Back in 1990, the American television airwaves suffered a 12-week assault from Cop Rock, Steven “I previously created Hill Street Blues and would later create NYPD Blue” Bochko’s would-be groundbreaking combination of gritty crime drama and rocking musical numbers. Here’s a taste:
As Television Heaven explains:
In the fall of 1990, there seemed to be a hunger for a different type of television show, as the success of The Simpsons, America’s Funniest Home Videos and the cult hit Twin Peaks seemed to indicate. There was no question that Cop Rock was a different breed of show. But at $1.8 million an episode (the most expensive television series up to that time), ABC needed it to become a quick and solid success. It wasn’t. With a guaranteed 13-week commitment, ABC urged Bochco to drop the musical numbers and turn the show into a conventional police drama. Bochco refused. Cop Rock was history, with the final episode airing just before Christmas 1990.
In 2002, TV Guide ranked Cop Rock #8 on its list of the worst TV series of all-time. In 2006, I got to see several Cop Rock episodes at NYC’s Museum of Television and Radio. Now, thanks to the miracle of YouTube and the helpful guidance of Metalfilter, anyone with a computer can see a whole bunch of Cop Rock whenever they want.
Here’s one of my favorite numbers, the catchiest song about black-market babies you’ll ever hear:
And here’s a tantalizing Cop Rock TV commercial:
Thanks again, Metafilter.
That’s even more embarassing than the whole fifty-year parade of TV police dramas without songs.
Whew!
But… it has to be a parody, right? Right?
There are few quicker ways to make me question my very sanity than watching Cop Rock. Not because it’s so bad, but because it’s so weird that it ever existed at all that it makes me wonder if I’m really seeing what I’m seeing, or if I”m actually lying in a hospital bed in a coma and dreaming that I live in a world where Cop Rock getting greenlit makes perfect sense.
All you Nirvana haters, this is what the 90’s could have been like.
Is that David Boreanaz in the Black Market Babies song? “ANGEL!”
Cop Rock was definitely made in earnest. Nobody could’ve kept a straight face if it were parody–not even for 12 episodes.
Why has no one made a shitty musical based on CSI yet?
They will laugh at your generation one day, too.
8: I’m sure that’s true, but it must be noted that Cop Rock was laughed at plenty during its own time.
I absolutely hate musicals, except for Paint Your Wagon with Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin.
This is why I always think cocaine IS a good idea.
CSI is already a shitty musical
“Metalfilter” “Metafilter” Which IS it, David?
Cogswell. I have a bunch of money to piss off on a bad movie. Know anyone who can use it?
Uh… I kind of… like this?
Blame the tryptophan…
I can’t believe this exists and I never knew.
This is genuinely awesome.
Is there any way to re-make this non-ironically?
So painful. Not sure whether to poke out my eyeballs or eardrums first.
Thank god I was getting laid instead of watching TV in the late 80s/early 90s.
@14,
we get your hatred. now stop being an assbag and go haunt some other site. You’re tiresome.
i can’t get dominos to deliver to my house, why the fuck do i care about war someplace else?
You had to be there to compare it to what was available. The music was great. Just the lead in by Randy Newman was worth the time to tune in. The humor was sophisticated and irreverant. I can take anything out of context and make it look stupid. Of course just speaking statistically, more than half of you voted for Bush… the second time he ran… sooo
Without a doubt, Cop Rock is my favorite TV show of all time. The Soprano’s is a close second, especially season 2, so I’m not a total wacko. First and foremost, I am 50 and a lifelong music fanatic and grew up in front of a television, so the combination is a natural for me. That being said, this show offered taut drama, Emmy caliber acting, gripping social commentary, tongue-in-cheek humor, numerous surprises, some really outstanding music in different genre’s such as blues, pop, soul, and hard rock, Broadway quality singing and dancing, and very clever writing, particularly the grand finale. Bochco really had the creative juices flowing and took a big chance broadcasting it on network TV. Unfortunately, those two facts doomed it. Kudos to Bochco for having the cajones to put it together and also for pulling the plug when the network “suits” wanted him to lose the music, to lose what made this so different and special. I’ll have to continue watching my original VHS tapes recorded directly off the air in 1990, complete with the commercials and other items that are a 1990’s time capsule, until a DVD release is available.
Oh my god. This is absolutely amazing, I can’t believe I didn’t know about this until recently. I can understand why this wasn’t successful, because the lovers of musicals and the lovers of cop shows tend not to be the same people, but jesus, this is great. I wish it would be released on DVD.