Tommy Westphall Universe
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Tommy Westphall Universe

Hill Street Blues is an American police procedural series created by Steven Boccho and Michael Kozoll for NBC. It ran from January 15, 1981 to May 12, 1987 for seven seasons.

Series summary[]

The series followed the police officers of an unnamed American city, from Captain Frank Furillo through detectives Mick Belker and JD LaRue to the beat officers, like Andy Renko and Bobby Hill. While it seems quaint compared to modern-day crime and police shows, at the time its use of documentary-style footage, ongoing plot threads and (relatively) 'gritty' real issues was groundbreaking. Co-creator Steven Boccho took these concepts a step further in a later show, the even more successful NYPD Blue.

Spin-off[]

Westphall connections in Hill Street Blues[]

  • The Teldar company from Wall Street is mentioned in "Days of Swine and Roses".

Westphall connections to Hill Street Blues[]

  • Several episodes of NYPD Blue feature a nudist nicknamed Buck Naked (Lee Weaver); Buck first appeared in Hill Street Blues.
  • The character of Lt Howard Hunter (played by James B Sikking) made a cameo appearance in critically panned musical police show Cop Rock.
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