Cop Rock | |
---|---|
Genre |
Police drama Musical |
Created by |
Steven Bochco William M. Finkelstein |
Theme music composer | Randy Newman |
Opening theme | "Under the Gun" performed by Randy Newman |
Composer(s) |
Greg Edmonson Alan Elliott Randy Newman Mike Post |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 11 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Steven Bochco |
Producer(s) | Charles Haid Michael M. Robin John Romano Craig Zisk |
Running time | 45– 48 minutes |
Production company(s) |
20th Century Fox Television Steven Bochco Productions |
Release | |
Original network | ABC |
Original release | September 26 – December 26, 1990 |
Cop Rock is an American musical police drama series that aired on ABC in 1990. The show, a police drama presented as a musical, was co-created by Steven Bochco, who also served as executive producer. TV Guide ranked it #8 on TV Guide's List of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time list in 2002. The periodical dubbed it "the single most bizarre TV musical of all time".
Cop Rock combined the police procedural with musical theatre, the former a genre in which Bochco had already been very successful with Hill Street Blues. The series centered on the LAPD and featured an ensemble cast that mixed musical numbers and choreography throughout storylines. For example, one courtroom scene in the pilot episode had the jury break into song, proclaiming their verdict on the defendant ("He's Guilty") Gospel-style. Another episode had a lineup of Hispanic suspects proclaim in song "We're the local color with the coppertone skin / And you treat us like we're guilty of some terrible sin." The show also featured crossover appearances from other Bochco series; one episode featured James B. Sikking reprising his Hill Street Blues role of Lt. Howard Hunter (Sikking was working on another Bochco series at the time, Doogie Howser, M.D.), while another episode featured cameos by L.A. Law stars Jimmy Smits and Michele Greene.