Steven Bochco
Encyclopedia
Steven Ronald Bochco is a US
television
producer and writer. He has developed a number of popular television hits including Hill Street Blues
, L.A. Law
, and NYPD Blue
, as well as some notable flops such as Cop Rock
.
, the son of Mimi, a painter, and Rudolph Bochco, a concert violinist. He was educated in Manhattan
at the High School of Music and Art. His elder sister is actress Joanna Frank
. In 1961, he enrolled at the Carnegie Institute of Technology
(after merging with the Mellon Institute in 1967 known as Carnegie Mellon University
) in Pittsburgh
to study playwriting and theater. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
(BFA) in Theater in 1966, having also had an MCA Writing Fellowship.
as a writer and then story editor on Ironside
, Columbo, McMillan & Wife and the short-lived Lorne Greene
and Ben Murphy
series, Griff
, as well as Delvecchio
and The Invisible Man
. He wrote the screenplay for the 1968 TV movie The Counterfeit Killer and worked on Silent Running
(1972) and Double Indemnity (1973). He left Universal in 1978 to go to MTM Enterprises
where he had greater scope for producing. His first effort there was the short-lived CBS
police drama Paris
, notable as the first show on which James Earl Jones
played a lead role.
He achieved major success for NBC
with the police drama Hill Street Blues
. It ran from 1981 to 1987 and Bochco was credited as co-creator and also wrote and produced. The series also garnered considerable critical acclaim and many awards, and was nominated for a total of 98 Emmy Awards throughout its run. Bochco was fired from MTM in 1985 following the failure of Bay City Blues
(1983).
Bochco moved to 20th Century Fox
(which now owns the MTM library) where he co-created and produced L.A. Law
(1986–1994) which aired on NBC. This series was also widely acclaimed and a regular award winner, but also achieved far higher ratings success than Hill Street Blues
had enjoyed.
In 1987, Bochco co-created the half-hour dramedy Hooperman
which starred John Ritter
but was canceled after two seasons, despite Bochco offering to take over direct day-to-day control of a third season. Hooperman was part of a lucrative deal with ABC
in 1987 to create and produce ten new TV series, which prompted Bochco to form Steven Bochco Productions. From this deal came Doogie Howser, M.D.
(1989–1993) and the 1990 musical flop Cop Rock
, which combined straight police drama with live-action Broadway singing and dancing. It was one of his most high-profile failures. In 1992, Bochco created an animated television series, Capitol Critters
, along with Nat Mauldin
and Michael Wagner.
After a lull, Bochco co-created the long-running NYPD Blue
(1993–2005) with David Milch
. Initially controversial at the time, the show was created with the express intention of changing the nature of network one-hour drama to compete with the more adult fare broadcast on cable networks. Other projects in this period that failed to take off include Murder One
(1995–1997), Brooklyn South
(1997), City of Angels (2000), Philly
(2001), and Over There
(2005). All five shows failed to match Bochco's earlier success though Murder One and Over There garnered critical praise and have developed cult followings.
In 2005, Bochco took charge of Commander in Chief
(2005–2006) which was the creation of Rod Lurie
and brought in a new writing team. However, in spring 2006, he left the show because of conflicts with ABC, and shortly afterward the program was canceled. Bochco described his experience on the show as "horrible." In 2006 Bochco produced a pilot ABC show, Hollis and Rae, and was reported at the same time to be developing a baseball drama and another legal drama for ABC in partnership with Chris Gerolmo
.
It was announced in March 2007 that he has taken his first steps into internet TV with the 44-episode Cafe Confidential, each episode being 60-seconds of unscripted "confessions" by members of the public. Yet another legal drama entitled Raising the Bar
was produced for TNT
, this time in partnership with David Feige
, although it was cancelled in December 2009 during the second season.
