After 29 years in the Police Service amen to that and thankfully and so far no officer has ever been seriously hurt under my command of which I am immensely proud.
And the change in attitude after Michael Conrad dies (and they kill off Esterhaus) and Robert Prosky’s Sgt Jablonski takes over. From “let’s be careful out there”, it becomes “do it to THEM before they do it to YOU”.
There's just something about those images of the cars setting out on a cold wet morning combined with that VERY unexpected calm and slow theme music... magic.
I watched this as kid in the UK (12 or 13) when it came out. My mum let me watch it although it was on late. She made toast and I sat and laughed and cried at the stories and characters. It was very well done. I'm now 53 and retired as a Police sergeant after 29 years. This program means a lot to me in many ways. Being in the UK (Scotland) means there's a lot of differences but lots of things are the same. Special stuff. I particularly remember the episode when the cop shot the kid by mistake and how the actor bawled his eyes out after it. Heartbreaking. Really struck me even at a young age. That theme takes my breath away still to this day. The best Police drama? Yep. This is it. Pure gold.
Yes this show had some special realism to it. Maybe some of that 70's 'American New Wave' magic. I watched this a a kid with my dad who was into earthy literature and good stories. The Theme tune will be with me forever.
so true it was a game changer but according to Bochco Hill St would not have existed if not for a trip the the UK and him seeing a show called Z cars. The first show he saw that was about the cops rather than the crimes
@@stephensmith4480 i am a bit young to remember z cars but i just remember the hill st blues guys referencing z cars because the policeman were the story and not so much the crime.
@@grahammccready2647 I was only a youngster myself Graham and I am 63 now. Z cars was filmed in an Area of Liverpool, which is the city I am from, which was just starting out, hence it was called new town. Kirkby today is a Big sprawling Area that has changed so much from those days.
I had a science teacher in junior high school from 1982-1983 who would end class with "Hey, let's be careful out there!" Must've been a fan of this show.
This really brings a tear to my eyes. When I graduated from the Police Academy this was the entrance march that was played as our class marched into the auditorium as recruits and across the stage as Police Officers. Adam-12 made me want to be a Police Officer, but when I heard this song, I knew I’d made it to the greatest profession in the world. My Dad (who died in 1987) pinned my badge on my chest. The thought takes my breath away. I completed that career long ago but wouldn’t have changed it for the world.
And yet a lot of these modern dramas lack what was so great and special about this drama which was the humor. Hill Street was a drama but could also be wildly funny at times. Most dramas now are so damn dry, bleak and humorless which makes them inferior to Hill Street imo.
This show changed TV dramas, especially crime dramas. Bringing the police officers’ lives into the stories was a whole new twist. It was totally groundbreaking. I was crazy about this show. Everyone I knew was very aware not to call me between 10 and 11 PM on Thursday nights.
Yes, absolutely. What had been nascent in The White Shadow came to fruition here, and it is the earliest point where TV drama started to look ahead to what it could become.
10 PM Thursday, January 15, 1981 the pilot episode of Hill Street Blues was first broadcast. I think most people who saw that broadcast remember their shock and awe at the stunning realism presented on their tv screen. They either hated the show or like me immediately became dedicated fans.
January 15, 1981 was my 28th birthday. On that night, "Hill Street Blues" changed my life, and helped make me a serious writer (novelist and memoirist).
Grew up watching this as a kid. Who knew forty years from this life would suck so much with social media, mobile phones, etc. Take me back to this simpler time.
@@motorcitycobra8875 I watched this show when i was around 20, wanting to be a police officer myself. Here i am now, a police sergeant, with 30 years behind me, the last 20 years in the red light district in Amsterdam. Many times, before going out, someone speaks the magic words. Let's be careful out there. Even the younger cops, probably not knowing where they come from, say them. And i'm sure this happens in police stations around the world. Probably someone was speaking those words when i wrote them down. Sergeant Esterhaus will live on for a long, long time.
Same here! This show and CHIPS made me want to be a Police Officer. And now I am, and I look back with an even deeper understanding of both those times and the differences we face now....
Those opening piano notes in that theme music! They instantly conjure up memories of the early 1980's that leave my soul longing for the past. Why does it feel so good to miss the past so much? I believe, my friends, that they call it nostalgia.
well said .we forget now in the age of continuing series tv how groundbreaking this show was .all tv drama was basically self contained be it western cop show medical drama everything was wrapped inside 50 minutes! the only exceptions were soaplike shows such as peyton place or dallas .without hill street there is no deadwood breaking bad er lincoln lawyer and a host of others!
