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Hill Street Blues


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Used a holiday gift card to purchase the first season DVD, and finally set aside some time this weekend to watch a few episodes. What a terrific show that was. Too bad I don't think sales were strong enough to justify subsequent seasons being released - would be great to see Dennis Franz again in the role that jump-started his career. But Belker, Sgt Esterhauz, Hill and Renko, had a great time revisiting them all.

And I have to note that Veronica Hamel starred in quite a few dreams when I was 16 - and that I still love that theme song, so simple yet so affecting.

Any other fans?

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typewriters banging away, smoking in the office, saloon bars that have the blues playing in the background.....

When I re-watched the Season One DVD last year I was surprised how the show made the right wing militarist policeman, Lt Hunter, so cartoonish/bufoonish and quite beyond the pale. If I remember he was made more human as the series progressed thereby diluting the quite explicit liberal stance. In fact, the whole programme became more mainstream as the ratings grew...although I think that comment could apply to a few other programmes as well...............

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Actually, I believe season two was released as well. It was a very good show, especially during the "Esterhaus period".

Season two was indeed released on DVD - Amazon currently has both seasons one and two for $9.99 each. They also have season three streaming on Amazon Instant Video, which I was unaware of until just now.

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The fact that Season 3 is available to stream, though hardly my preferred viewing method, at least gives me hope that other seasons will be made available.

Oh, and I forgot to mention in my initial post - I hated Fay Furillo then, and I still hate her now. Her one-note character was grating from the get-go.

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  • 2 weeks later...

And I have to note that Veronica Hamel starred in quite a few dreams when I was 16

Was it my imagination, my changing tastes, or a reality that she lost weight/got skinnier as the series progressed?

Don't remember but if she did, the weights come back with a vengeance. I just finished watching the featurette on the series, and I'm not sure if she still qualifies as attractive, the cosmetic work done is just too obvious. Charles Haid has had a lot of work done, but he wasn't too attractive to begin with. ;)

FWIW, Season 3 doesn't have to be streamed for $1.99 an episode. Hulu.com has each episode, and you could watch all the episodes for $7.99 for a month's membership. Or if you can devote the time, you could use their one week free deal.

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BlJQG.Em.56.jpeg

Here's a relatively recent photo of Veronica Hamel. I don't understand this "youthful forever" thing. If we live long enough, we'll all get old. Why have surgery that makes you look like a humanoid?

Are you sure that's not Bo Derek?

So you at least occasionally glanced Bo's face in those wonderful movies of hers. ;) It is a relief to get this clarified as it would have been one of the more startling plastic surgery brow lift - eye job etc. if that was Veronica.

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  • 9 years later...

Bumping this after referring to the theme song in another thread, just to mention that the complete series did eventually come out on DVD via Shout Factory, God bless 'em:

Hill Street Blues: The Complete Series

... I'm only a few episodes into season 1, but it's holding up nicely in almost all respects.  The series debuted when I was a teenager, and I, my dad, and my mom (who was a prosecutor) all became instant fans.  Didn't see it as regularly after I left for college (no cable TV in the dorms in those primitive years! and beyond my meager student means when I moved to an off-campus apartment), so there's a lot I missed from the show's final years.

Edited by ghost of miles
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  • 2 weeks later...

Her cheeks look way too puffy, she had a striking look back when the series aired, though I’m sure smoking didn’t help her skin.

I always found the captain’s ex-wife so annoying that I kept hoping she would be written out by getting killed off. She added nothing to the show.

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