Hill Street Blues and the end of my era.

My favorite character was J.D. LaRue.

Figures.

Hill Street Blues probably was the last old-fashioned, three-network, first-run television series I ever committed to watching. Each week, the VCR hummed on cue. Since then, I've shifted.

I find television in general to be the most far-reaching waste of time ever devised by the mind of man. The various cable series (Mad Men, Breaking Bad), et al) that define contemporary culture these days are ciphers to me. For roughly a quarter-century or more, I'd rather be reading a book, and usually do.

But in its time, given my consciousness in the 1980s, Hill Street Blues was a great favorite. Do I commit to the completist's DVD treatment, and do it all over again, or remain content with selective memories?

I'll mull that one, while reading.

Being Careful Out There? Hardly; Steven Bochco and Others on Creating ‘Hill Street Blues’, by Lorne Manly (New York Times)

Cop shows had never looked like this.

A dozen or so regular characters, including a detective who liked biting perps, an alcoholic ladies’ man and an imposing 50-something sergeant dating a high school senior. Sprawling story lines that played out over multiple episodes and veered into messy personal lives. A gritty visual style and a wildly careering tone alien to prime time.