The Vent

Season One, Episode Ten: “Gatorbait”
story by Anthony Yerkovich
written by E. Jack Kaplan
directed by Georg Stanford Brown
original airdate: March 5, 1981

“Previously on Hill Street Blues…”

(Note before we roll: obviously, last week’s warning that we might miss this week was premature. Onward!)

Roll Call: Item 11: A gang of kids (boys and girls) are flashing motorists. (Sitting in the front row with Morgan is a woman who looks disturbingly like Fay, but isn’t.) Item 12 introduces Operation Everglades, the annual alligator hunt in the sewers. While Phil explains this, Ray comes downstairs and rounds up some officers, who leave with him. And that’s it for roll call, an abnormally short one.

We immediately cut to an underground venue where Howard’s on the phone to Frank ranting about how last year’s hunt got bollixed by the SPCA. Cut to Frank, his patience already thin… with a guy in white SPCA coveralls standing right next to him. That guy is Dewey Brownfield, who’s got his own beef: last year, Howard’s goons nailed him with a tranquilizer dart and left him in a coma for nine days. Howard, naturally, blames Dewey for getting in the way. For some reason, there’s a cat on Frank’s desk; Henry wanders in and commisserates with Dewey while Frank continues talking to Howard. Dewey departs to go join Howard’s crew in the sewer, and Frank pawns the cat off on Henry. Roll credits.
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Season One, Episode Nine: “Your Kind, My Kind, Humankind”

story by Bill Taub and Anthony Yerkovich
written by Michael Kozoll, Steven Bochco, and Anthony Yerkovich
directed by Arnold Laven
original airdate: February 26, 1981

“Previously on Hill Street Blues…”

Roll Call: Item 10. As Cynthia Chase and her camera crew look on, Phil reminds the squad it’s welfare day, so they need to keep an eye on the check-cashing joints as it’s a good day for robberies. Andy’s pissy and won’t sign something Phil’s handing him, so he passes it to Bobby. Item 11 brings our attention back to the Dekker Avenue Merchant’s Association (DAMA from here on out), which now has the power to arrest. Item 12: Phil warning the squad to keep hands off Eddie Hoban unless he’s elbow-deep in a felony.

No, Andy and Bobby aren’t thrilled about that.

The final item is about the memorial service for Harris, who as you’ll recall was murdered at the end of last episode. Only Santini seems to be particularly interested in the details. As we head out into the squad room, the aforementioned DAMA is represented by Messrs. Viatoro and Arcanian, and there’s some snippiness from Ray. J.D. and Neal wander through, and pull up short when J.D. starts ogling Chase. Neal is, as always, amused. And we roll credits…

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Season One, Episode Four:”Can World War III Be an Attitude?”

written by Michael Kozoll & Steven Bochco
directed by Robert Butler
original airdate: Saturday, January 24, 1981

“Previously on Hill Street Blues…”

Roll Call: Item 12: Phil is mad. Like, schoolteacher with an unruly class mad. After regaining everyone’s attention, the rapists at Saint James Park are still a problem. He assigns a couple more pairs of patrolmen to the park, and then orders everyone to get themselves into presentable condition for the President’s visit before dismissing the rowdy crew. We follow Hill and Renko as they banter, and then roll credits.
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Season One, Episode Three:”Politics as Usual”

written by Michael Kozoll & Steven Bochco
directed by Robert Butler
original airdate: Thursday, January 22, 1981

“Previously on Hill Street Blues…”

Roll Call: Phil’s again not at the lectern, and I’m starting to think my statement in episode one that this was abnormal is just misremembering. Item 11: all days off and vacation days are cancelled, due to manpower requirements caused by the Presidential visit. Item 12 regards graffiti in the precinct restrooms; while Phil would like it to stop, he’s far more concerned with the fact that the responsible parties can’t spell properly. Everyone is mirthful… except Hill and Renko. The final item is bad: the two perps Belker arrested last episode were not, in fact, the rapists. After roll call, Hill and Renko collar Phil to complain about the fact that they’re not divorced yet; Phil says he’ll do what he can, but subtly reminds them doing their job as police is more important than their personal beef. The pair exit, bickering, and the credits roll.
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Season One, Episode Two:”Presidential Fever”

written by Michael Kozoll & Steven Bochco
directed by Robert Butler
original airdate: Saturday, January 17, 1981

“Previously on Hill Street Blues…”

Roll Call: Item 17 instructs the precinct to cease the practice of male officers performing body searches on women suspects, followed the the last item: rapes at Saint James Park, which will be a short-term plotline. Cut to the men’s room, where Furillo enters to shave and Hunter is trapped in a bathroom stall. He self-extricates, then expresses his feelings on hygiene, bureaucracy, and what women police should be doing. He’s frustrated that Furillo sends memos rather than just fixing things. It’s a critical scene to build Hunter’s character which we’ll touch on later. When the sink overflows after Frank leaves, Hunter beats a retreat. Roll credits.
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Season One, Episode One:”Hill Street Station”

written by Michael Kozoll & Steven Bochco
directed by Robert Butler
original airdate: Thursday, January 15, 1981

First rewatch note: This particular installment may feel a little TWOP-y and overlong, but rest assured it’s only because we’re introducing a lot of common series tropes. Expect future posts to be shorter. I hope. (Or, if you think this is just peachy, feel free to let me know.)

Roll Call: 6:53 AM. Unlike most episodes, the roll call doesn’t begin with Phil at the lectern, but as will be the usual nature it does start near the end of Phil’s morning agenda, with item 14: a bunch of kids ripping off social security checks. We see the usual chaos of morning roll call for the first time, with the camera darting about to focus on various cops paying various levels of attention to their desk sergeant; as a device, this will usually just be a red herring but will sometimes indicate guest star officers who have relevant plot points in the episode.
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