TV producer Steven Bochco, creator of ‘Hill Street Blues’, ‘LA Law’ and more, dies at 74

Steven Bochco, a writer and producer known for creating the groundbreaking police drama Hill Street Blues, died Sunday. He was 74. A family spokesman says Bochco died in his sleep after a battle with cancer.

Bochco, who won 10 prime time Emmys, created several hit television shows including L.A. Law, NYPD Blue, and Doogie Howser, M.D.

Premiering in January 1981, Hill Street Blues challenged, even confounded the meagre audience that sampled it. Then, on a wave of critical acclaim, the series began to click with viewers, while scoring a history-making 27 Emmy nominations its first year.

During its seven-season run, it won 26 Emmys and launched Bochco on a course that led to dozens of series and earned him four Peabody awards, in addition to the 10 Emmys.

Hill Street Blues had a sprawling universe of engaging yet flawed characters, a zippy pace and layers of overlapping, scripted dialogue, shot in a documentary style.

But what really set the show apart were the multiple narratives that interlaced each episode with those that came before and after. With the rare exception of the few prime-time soaps, almost every series up to that time – whether comedy or drama – made each episode free-standing, with a reset button for the one that came next.

Bochco once recalled a fan telling him that Hill Street Blues was the first TV series with a memory.