According to an interview with Bochco published in September 2007, he is now winding down his involvement with network television, feeling that his tastes and current fashions in TV drama no longer coincide. "The network executives stay the same age and I keep getting older and it creates a different kind of relationship. When I was doing my stuff at NBC with Brandon (Tartikoff) and Hill Street, we were contemporaries," says Bochco. "When I sit down (now), they're sitting in a room with someone who's old enough to be their father and I'm not sure they want to sit in a room with their fathers."
In 2008 Bochco argued that the new home for quality prime time
drama is cable, where "the atmosphere is far friendlier and the creative environment more conducive to doing original work", and that "most of what's passing for primetime drama these days isn't very good."
His impact on the nature of American prime time network television drama is considerable: prior to Hill Street Blues it was rare for American straight drama shows to have story arc
s, i.e. several stories running over many episodes (with the exception of prime time soap opera
s such as Dallas
). It was also rare to have a large regular cast. The structure of the modern "ensemble" television drama comes from Bochco who many regard as having changed the "language" of television drama.
, who appeared as a regular on Hill Street Blues
. They had two children before divorcing in 1997. He is currently married to Dayna Kalins (m. August 12, 2000). His son, Jesse Bochco, by his first wife, was a producer/director on NYPD Blue
and directed the pilot episode of Raising the Bar
. Jesse Bochco also appeared as Captain Furillo's son, Frank Jr. (with Bosson playing his mother) on Hill Street Blues
, as well as a director in his own right. Jesse has directed several episodes of his father's shows, including NYPD Blue
, Philly
, Over There
and Raising the Bar
.
, producer of NYPD Blue
and the wife of actor Alan Rachins
of Dharma and Greg. Joanna Frank (born 1941) is an American actress who starred in The Outer Limits
episode "ZZZZZ" (Season 1, Episode 18), which aired January 27, 1964, as "Regina", the entomology lab assistant.
Her first role was in Elia Kazan
's 1963 film America, America
as the character "Vartuhi". She appeared in The Fugitive
as "Chris Polichek" in the episode "Where the Action Is" which first aired January 28, 1964.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
producer and writer. He has developed a number of popular television hits including Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
, L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
, and NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
, as well as some notable flops such as Cop Rock
Cop Rock
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...
.
Early life
Bochco was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the son of Mimi, a painter, and Rudolph Bochco, a concert violinist. He was educated in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
at the High School of Music and Art. His elder sister is actress Joanna Frank
Joanna Frank
Joanna Frank is an American actress who starred in The Outer Limits episode "ZZZZZ" , which aired January 27, 1964, as "Regina", the entomology lab assistant.-Career:...
. In 1961, he enrolled at the Carnegie Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
(after merging with the Mellon Institute in 1967 known as Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
) in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
to study playwriting and theater. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
(BFA) in Theater in 1966, having also had an MCA Writing Fellowship.
Career
Bochco went to work for Universal PicturesUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
as a writer and then story editor on Ironside
Ironside (TV series)
Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...
, Columbo, McMillan & Wife and the short-lived Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene , was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green, OC, a Canadian actor.His television roles include Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica...
and Ben Murphy
Ben Murphy
Benjamin E. Murphy is an American actor. He is known for his role in the ABC television series Alias Smith and Jones, co-starring as Kid Curry, first with Pete Duel and later with Roger Davis.-Early life:...
series, Griff
Griff (TV series)
Griff is a 13-episode ABC crime drama starring Lorne Greene and Ben Murphy, which aired from September 29, 1973, to January 4, 1974. Nine months after the expiration of his nearly 14-year role as Ponderosa Ranch patriarch Ben Cartwright on NBC's Bonanza western series, the Canadian native Greene...
, as well as Delvecchio
Delvecchio (TV series)
Delvecchio is an American television series that aired on CBS during the 1976-77 season. It starred Judd Hirsch as ther title character, Dominick Delvecchio, an Italian-American lawyer who worked for the LAPD and also studied to become a lawyer.-Cast:...
and The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells published in 1897. Wells' novel was originally serialised in Pearson's Weekly in 1897, and published as a novel the same year...