In Australia it was shown on Packer''s Channel 9 - back when a quality show could still show up there. Later on they didn't know what to make of Cheers, Seinfeld or The West Wing and either buried them late at night or offloaded them to other networks.
This programme changed TV forever. I believe it was the first to have multiple long running story lines with numerous characters. My God, what a show it was!
It's crazy how that intro just zaps you right back to way back when and awakens long dormant memories. Music must be the language of God, how could it not be?
I was in high school and would always rush home so I would not miss this show. I think it came on on Thursday nights. I miss those times in life, no cell phones or internet. Growing up in rural America it gave me insight of big city life. Now in 2020 I'm still not impressed with the big cities but this show was really cool.
Thursday nights at 10p m. Loved that show, watching with my parents during my high school years, and I totally agree re; simple times w/ no cell or internet. Much better days back then.
@@karnagarman5373 >>> Thursday night was a work night for me and Thursday night TV was great. Magnum, Simon & Simon and Hill Street Blues. I would go to the gym after work, come home, make dinner and settle in with my cat for 3 hours of TV.
You do know it is just a show right? Living in Chicago my whole life I can tell you its not really like this in a big citys. Well maybe in new York it is
HSB got even better with the introduction of Andrew Sipowicz. I'm a Brit and tbh no fan of American TV but Hill Street Blues was a one off, a true gem.
You're thinking of NYPD Blue. Dennis Franz played two roles in HSB. One was short term as a corrupt Cop. The other was a nearly corrupt cop trying to get clean. They even tried giving him a spin-off after this finished.
Everyone pulling out their illegal weapons was hilarious and even better that the Sarge didn't care.... for a series drama in it's opening scenes, I thought it was a good touch to elict a chuckle
I think even funnier was the female officer with the weapon strapped to her leg and it appears as if she is having another (male?) officer take it out of its holster.
One of the best shows ever. Showed police officers as human beings with regular personal challenges just like other Americans. Today especially, the public forgets that the police are members of the public. Contrary to popular belief, the police don’t have answers to a lifetime of bad decisions by politicians and individuals.
Evokes great memories of growing up as a kid in the 80’s. Mom & I used to watch HSB together. She loved the show, never missed an episode. Now they’re both gone but never forgotten.
The late Steven Bochco and company put together and produced some great TV here. Not to mention this memorable opening tune for Hill Street Blues. This was a great serial drama cop show then, and now. The acting ensemble, the writing and the entire production was spot on. Not to mention the great instrumental intro. I used to watch and enjoy this TV series with my brother during those early years and we really liked it. I believe Hill Street Blues was set in an unnamed city and they never really mentioned what city this was. Though for some reason I always thought it was set in St Louis?? But it was more like Chicago. The show had a great cast including Daniel Travanti, Veronica Hamel, Dennis Franz and others. It had truly some great and interesting stories that gripped you. Somewhat complex characters all put together and made for some great television.I really wonder if a serial drama like this would work today. So many memories come to mind and are tied into this beautiful instrumental intro. I loved Hill Street Blues then and I still love it now. It was a different time and place. Thanks for posting!.....
"The Hill" is an area of Pittsburgh that Steven Bochco based the series on. He attended Carnegie Mellon University (in his day Carnegie Tech) in Pittsburgh and the city left an indelible impression on him.
I always thought it was a neat trick, the idea you could have a situation based drama about a specific police precinct, running for multiple seasons, and never once during the entire run mention where the precinct is.
Saw it as a young teen in Sweden in the 80's. Got hooked from the very first episode. It was so well written with such great characters. Despite the tough, unglamorous environment and sometimes dark mood, there was always a warm tone in it, things to laugh at, love, altruism, people who cared for each other. There should be more such shows today.
"Let's be careful out there" To this day I often use that line as a kind of light hearted farewell, few people know my inspiration for saying it, I'm showing my age I suppose.
This was a big deal back in the day. I wouldn't miss an episode... While I didn't like all of the story lines in the show, it was very well written and acted.
The memories this brings back are truly special. I remember watching this when there was nothing that got even close to the bar it set. A truly exceptional set of characters that you could identify with and feel their pain and humour.
The high school had a yearly talent show. About 1985, one of the talent show participants played a medley on the piano. Halfway through the medley he hit the first notes of the HSB theme song. The audience erupted with their approval. Teenagers loved this show; the realism was stunning.
