cbf@allegra.UUCP (12/10/83)
Howard lives! Of course, I realized last week (after the first second of shock) that J.D. had certainly replaced his bullets with blanks (especially after that telling look to Howard's gun), but I was relieved nonetheless. You never know with that show. I'm a die-hard "Hill Street Blues" fan, and outside of PBS and a few peaks at "All my Children" on off-days, it is the only television show I deign to watch. I'm also a die-hard snob. Anyhow, I was quite dismayed at the prospect of losing Howard. As far as I'm concerned, He and Phil were originall the show's best conceived characters, but from show to show, Howard has been consistently the best and most cleverly written character. Also, Sikking is my favorite actor on the show, while Henry is my favorite character. Warren (Bobby) is debatably the finest actor. That made sense, right? I've been somewhat disappointed at the last couple of episodes. While the mayorial race was on, things were flying. Henry's growing frustration, and the Perez shooting accident were quite moving, but lately the writers seem to have misplaced Henry's personality -- by the way, is he getting cold feet about his relationship with Fay? Also the last Belker story line was all too familiar: give him an offbeat, appealing character to lock horns with and get attached to, and then bump that character off. Works every time, too. The other stories are oddly lacking in momentum. The boxing story was dull, although it's very clear that Warren did not learn his boxing skills in acting school. Now that Furillo is married, his love life is all so bland; I wind up killing time admiring his wife. Also, what ever happened to that doctor (Sam Groom - deja vu?) who was interested in Betty? Complaints and cynicism aside, (honestly, I often think that the acting auditions for the show must have consisted of creator Boccho saying to every actor, "I am about to drop a piece of paper. When it reaches the floor, I want you to start crying. Be sensitively masculine about it.") Well, complaints and cynicism aside, this is a fine show that, at its worst, is superior to any other regular program on network TV. Final thoughts: No, Howard's suicide attempt is probably not part of a trend. Traditionally, the show has always followed the course of a work day, starting in the morning, ending at night. Also, does anyone have any guesses as to how Phil's absence will be explained and how he will be replaced. For those of you who may not know, Michael Conrad died of cancer about two weeks ago. May he rest in peace. --Charles (decvax!allegra!cbf)
moriarty@uw-june (Jeff Meyer) (12/11/83)
Interesting! I was rather dissapointed with some of last year's shows
(repetious plotlines, etc.), but this year I have thought that the plotlines
have been at their very best. I am guessing over most of the events on the
show (I had a friend give a hint about the blanks gimmick), i.e. Henry &
Fay; and with the exception of Belker's wheelchair friend (he really CAN'T
seem to hang onto anyone he meets on the street, can he?), all developments
have been very well done (the current corruption plot has some beautiful
paranoid feelings about it... like something Alan J. Pakula would come up
with). I was also very glad to see Belker's girlfriend (who hasn't appeared
in about a year) back on the show... nice touch. And why doesn't anyone
ever note the INCREDIBLE photography on this show? It looks better than
that found in most movies.
Finally, are we going to get an excellent Hill Street Christmas Episode this
year? I still have very vivid memories of Belker's watching "Mr. Magoo's
Christmas" alone at home, with the snow falling by the window (hopefully he
won't be alone this year); and one of the all-time great quotes by Renko,
"Lordy, it's Christmas Eve an' I'm gonna die in a moose suit!!"
-jwm-
{...decvax}!textronix!uw-beaver!uw-june!moriarty