. He wrote the screenplay for the 1968 TV movie The Counterfeit Killer and worked on Silent Running
Silent Running
Silent Running is a 1972 environmentally themed science fiction film starring Bruce Dern and directed by Douglas Trumbull, who had previously worked as a special effects supervisor on such science fiction films as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain.-Plot summary:Silent Running depicts a...
(1972) and Double Indemnity (1973). He left Universal in 1978 to go to MTM Enterprises
MTM Enterprises
MTM Enterprises was an American independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce The Mary Tyler Moore Show for CBS...
where he had greater scope for producing. His first effort there was the short-lived CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
police drama Paris
Paris (1979 TV series)
Paris was an American television series that appeared on the CBS television network from September 29, 1979 to January 15, 1980. A crime drama, the show is notable as the first-ever appearance of renowned actor James Earl Jones in a lead role on television and as the first program on which Steven...
, notable as the first show on which James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
played a lead role.
He achieved major success for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
with the police drama Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
. It ran from 1981 to 1987 and Bochco was credited as co-creator and also wrote and produced. The series also garnered considerable critical acclaim and many awards, and was nominated for a total of 98 Emmy Awards throughout its run. Bochco was fired from MTM in 1985 following the failure of Bay City Blues
Bay City Blues
Bay City Blues is an American comedy-drama series that aired on NBC from October 1983 to November 1983. The series stars Michael Nouri, Dennis Franz, and Pat Corley, and was created and produced by Steven Bochco.-Synopsis:...
(1983).
Bochco moved to 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
(which now owns the MTM library) where he co-created and produced L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
(1986–1994) which aired on NBC. This series was also widely acclaimed and a regular award winner, but also achieved far higher ratings success than Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
had enjoyed.
In 1987, Bochco co-created the half-hour dramedy Hooperman
Hooperman
Hooperman is a U.S. television series starring John Ritter. It ran for two seasons on ABC, from 1987 to 1989. A comedy-drama, the series was created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher who were the team responsible for creating L.A. Law....
which starred John Ritter
John Ritter
Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively...
but was canceled after two seasons, despite Bochco offering to take over direct day-to-day control of a third season. Hooperman was part of a lucrative deal with ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in 1987 to create and produce ten new TV series, which prompted Bochco to form Steven Bochco Productions. From this deal came Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doogie Howser, M.D. is an American television comedy-drama starring Neil Patrick Harris as a 16-year-old doctor who also faces the problems of being a normal teenager. Created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, ABC aired the show from 1989 to 1993 for four seasons totaling 97 episodes.-Plot:Dr....
(1989–1993) and the 1990 musical flop Cop Rock
Cop Rock
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...
, which combined straight police drama with live-action Broadway singing and dancing. It was one of his most high-profile failures. In 1992, Bochco created an animated television series, Capitol Critters
Capitol Critters
Capitol Critters is an animated television series about the lives of mice, rats, and roaches who reside in the basement and walls of the White House in Washington, D.C...
, along with Nat Mauldin
Nat Mauldin
-Screenwriting:*Barney Miller *Newhart*Capitol Critters"*Night Court *Downtown *The Preacher's Wife *Dr. Dolittle *The In-Laws *Open Season...
and Michael Wagner.
After a lull, Bochco co-created the long-running NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
(1993–2005) with David Milch
David Milch
David S. Milch is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including NYPD Blue and Deadwood.-Biography:...
. Initially controversial at the time, the show was created with the express intention of changing the nature of network one-hour drama to compete with the more adult fare broadcast on cable networks. Other projects in this period that failed to take off include Murder One
Murder One (TV series)
Murder One is an American legal drama series that first aired on the ABC network in the United States in 1995. The series was created by Steven Bochco, Charles H. Eglee, and Channing Gibson.-Premise:...
(1995–1997), Brooklyn South
Brooklyn South
Brooklyn South is an American ensemble police drama series that aired on CBS for only one season during the 1997-98 television season. The series was co-created by Steven Bochco, Bill Clark, David Milch and William M. Finkelstein. Bochco is the creator of many well-known police dramas such as Hill...