I knew this show was a BIG HIT the first episode. I loved the show, and told everyone about it to spread the word so it wouldn't get canceled. After the first year, the viewing public finally got their shit together and it went on to be recognized as the hit it was. It was touch and go there for a while, and I think was almost canceled. It might have won awards that first season, which probably saved it.
@@sha11235 Emergency! did in 1972-- of course, that tied in with the theme of it also having to take time to gel with America (that of paramedics, and how the idea of first response at a medical scene had to gain favor, first in California, then across America [it even was credited for why many areas of America have rescue squads, EMS and paramedics as part of their fire operations]).
I was at my childhood friend's house -- I was a kid of about 12 years old -- when this pilot episode came on the air and I watched the first five minutes or so...and thought WOOOWWW, SO COOLLLL!! My friend's parents saw it too and quickly turned off the TV to protect us kids from a warped brain, I suppose. Still, I knew when I saw it that this was something totally new and different for TV.
Only problem with this show it came on, on Thursday nights I think about 10:00pm. Well from 8:00-10:00pm Magnum PI and Simon & Simon were on CBS. You know what that means? Yep' had to get up and change the channel to watch Hill Street Blues.
Thus begins one of American Television's finest achievements. I know I bandy that phrase around a lot. But in this case, it ain't no hyperbole. HSB not only re-invented the police drama wheel -- Steve Bochco & Co. re-invented the thematic and character-driven wheels that drove prime-time television drama, PERIOD. Early morning precinct roll-call. Sgt. Esterhaus's admonishment to be careful out there. Up goeth the blue garage door. Out cometh the police cruiser with the siren going and the police radio on full blast --- and right INTO Television History.
I clearly remember watching this show and its episodes of uncertainty and dangerous pop-ups for street police officers. In addition to this show, Adam-12 and Hillstreet Blues were my compass to choosing my stint in the USMC and becoming a police officer. For a naive and wide-eyed kid off an indigenous reservation, my lifetime dream to be a police officer and a USMC rifleman were meant and the values and foundations of each life has been instrumental. All that started 40 years ago...and now as a retired cop and retired citizen...i thank and pray for our current military. law enforcementf and firefighting personnel. Thank you and remain safe.
Hill Street and Homicide Life on The Street changed cop dramas and dramas period for the rest of tv history! Without there never would've been St. Elsewhere, LA Law, NYPD Blue, The Sopranos, The Shield, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men etc. It all started with this show and the brilliance of Bochco and Kozoll.
When I was a kid this used to be on TV late on Saturday night. Every Saturday night I used to get out of bed and sit at the top of the stairs so I could listen to the theme music while my parents watched it downstairs. Brings back memories.
Just hearing this intro brings me back to an era as a kid. I was 10 when this was first released and I can totally hear the tv while I was in bed. My Dad loved this show and as I got older, so did I.
Loved that show! And always thought it about the CPD! Especially with the scene of the cop car in the slushed covered streets passing an Old Style Beer Sign! But I told it was about Pittsburgh Police Department?
I was too young to watch this when it was on back in the 80s, but thankfully they're all on dvd. Just a terrific show. Belker's my favorite, but this is an amazing ensemble cast.
It was groundbreaking TV, for sure. Great actors and some excellent writing. Really helped pave the way for later shows. For me, I remember the HSB theme song as my cue that it was bedtime!
I just had a fantastic weekend ever, Also I just got done watching a Hill Street blues Marathon on decades network. Oh yeah, they have been playing it all weekend long and I have to say it was great to see all these episodes of Hill Street blues again. Thank you very much decades for playing this Marathon. Oh yeah I enjoyed every minute of it while it lasted.
Daniel J. Travanti! Wow! You just couldn't make that name up. So cool. Great show, great series, brilliant acting, incredible theme tune. Nothing today can touch it.
I've always felt exactly the same way about that cold and rainy street shot. It evokes strong emotions in me. It exemplifies a typical midwestern rustbelt fall morning. Combined with the music and the opening squadroom scenes, it's perfect.
I was searching for the cop show my grandpa watched in the early 80's when I was a young kid. I thought it was Law & Order, but found that was a 90's show. A quick google search of 80's cop shows and I saw this...This was the show. ThaNKS
Michael Conrad's "Lets be careful out there" applies today in 2022 for everyone big time.
You are so right! RIP Michael Conrad…🙏🏻
After 29 years in the Police Service amen to that and thankfully and so far no officer has ever been seriously hurt under my command of which I am immensely proud.
Five favorite words on a Thursday night for me, rough getting up for school in the morning, on time that is...🙄
@@johnholt890howz it goin', piggy?
