By the end of its first season in May 1981, “Hill Street Blues” was already a television classic — renowned for breaking barriers and forging a new path in police procedurals that still resonates 40 years later.The series, created by Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll, set the gold standard for its “docudrama” approach: its innovative use of handheld cameras and quick-cut editing and the way in which it portrayed the personal and professional lives of cops in an unnamed metropolitan city.
Even its two leads were unorthodox: Capt. Frank Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti), the dapper, intense chief of Hill Street, a recovering alcoholic always dressed in a three-piece suit, and public defender Joyce Davenport (Veronica Hamel).
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