to Bates and Coffey. Moss would return in season two’s “Of Mouse and Man” without his partner; Dorsey would resurface in “The Belles of Saint Mary’s” late in season three, without Moss. Ken Foree was the holdup guy with the shotgun, uncredited. Best known as Roger Rockmore in Kenan & Kel, Foree would return in a different role in season three’s “Hair of the Dog”. Ray Oliver also went uncredited and returned later in a credited role; he played Leon here, and returned in the season six episode “Larry of Arabia”. Tom Bower, who’d previously had a long-term recurring role on The Waltons as Dr. Willard, appears as “Narcotics Cop”, the officer who initiates the arrest at the hairdresser’s. Bower, like Foree, would return in a different role in “Larry of Arabia”.
This episode’s one-and-dones: Eddie Barth played Tanner. He’d later go on to a long recurring role on Simon & Simon as Max Fowler. Len Bari, who starred as Mike Faroni, one of the foster kids on the Barney Miller spin-off Fish, appeared as the ill-fated pool hustler in his last known credited appearance. Charles Lucia, who would later go on to make single appearances as different characters in three of the four Star Trek spinoff series (Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise), appeared as Lieutenant Digby. Laurie Rose did the belly-dancing; she had a decent career doing exactly that in numerous shows and films through the 70s and 80s.
Two speaking roles remained uncredited, as the tow truck driver and the drummer for the belly dancer remain unidentified. Two other roles, non-speaking, also went uncredited. The first, as always, was Officer Morgan; the second was George “Pinky” Ryner, the subject of Washington’s stakeout. He’s all over this episode, but never speaks so isn’t given a credit.
Rap Sheet: Corey Allen makes his Hill Street directorial debut; he’d also direct Part Two and go on to direct two more hours, next in “Goodbye, Mister Scripps” during season four. Allen once starred in the Academy Award-winning short film A Time Out of War when he was at UCLA, and played Buzz Gunderson in Rebel Without a Cause. For the most part, his career in front of the camera was relatively brief, wrapping up by 1965 save for a few bit roles; he started his directorial career the following year with four episodes of Doctor Kildare. For the next thirty years, Allen’s directing was all over television sets, posting an average of nearly three hours a year behind the camera — most notably directing the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Encounter at Farpoint”. He’d direct four more episodes of TNG and four episodes of Deep Space Nine before entering retirement. He passed away in 2010.
The writing team, you already know all about.
Like “Rites of Spring” before it, “Jungle Madness” was a two-part episode aired as two episodes on one night. As with “Rites of Spring”, most sources now treat it as a single episode, and the Emmy nominations did as well. The twinned episode received three nominations. Again, as with “Rites of Spring” and “Hill Street Station”, the episode received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing for a Series, this time for Clay Bartels; as noted, all three lost out to an episode of Taxi. Kozoll, Bochco, and Yerkovich were nominated for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, which was won by Kozoll and Bochco without Yerkovich for “Hill Street Station”. Finally, Corey Allen was nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series, an award which also went to “Hill Street Station” in the guise of Robert Butler.
Verdict: Taken as an episode all by itself, this is a relatively weak entry — perhaps the worst of the first season. But it’s really just a lead-in to the season finale, so it’s mostly setup for the final act of several ongoing storylines. However, because of that there’s also a lot of padding.
Specifically, the entire Phil plotline is really just an excuse to chew up some time, especially with the painfully long intro during roll call. Seriously, guys… three minutes? You spent seven percent of the entire episode on a screeching belly dance performance. And the only things Phil does in this episode that aren’t directly related to his embarrassment are to deal with an angry vending machine serviceman and to leer at his captain’s ex-wife. That bit was just creepy and gross.
There are also a lot of gag situations in this episode which really don’t advance anything. Mick Belker is nothing but comic relief this hour, and everything that stems from his participation is also just gag reel fodder.
Still, there’s important stuff here. The Lucy and Joe storyline actually caused Ed Marinaro to become a series regular, as viewers just couldn’t abide the idea of killing him off in the following episode. For some people, the main scene in that plotline may be hard to watch; from one angle, it’s really little more than Coffey trying to get in Lucy’s pants. But the undercurrent — that Joe’s actually into Lucy, and she’s into him too — takes some of the edge off. And the end of the season finale wouldn’t carry nearly the weight if not for this episode’s setup.
We finally get to see Mad Bobby Hill, and while it’s an important character study, we have to ding Michael Warren here. He just doesn’t play mad very well; it’s almost cartoonish. Then again, maybe that’s just 1981 television for you.
The key conflict between Frank and Joyce rears its head, but is defused by the characters simply not wanting to fight about it. Again, it’s a nothing scene in and of itself, but it will become critical down the line.
And finally, there’s the effective breakup of LaRue and Washington as partners. J.D.’s really stuck his willy in the light socket now. His descent into oblivion spans the entire episode, and literally every move he makes after he walks out of the station house near the start of the episode is a disaster in the making. As for Washington, he gets more actual dialogue in this episode than he’s had all season, or at least it feels that way. This hour is where Neal really became a living, breathing character rather than just “J.D.’s hip partner”.
Final score: Again, the two episodes together would score much higher. By itself, however, this one only gets a 5.
Next Week: “Jungle Madness (Part Two)” — Everything comes to a head, and a key character takes a bullet.
