Wednesday, 13 July 2011

TV Theme Retrospective: Roll Call!

Cop procedurals. From ‘Dixon of Dock Green’ via ‘The Sweeney’ to ‘The Wire’, where would TV drama be without them? And where would they be without their iconic theme music?

And Stephen Bochco’s ‘Hill Street Blues’ is still far and away the most memorable, not least for its haunting theme by Mike Post, surely one of the most prolific of all the great TV theme writers.

Possibly the first to feature a huge ensemble cast (something that many shows would later emulate), it broke the role of the ‘buddy cop’ tv show, and was an amazing success, running for seven full seasons before cancellation.

It was well received by the critics as well as the public, something that – surprisingly – doesn’t happen as often as you might think.



Happy memories....

Next month’s theme: "Gun For Hire"
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10 comments:

  1. Peter Risdon13 July 2011 at 13:58

    I found the whole series of HSB on Channel 4's website last year. It stands the test of time really well.

    I hope I haven't just wasted the next month of your time...

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  2. Captain Haddock13 July 2011 at 17:28

    HSB (not to be confused with Gale's Brewery's excellent Horndean Special Bitter) .. used to be compulsory viewing in our house ..

    Many thanks for the "heads-up" Peter .. is that free to view online perchance ?

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  3. Anonymous13 July 2011 at 19:29

    'Listen, Pizza-man...'

    'Hi, Mom...'

    and

    'Hey, let's be careful out there...'

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  4. selsey.steve13 July 2011 at 20:02

    "Listen, dog-breath!"
    My favourite line from HSB!
    I was in a certain Police Force (NOT a British one) when HSB was shown on one of our local channels.
    Within a couple of weeks of the first episode being shown, every officer, no matter their seniority, had adopted the phrase, "Hey, let's be careful out there!" with which to end their operational briefings. Got a laugh from the troops every time.
    Magic series, it was.

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  5. Tattyfalarr13 July 2011 at 21:39

    Captain...

    http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hill-street-blues/episode-guide

    Fill yer boots :) Think I will too.

    I only caught a few of the original series as it was on at weekend IIRC. I was at that teenaged/left school got job/earning money and drinking my body weight in Stella/dancing all night and still getting up for work next day phase of my life when it was on tv.

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  6. JuliaM14 July 2011 at 05:50

    "I found the whole series of HSB on Channel 4's website last year. It stands the test of time really well."

    Oooh, excellent! I've only got the first two on DVD, so I'll be looking into that.

    "Within a couple of weeks of the first episode being shown, every officer, no matter their seniority, had adopted the phrase, "Hey, let's be careful out there!" with which to end their operational briefings. Got a laugh from the troops every time.

    Magic series, it was."

    It was indeed!

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  7. MTG14 July 2011 at 06:29

    Providing the viewer with a musical cue to distinguish one predictable police series from another, was a very helpful TV concept.

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  8. Anonymous14 July 2011 at 12:43

    Captain H, Gale's HSB is excellent, but mostly excellent at making people stupid-drunk, hence the label round here of High Speed Braindamage. I'd stick to the Harvey's Best, that just makes you sleep.

    Which is a shame, because it tastes rather nice.

    I still remember the 2000AD comic take on HSB, the Hell Street Blues. Weird doesn't cover that.

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  9. Anonymous14 July 2011 at 17:13

    My God he even hates fictional police as well.....nice to see his principles run deep and true.
    Jaded

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  10. MTG14 July 2011 at 18:41

    @ Jaded.

    The compulsion to hate is a defect I do not share with you and it would be most regrettable if your handicap ever caused problems for others in the course of your work.

    If it were WPC business, let me assure you that I am a great fan of police characters portrayed by the '3 Peters'. Ustinov as Poirot, Sellers as Clouseau and Falk as Columbo.

    We must stop meeting like this before your partner is enraged by our evening liaisons. I would never scrap in the gutter over something found there.

    ReplyDelete