(1997), City of Angels (2000), Philly
Philly (TV series)
Philly is a television series created by Steven Bochco that focused on criminal defense attorney Kathleen Maguire . It lasted a full season and was canceled due to low ratings...
(2001), and Over There
Over There (TV series)
Over There is an action / drama / war television series that aired on FX. It premiered in the United States on July 27, 2005 and premiered in Canada on September 6, 2005 on the History Television channel. The series was presented in 16:9 widescreen format in the U.S...
(2005). All five shows failed to match Bochco's earlier success though Murder One and Over There garnered critical praise and have developed cult followings.
In 2005, Bochco took charge of Commander in Chief
Commander in Chief (TV series)
Commander in Chief is an American drama television series that focused on the fictional administration and family of Mackenzie Allen , the first female President of the United States, who ascends to the role from the Vice Presidency after the death of the sitting President from a sudden cerebral...
(2005–2006) which was the creation of Rod Lurie
Rod Lurie
Rod Lurie is an Israeli-American director, screenwriter and former film critic.-Early life and career:The son of internationally syndicated cartoonist Ranan Lurie, he was born in Israel but moved to the United States at a young age, growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Honolulu,...
and brought in a new writing team. However, in spring 2006, he left the show because of conflicts with ABC, and shortly afterward the program was canceled. Bochco described his experience on the show as "horrible." In 2006 Bochco produced a pilot ABC show, Hollis and Rae, and was reported at the same time to be developing a baseball drama and another legal drama for ABC in partnership with Chris Gerolmo
Chris Gerolmo
Chris Gerolmo is an American writer, director, and singer best known for writing the screenplay for the film Mississippi Burning and co-creating the FX Networks military drama series Over There. He also wrote and directed the acclaimed made-for-TV movie Citizen X, about the Ukrainian serial killer...
.
It was announced in March 2007 that he has taken his first steps into internet TV with the 44-episode Cafe Confidential, each episode being 60-seconds of unscripted "confessions" by members of the public. Yet another legal drama entitled Raising the Bar
Raising the Bar (TV series)
Raising the Bar is an American legal drama, which ran on TNT network from September 1, 2008 to December 24, 2009. The series revolves around a group of lawyer friends who find themselves on opposite sides of the criminal law.-Production:...
was produced for TNT
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
, this time in partnership with David Feige
David Feige
David Feige is an American lawyer, legal commentator, and author. Feige began his legal career as a staff attorney at the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society, and held positions at the Civilian Complaint Review Board of New York City and the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem,...
, although it was cancelled in December 2009 during the second season.
According to an interview with Bochco published in September 2007, he is now winding down his involvement with network television, feeling that his tastes and current fashions in TV drama no longer coincide. "The network executives stay the same age and I keep getting older and it creates a different kind of relationship. When I was doing my stuff at NBC with Brandon (Tartikoff) and Hill Street, we were contemporaries," says Bochco. "When I sit down (now), they're sitting in a room with someone who's old enough to be their father and I'm not sure they want to sit in a room with their fathers."
In 2008 Bochco argued that the new home for quality prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
drama is cable, where "the atmosphere is far friendlier and the creative environment more conducive to doing original work", and that "most of what's passing for primetime drama these days isn't very good."
His impact on the nature of American prime time network television drama is considerable: prior to Hill Street Blues it was rare for American straight drama shows to have story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
s, i.e. several stories running over many episodes (with the exception of prime time soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s such as Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
). It was also rare to have a large regular cast. The structure of the modern "ensemble" television drama comes from Bochco who many regard as having changed the "language" of television drama.
Personal life
In 1969, he married actress Barbara BossonBarbara Bosson
Barbara Bosson is an American actress who has starred on television and in film.-Biography:Bosson was born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania to a tennis coach father. During her childhood, she lived in an American Craftsman Style house on Price Avenue in the borough of North Belle Vernon...