And the change in attitude after Michael Conrad dies (and they kill off Esterhaus) and Robert Prosky’s Sgt Jablonski takes over. From “let’s be careful out there”, it becomes “do it to THEM before they do it to YOU”.
There's just something about those images of the cars setting out on a cold wet morning combined with that VERY unexpected calm and slow theme music... magic.
I think you nailed it.
I agree with u
100% truth. I feel it every time I go back and watch an episode.
Power of the Old School !
There's a series of interviews with Mike Post the composer of the theme and many others where he goes into how it came about. It's VERY VERY cool.
I watched this as kid in the UK (12 or 13) when it came out. My mum let me watch it although it was on late. She made toast and I sat and laughed and cried at the stories and characters. It was very well done. I'm now 53 and retired as a Police sergeant after 29 years. This program means a lot to me in many ways. Being in the UK (Scotland) means there's a lot of differences but lots of things are the same. Special stuff. I particularly remember the episode when the cop shot the kid by mistake and how the actor bawled his eyes out after it. Heartbreaking. Really struck me even at a young age. That theme takes my breath away still to this day. The best Police drama? Yep. This is it. Pure gold.
Same here on the TV show. Thanks for sharing.
Pennsylvania here love the show too Thank You for your Service Blessings John 3:16 🇺🇸🙏🎚🇮🇱
Thank you for your service to your country and the Crown
Yes this show had some special realism to it. Maybe some of that 70's 'American New Wave' magic.
I watched this a a kid with my dad who was into earthy literature and good stories. The Theme tune will be with me forever.
Sure was, best acting too, great theme. So sad. Wonder if the drivers on the highway and people in them realised they were part of TV history.
There would be no NYPD Blue, Homicide: Life on the Street, Cagney & Lacey, Law & Order, etc., without Hill Street Blues......greatest show!!
Indeed. Police drama that was character-driven, not just crime and/or political-driven.
so true it was a game changer but according to Bochco Hill St would not have existed
if not for a trip the the UK and him seeing a show called Z cars. The first show he saw that was about the cops rather than the crimes
@@grahammccready2647 Z cars was good, remember it as a kid growing up. It was filmed in what was then Kirkby New Town.
@@stephensmith4480 i am a bit young to remember z cars but i just remember the hill st blues guys referencing z cars because the policeman were the story and not so much the crime.
@@grahammccready2647 I was only a youngster myself Graham and I am 63 now. Z cars was filmed in an Area of Liverpool, which is the city I am from, which was just starting out, hence it was called new town. Kirkby today is a Big sprawling Area that has changed so much from those days.
I had a science teacher in junior high school from 1982-1983 who would end class with "Hey, let's be careful out there!" Must've been a fan of this show.
I had a music teacher who did the same in 1984-5.
Dr Goodwin says "let's be careful out there. I always wanted to say that" in one episod of New Amsterdam. :)
The morning roll call always set the tone. Michael Conrad was the heart and soul of the show.
The best part was “let’s be careful out there”
@ 100%. He cared for the police on the street. That line is one of TV’s best ever
sadly, wasn't the same after he died
@ Totally agree with you. It felt empty. Then it started to focus on everyone’s love life which is when I tuned out.
I watched this with my Dad👍 Miss you Dad😥
Same 😥
Me too dudes.
And the Old Man bought me the 45 because he knew I liked the theme song.
Same! All the way. Just the opening theme is enough to fuel the memories and bring on the tears. Remember sitting on the couch next to my dad. 👍❤️
Watched with my mom..miss her
Me too. My dad and I would play Astroroids or Missile Command, etc on the old 2600 (Atari) unitl 9pm when this came on.
RIP James Sikking. To his family and friends, he was great. My wife and I loved Hill Street Blues. Thanks for the memories.
Wallahu Snackbar
@CharlesWhitford Great TV show.
As soon as the theme music starts it hits you on the old heart strings.........😮💨😮💨😀😀
🔨 nailed it !
loooooves
you too..? what a great show.
Yea it dose
This!
This really brings a tear to my eyes. When I graduated from the Police Academy this was the entrance march that was played as our class marched into the auditorium as recruits and across the stage as Police Officers. Adam-12 made me want to be a Police Officer, but when I heard this song, I knew I’d made it to the greatest profession in the world. My Dad (who died in 1987) pinned my badge on my chest. The thought takes my breath away. I completed that career long ago but wouldn’t have changed it for the world.
You can feel how ahead of it’s time this show was.
A beginning of the modern age of TV dramas we’re in now.
