| |
| Well done extras and highly entertaining episodes make this box set shine. | While I loved hearing from Dennis Dugan, I really would have liked to have heard from show creator Steven Bochco. |
Hill Street Blues: Season Two is a solidly put together box set that continues the stories of the police officers at Hill Street Station. We see Capt. Frank Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) as he tries to keep order while not getting in the other officers way. Other issues like how much police force is too much, police corruption and legal politics are all mixed together with the personal lives of the officers to create a show that is as hard hitting as it is gritty.
What I think really sets
Hill Street Blues apart from a lot of other police shows, is the fact that even though it takes place in the 1980s, it very much seems like a product of the 1970s. The kind of show that would have been made if William Friedkin had gone the TV route. Also, everything about this show feels fluid. It seems like the actors were given their space and the cinematographers were forced to keep up.
As a result,
Hill Street Blues: Season Two has a vibrancy all it's own.
Commentary Tracks
There are commentary tracks for two episodes. One is "The World According to Freedom" with actors Charles Haid, Bruce Weitz and Dennis Dugan. The other is "Freedom's Last Stand" with writer/story editor Jeffrey Lewis and Executive Story Consultant/Writer Robert Crais. I chose to listen to "The World According to Freedom" simply because I am always favoring writer's commentary tracks and I wanted to hear what the actors had to say. Aside from letting us in things happening off screen (actors making faces at actors on camera during role call), I found Dennis Dugan's antisocial, method approach to Captain Freedom to be particularly entertaining to listen to.
Confessions of Captain Freedom
Dennis Dugan talks about his brief stint on this show and declares that playing the off kilter Captain Freedom was the best role he ever had. He also describes how since he knew he wasn't going to be on the show for very long, he decided to put everyone on edge by staying in character the entire time. Other actors weigh in on his character and when one realizes the slapstick roles and comedic movies Dugan has since gone on to direct, it's almost amazing to think he ever played a role like Captain Freedom.
The Hill Street Blues Story
A solidly put together featurette that examines how this show changed the parameters of network television. We hear from people like Gregory Hoblit, Steven Bochco and Michael Kozell who all worked in various capacities creating this show. What I really liked about this featurette was how it broke down how these shows got made as well as the characters that inhabited them. Overall, a well made featurette that looks at the nuts and bolts of bringing a show like this to life.
Belker Unleashed
Actor Bruce Weitz discusses his very famous character Sgt. Mick Belker. Weitz talks about how at the time he did the show he had a lot of hostility and he was able to channel it into that character. Also, it seems like Steven Bochco came to him for this part and Weitz just ran with it. He also discusses "growling" at his audition which I am sure always goes over well with casting directors.
A Cowboy On the Hill
Charles Haid takes a contemplative moment as he sits down here to discuss Officer Andy Renko. This tightly wound character was very much the comic relief aspect of this show. He discusses being confused about how to approach the character, but then once he found it he felt he had "permission to explore" Renko's many different facets. Haid also discusses improvising within the role.
Gag Reel
Calling this segment a "gag reel" is an insult to every other self respecting gag reel on the planet. This is way too short to talk about in more than a few sentences and as a result I am going to keep it short as well. Just watch this and you'll know what I'm talking about.
 |  |  |
| |
The Packaging
The front cover of Hill Street Blues: Season Two is pretty similar to that of the first season. A police car comes towards us with the lights blaring, the only difference is that Season Two has pictures of the cast displayed across it. The back cover has different shots from the show, a solid description of what we can expect from this second season, a "Special Features" listing and technical specs. The three discs that make up this set are housed in two slim cases. Their front covers are identical to the cover of the box that holds them, and on the backs are episode indexes and descriptions. |
| |
 |  |  |
It would be interesting to see how much this show changed from when it came on the air in 1981 to when it went off the air in 1987. I say this because that is a very long time to be around and I am positive that aspects of this show had to have changed. If not in a character sense (although I couldn't imagine a show like
Hill Street Blues not touching on the topics of the day) at least it must have changed in a production sense. Technology evolves and while this show was very cutting edge at it's inception, I don't see Steven Bocho standing around
watching the world change.
Hill Street Blues: Season Two is another season of this well done police show.
DVD Release Dates
2 Comments
0 Comments