, who appeared as a regular on Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
. They had two children before divorcing in 1997. He is currently married to Dayna Kalins (m. August 12, 2000). His son, Jesse Bochco, by his first wife, was a producer/director on NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
and directed the pilot episode of Raising the Bar
Raising the Bar (TV series)
Raising the Bar is an American legal drama, which ran on TNT network from September 1, 2008 to December 24, 2009. The series revolves around a group of lawyer friends who find themselves on opposite sides of the criminal law.-Production:...
. Jesse Bochco also appeared as Captain Furillo's son, Frank Jr. (with Bosson playing his mother) on Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
, as well as a director in his own right. Jesse has directed several episodes of his father's shows, including NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
, Philly
Philly (TV series)
Philly is a television series created by Steven Bochco that focused on criminal defense attorney Kathleen Maguire . It lasted a full season and was canceled due to low ratings...
, Over There
Over There (TV series)
Over There is an action / drama / war television series that aired on FX. It premiered in the United States on July 27, 2005 and premiered in Canada on September 6, 2005 on the History Television channel. The series was presented in 16:9 widescreen format in the U.S...
and Raising the Bar
Raising the Bar (TV series)
Raising the Bar is an American legal drama, which ran on TNT network from September 1, 2008 to December 24, 2009. The series revolves around a group of lawyer friends who find themselves on opposite sides of the criminal law.-Production:...
.
Career
Joanna Frank was born Joanna Bochco in New York City, New York. She is the sister of Steven BochcoSteven Bochco
Steven Ronald Bochco is a US television producer and writer. He has developed a number of popular television hits including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue, as well as some notable flops such as Cop Rock....
, producer of NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
and the wife of actor Alan Rachins
Alan Rachins
Alan Rachins is an American television actor, best known for his role as Douglas Brackman in L.A. Law, which earned him both Golden Globe and Emmy nominations, as well as for his portrayal of Dharma's hippie father, Larry, on the hit television series, Dharma & Greg...
of Dharma and Greg. Joanna Frank (born 1941) is an American actress who starred in The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
episode "ZZZZZ" (Season 1, Episode 18), which aired January 27, 1964, as "Regina", the entomology lab assistant.
Her first role was in Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
's 1963 film America, America
America, America
America, America is a 1963 American dramatic film directed, produced and written by Elia Kazan, from his own book.-Plot:...
as the character "Vartuhi". She appeared in The Fugitive
The Fugitive (TV series)
The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
as "Chris Polichek" in the episode "Where the Action Is" which first aired January 28, 1964.
Emmy Awards
- 1981 Outstanding Drama SeriesPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama SeriesThis page lists the winners and nominees for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, since its institution in 1951. The award is often cited as one of the "main awards" at the Emmys ceremonies, and has changed names many times in its history. It was first called Best Dramatic Show...
, for Hill Street Blues - 1981 Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, for Hill Street Blues, "Hill Street Station" (premiere episode)
- 1982 Outstanding Drama Series, for Hill Street Blues
- 1982 Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, for Hill Street Blues, "Freedom's Last Stand"
- 1983 Outstanding Drama Series, for Hill Street Blues
- 1984 Outstanding Drama Series, for Hill Street Blues
- 1987 Outstanding Drama Series, for L.A. Law
- 1987 Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, for L.A. Law, "The Venus Butterfly"
- 1989 Outstanding Drama Series, for L.A. Law
- 1995 Outstanding Drama Series, for NYPD Blue
Humanitas Prize
- 1981 60-minute Category, for Hill Street Blues
- 1999 90-Minute Category, for NYPD Blue
Edgar Awards
- 1982 Best Episode in a TV Series Teleplay, for Hill Street Blues, "Hill Street Station"
- 1995 Best Episode in a TV Series Teleplay, for NYPD Blue, "Simone Says"
External links
- Bio
- Steven Bochco Interview at Archive of American TelevisionArchive of American TelevisionThe Archive of American Television is a division of the non-profit Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation that films interviews with notable people from all aspects of the television industry....