And yet a lot of these modern dramas lack what was so great and special about this drama which was the humor. Hill Street was a drama but could also be wildly funny at times. Most dramas now are so damn dry, bleak and humorless which makes them inferior to Hill Street imo.
You said it all
This show changed TV dramas, especially crime dramas. Bringing the police officers’ lives into the stories was a whole new twist.
It was totally groundbreaking. I was crazy about this show. Everyone I knew was very aware not to call me between 10 and 11 PM on Thursday nights.
Yes, absolutely. What had been nascent in The White Shadow came to fruition here, and it is the earliest point where TV drama started to look ahead to what it could become.
Dear kids, this is how us Gen Xers got through our tough times watching these great shows
I always say my life is more Hill Street Blues than Enter the Dragon.
10 PM Thursday, January 15, 1981 the pilot episode of Hill Street Blues was first broadcast. I think most people who saw that broadcast remember their shock and awe at the stunning realism presented on their tv screen. They either hated the show or like me immediately became dedicated fans.
January 15, 1981 was my 28th birthday. On that night, "Hill Street Blues" changed my life, and helped make me a serious writer (novelist and memoirist).
Grew up watching this as a kid. Who knew forty years from this life would suck so much with social media, mobile phones, etc. Take me back to this simpler time.
When Michael Conrad died during season 4 of hill street blues the show wasn’t the same without him he will be truly missed
Copy that, for sure. Mr. Conrad was tall, imposing, unforgettable.
Lets be careful out there
@@motorcitycobra8875 I watched this show when i was around 20, wanting to be a police officer myself. Here i am now, a police sergeant, with 30 years behind me, the last 20 years in the red light district in Amsterdam. Many times, before going out, someone speaks the magic words. Let's be careful out there. Even the younger cops, probably not knowing where they come from, say them. And i'm sure this happens in police stations around the world. Probably someone was speaking those words when i wrote them down. Sergeant Esterhaus will live on for a long, long time.
Really miss this show and its character.rip Michael.
I agree! He made that show. He was a great actor. So sad he died at such a young age.
I grew up watching this tv classic as a kid ,I was fortunate enough to experience the good old days growing up in the 80'🙂s.
I know right
Me too loved all the characters and followed it from beginning to end total classic
Same here! This show and CHIPS made me want to be a Police Officer. And now I am, and I look back with an even deeper understanding of both those times and the differences we face now....
My all time favourite Police series.
The Best police series ever. Nobody could get as high as them
Agreed
agree. I still love passing the old police station they used on the show
Even though each episode was self contained, Police Story was earlier and just as good.
Agreed. A show that truly broke new ground for the hour-long prime time drama.
I purchased the complete series!
Happy Memories Of Watching This With My Dad when I was 12 He Passed 1984 Loved this Show
Those opening piano notes in that theme music! They instantly conjure up memories of the early 1980's that leave my soul longing for the past. Why does it feel so good to miss the past so much? I believe, my friends, that they call it nostalgia.
Goosebumps loved the show music
Peace ✌️ 2024
If I close my eyes I feel like I'm sitting in the living room of the house I grew up in with my dad again and time has stood still!
And in this ten minutes, television changed forever
Did it?
@CharlesWhitford yes
well said .we forget now in the age of continuing series tv how groundbreaking this show was .all tv drama was basically self contained be it western cop show medical drama everything was wrapped inside 50 minutes! the only exceptions were soaplike shows such as peyton place or dallas .without hill street there is no deadwood breaking bad er lincoln lawyer and a host of others!
Thursday night in the UK. A make sure your home, never miss a show, kind of show. Thanks for some wonderful memories.
Thanks for this. Reminded me of those Thursday nights.
Sunday nights I remember,..,I think
85 or 86 that is
In Australia it was shown on Packer''s Channel 9 - back when a quality show could still show up there. Later on they didn't know what to make of Cheers, Seinfeld or The West Wing and either buried them late at night or offloaded them to other networks.
My college buddies and I looked forward to "Hill Night". No matter if we had tests or projects the next day, there was always time for this classic.
The show was a masterpiece. The characters were so vividly drawn.
Those doors opening, those cars racing out into the grey, the first notes of the piano. Pure magic.
And the radio dispatch
This programme changed TV forever. I believe it was the first to have multiple long running story lines with numerous characters. My God, what a show it was!
The attention to detail - settings, dialogue, background sounds, set the bar for all the cop shows to follow, including The Wire.
Michael Conrad was magnificent
LET'S BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!.🚔🌹✊🕊️🙏🇬🇧💎😎👍
It's crazy how that intro just zaps you right back to way back when and awakens long dormant memories. Music must be the language of God, how could it not be?
I was in high school and would always rush home so I would not miss this show. I think it came on on Thursday nights. I miss those times in life, no cell phones or internet. Growing up in rural America it gave me insight of big city life. Now in 2020 I'm still not impressed with the big cities but this show was really cool.
Thursday nights at 10p m. Loved that show, watching with my parents during my high school years, and I totally agree re; simple times w/ no cell or internet. Much better days back then.
@@karnagarman5373 >>> Thursday night was a work night for me and Thursday night TV was great. Magnum, Simon & Simon and Hill Street Blues. I would go to the gym after work, come home, make dinner and settle in with my cat for 3 hours of TV.
You do know it is just a show right? Living in Chicago my whole life I can tell you its not really like this in a big citys. Well maybe in new York it is
@@PRHILL9696 >>> Of course it's just a show. What are you getting at?
@@nickwride2023 then why did you say you are not impressed by big citys based on a tv show?
Former cop for 32 yrs ,loved hill st blues!
One of the BEST shows at the time !
HSB got even better with the introduction of Andrew Sipowicz.
I'm a Brit and tbh no fan of American TV but Hill Street Blues was a one off, a true gem.
You're thinking of NYPD Blue. Dennis Franz played two roles in HSB. One was short term as a corrupt Cop. The other was a nearly corrupt cop trying to get clean.
They even tried giving him a spin-off after this finished.
Mike Post made such a great contribution to these TV shows!
Thanks, Mike!
Everyone pulling out their illegal weapons was hilarious and even better that the Sarge didn't care.... for a series drama in it's opening scenes, I thought it was a good touch to elict a chuckle
Yeah -- along with the ladies of the night being shown to their accommodations. Smoking or non.
The best part is that they just take them back.
@@CCootauco Sarge has to do his job and they have to do theirs. He asked them to tunr them in and they did. never said anything about keeping them .
I think even funnier was the female officer with the weapon strapped to her leg and it appears as if she is having another (male?) officer take it out of its holster.
After nearly 20 years as a cop, I can tell you, that's a Sarge.
In honour of the late Michael Conrad let’s be careful out there
One of the best shows ever. Showed police officers as human beings with regular personal challenges just like other Americans. Today especially, the public forgets that the police are members of the public. Contrary to popular belief, the police don’t have answers to a lifetime of bad decisions by politicians and individuals.
And before that Barney Miller did that and later Homicide Life on The Street did it too. We need cop shows like that today.
I watched this in the 1980’s with my husband. At that time he wanted to be a cop. The power of music! It took me way back! ❤️
24 years on the job.
What a great series this was. I used to love watching this.
Evokes great memories of growing up as a kid in the 80’s. Mom & I used to watch HSB together. She loved the show, never missed an episode. Now they’re both gone but never forgotten.
The late Steven Bochco and company put together and produced some great TV here. Not to mention this memorable opening tune for Hill Street Blues. This was a great serial drama cop show then, and now. The acting ensemble, the writing and the entire production was spot on. Not to mention the great instrumental intro. I used to watch and enjoy this TV series with my brother during those early years and we really liked it. I believe Hill Street Blues was set in an unnamed city and they never really mentioned what city this was. Though for some reason I always thought it was set in St Louis?? But it was more like Chicago. The show had a great cast including Daniel Travanti, Veronica Hamel, Dennis Franz and others. It had truly some great and interesting stories that gripped you. Somewhat complex characters all put together and made for some great television.I really wonder if a serial drama like this would work today. So many memories come to mind and are tied into this beautiful instrumental intro. I loved Hill Street Blues then and I still love it now. It was a different time and place. Thanks for posting!.....
I thought industrial Pittsburgh
"The Hill" is an area of Pittsburgh that Steven Bochco based the series on. He attended Carnegie Mellon University (in his day Carnegie Tech) in Pittsburgh and the city left an indelible impression on him.
Ariel shots and the old Police station were from here in Chicago. But all of the actual scenes were done on the streets of downtown LA
I always thought it was a neat trick, the idea you could have a situation based drama about a specific police precinct, running for multiple seasons, and never once during the entire run mention where the precinct is.
Unnamed city likely in the Midwest.
Saw it as a young teen in Sweden in the 80's. Got hooked from the very first episode. It was so well written with such great characters. Despite the tough, unglamorous environment and sometimes dark mood, there was always a warm tone in it, things to laugh at, love, altruism, people who cared for each other. There should be more such shows today.
"Let's be careful out there"
To this day I often use that line as a kind of light hearted farewell, few people know my inspiration for saying it, I'm showing my age I suppose.
I used to watch this with my dad back when I was a kid in Sweden.
Some of my fondest memories of quality time with him.
This was a big deal back in the day. I wouldn't miss an episode... While I didn't like all of the story lines in the show, it was very well written and acted.
That was such a good show, wow. Thank you for bringing it back to us!
The greatest TV series ever made.
You disagree?
Bite me, dog-breath!
Since that show, better series have come along. Sopranos, Breaking Bad, etc.
Loved it here in 🇬🇧,the most American tv series ever,it was on late but was allowed to stay up,theme tune still my favourite xxx
Truly a great show and cast of characters….
Michael Conrad was phenomenal in this role! What an epic TV show !
Great show, lives in memory
Also love the American police car's at the beginning
The 80's were a wild time to be an Officer. Nearly equal to the Wild West and this show nailed that feeling
The memories this brings back are truly special. I remember watching this when there was nothing that got even close to the bar it set. A truly exceptional set of characters that you could identify with and feel their pain and humour.
Outstanding TV series. Amazing characters, great writing, and a wonderful blend of humour, and reality.
They don’t make ‘em like this anymore…..
The high school had a yearly talent show. About 1985, one of the talent show participants played a medley on the piano. Halfway through the medley he hit the first notes of the HSB theme song. The audience erupted with their approval. Teenagers loved this show; the realism was stunning.
I knew this show was a BIG HIT the first episode. I loved the show, and told everyone about it to spread the word so it wouldn't get canceled. After the first year, the viewing public finally got their shit together and it went on to be recognized as the hit it was. It was touch and go there for a while, and I think was almost canceled. It might have won awards that first season, which probably saved it.
So YOU were the guy!! Thanks for all you did!
I think that is how it is usually. It takes a show awhile to build an audience. A lot of the classics started slow.
@@sha11235 Emergency! did in 1972-- of course, that tied in with the theme of it also having to take time to gel with America (that of paramedics, and how the idea of first response at a medical scene had to gain favor, first in California, then across America [it even was credited for why many areas of America have rescue squads, EMS and paramedics as part of their fire operations]).
"They had some ugly people on Hill Street Blues, that's how you know it was real."
Like the tv show shameless
Define…Ugly.
I was at my childhood friend's house -- I was a kid of about 12 years old -- when this pilot episode came on the air and I watched the first five minutes or so...and thought WOOOWWW, SO COOLLLL!!
My friend's parents saw it too and quickly turned off the TV to protect us kids from a warped brain, I suppose. Still, I knew when I saw it that this was something totally new and different for TV.
Part of NBCs powerhouse Thursday night line up in the 80s.
Only problem with this show it came on, on Thursday nights I think about 10:00pm. Well from 8:00-10:00pm Magnum PI and Simon & Simon were on CBS. You know what that means? Yep' had to get up and change the channel to watch Hill Street Blues.
Cosby Show
Family Ties
Cheers
Night Court
Hill Street Blues
This got me through the police academy. Every Thursday night, study group while watching HSB before Friday morning exam!
Lol. We had a similar thing but with Sopranos. Nypd
Much respect brother. I came up during the NYPD Blue era. Both great shows as was Police Story.
Thus begins one of American Television's finest achievements. I know I bandy that phrase around a lot. But in this case, it ain't no hyperbole. HSB not only re-invented the police drama wheel -- Steve Bochco & Co. re-invented the thematic and character-driven wheels that drove prime-time television drama, PERIOD. Early morning precinct roll-call. Sgt. Esterhaus's admonishment to be careful out there. Up goeth the blue garage door. Out cometh the police cruiser with the siren going and the police radio on full blast --- and right INTO Television History.
I clearly remember watching this show and its episodes of uncertainty and dangerous pop-ups for street police officers. In addition to this show, Adam-12 and Hillstreet Blues were my compass to choosing my stint in the USMC and becoming a police officer. For a naive and wide-eyed kid off an indigenous reservation, my lifetime dream to be a police officer and a USMC rifleman were meant and the values and foundations of each life has been instrumental. All that started 40 years ago...and now as a retired cop and retired citizen...i thank and pray for our current military. law enforcementf and firefighting personnel. Thank you and remain safe.
The best show ever.
Pretty much
Thanks for bringing back the memory of how much I enjoyed this show.
One of the best - if not the best - cops shows ever. Miss it big time.
Hill Street and Homicide Life on The Street changed cop dramas and dramas period for the rest of tv history! Without there never would've been St. Elsewhere, LA Law, NYPD Blue, The Sopranos, The Shield, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men etc. It all started with this show and the brilliance of Bochco and Kozoll.
Homicide is the best...
2:12 - “Let’s Be Careful Out There.” - Michael Conrad (Sgt. Phil Esterhaus) (1925-1983)
Alden R. Davis I will never forget those words.
Sgt Easterhaus never knew those words would be made in to memes
THEN! "LET'S DO IT TO THEM, BEFORE THEY DO IT TO US!"
Dave Aspen Sgt. Jablonski! I remember the short lived catch phrase
@@jasonbertalotto2355 STILL TRUER TO THIS DAY! It didn't work for me!
When I was a kid this used to be on TV late on Saturday night. Every Saturday night I used to get out of bed and sit at the top of the stairs so I could listen to the theme music while my parents watched it downstairs.
Brings back memories.
This is another one of those shows i was too young to watch during its airing. I really want to see the series now.
This was "must see" back in the 80's! Loved Belcher and the onions.
Almost forgot to mention the BRIILIANT Mike Post who wrote so many fantastic themes. Thank you!!!
Just hearing this intro brings me back to an era as a kid. I was 10 when this was first released and I can totally hear the tv while I was in bed. My Dad loved this show and as I got older, so did I.
The single greatest television drama ever produced..
No matter what time ticks and ticks and seeing this warms my heart cause I loved this show and others, when tv was your baby sitter stuff.
The Old Style sign gave everything away. lol
Classic, brings tear
Peace ✌️ 2024
Loved also NYPD BLUE
Loved that show! And always thought it about the CPD! Especially with the scene of the cop car in the slushed covered streets passing an Old Style Beer Sign! But I told it was about Pittsburgh Police Department?
Just looked it up. Always thought it was New York City but you're right. The results said it's a combination of Chicago, Buffalo and Pittsburgh.
I was too young to watch this when it was on back in the 80s, but thankfully they're all on dvd. Just a terrific show. Belker's my favorite, but this is an amazing ensemble cast.
It was groundbreaking TV, for sure. Great actors and some excellent writing. Really helped pave the way for later shows. For me, I remember the HSB theme song as my cue that it was bedtime!
Hearing this theme tune takes me back to being young and being with my late mam and dad.
Being a former police officer i loved it because for the first time it showed cops as human beings. Just a great show. That clip was awesome
This show made me realize cops were real people. Some good, some bad, but they all had real world issues just like the rest of us.
more like cop simper
same here
@@VyreXPBye troll.
@@VyreXPYou obviously didn't watch this show.
This was such a big hit in my high school days. Really fresh camera style and relatable characters without a laugh track. Well done!
I just had a fantastic weekend ever,
Also I just got done watching a Hill Street blues Marathon on decades network.
Oh yeah, they have been playing it all weekend long and I have to say it was great to see all these episodes of Hill Street blues again. Thank you very much decades for playing this Marathon. Oh yeah I enjoyed every minute of it while it lasted.
This was the best cop show at the time and set the stage for NYPD Blue. Hill Streets cast was excellent and so was the writing !
GREATEST cop show EVER ! 👍
agree
Daniel J. Travanti! Wow! You just couldn't make that name up. So cool. Great show, great series, brilliant acting, incredible theme tune. Nothing today can touch it.
Maybe the best intro to a tv series ever, and I have seen LOTS of tv series (I am 69 years old).
Fantastic series, one of the best cop shows to be made IMO. Always loved the music too:)
One of the best series of the generation ❤
Spent many hours of pleasure watching this. Looked forward to it so much. Such a leap from British TV. Golden TV era never to be repeated.
Way ahead of its time. Hill Street Blues set the tone for all great cop shows that followed.
All the actors playing great parts , such a fantastic series,so many story lines all at once, loved it…..
Such a wonderful observation of life came home from the pub and fell asleep watching this in my youth great memories
I've always felt exactly the same way about that cold and rainy street shot. It evokes strong emotions in me. It exemplifies a typical midwestern rustbelt fall morning. Combined with the music and the opening squadroom scenes, it's perfect.
It's hard to watch this show knowing Michael Conrad passed away so long ago. He was my favorite part of the show.
Enjoyed this show in its heyday. Thank God for utube.
I was searching for the cop show my grandpa watched in the early 80's when I was a young kid. I thought it was Law & Order, but found that was a 90's show. A quick google search of 80's cop shows and I saw this...This was the show. ThaNKS