The Hill Street Blues Reunion - what have they been doing?
Alan Sepinwall
the best TV shows of all time, "Hill Street Blues" and "St. Elsewhere",
time to speculate on what the various characters have been doing since
both went bye-bye in the late 80s.
I'll do Hill Street first, since that was my favorite (St. Elsewhere will
come in another post):
CAPT. FRANK FURILLO: There's two ways to play it with Frank - either he
kept stepping on toes and is still Capt. of the Hill (which is where he
wants to be, anyway), or else he finally decided that he was sick of the
way Fletcher Daniels was running the department and managed to replace him
as Chief of Police. I also have a feeling that he and Joyce will be
divorced or separated by this point.
JOYCE DAVENPORT: I think she'll still be a PD - she seemed too
self-righteous to believe that the indigent could get along without her.
Like I said above, I think she may not be married to the Pizza Man
anymore. On a side note, I've seen Veronica Hamel in a bunch of TV movies
recnetly, and she looks *awful*. Hopefully, it's because she's not
supposed to look attractive in those roles, because I always felt that she
was one of the most beautiful women on TV.
OFFICER BOBBY HILL: I've seen Michael Warren in a few TV shows here and
there over the last few years, and he has lost *all* of his hair (Well,
almost all - he has about as much hair as Fred Mertz from I love Lucy). Either
they're gonna have to give him a toupee to restore that "boyish" look that
enabled them to keep him as a patrolman all those years when he was
clearly too old and too smart to still be doing it, or else he'll finally
have made detective or (more likely, IMHO), Desk Sergeant
OFFICER ANDREW J. RENKO: Renko is still riding around as a grunt - it's
his destiny to always be a spear-carrier and never a general.
SGT. LUCY BATES: It's too bad they killed off Joe Coffey in the
next-to-last season, because I would think the two of them would have
finally gotten over their hangups and gotten married. Based on what we saw
in the last episode of the series, I think Lucy married Sal the Plumber.
Fabian (her adopted son) is probably in or done with college by now. Lucy
is probably working as a desk sergeant somewhere (if not in Hill Street).
DETECTIVE MICK BELKER: Belker's probably mellowed with middle-age, but
he's still growling at certain perps. Of all the characters, he's the onl
one I'm sure is still on the force (I remember when he left for his
honeymoon with Robin, the way he had to keep himself from trying to chase
after a purse snatcher).
DETECTIVE JD LARUE: Well, Kiel Martin died a few years ago, so JD will
almost certainly be dead as well (though they might come up with a funny
new career for JD - a tribute to the ultimate hustler).
DETECTIVE NEIL WASHINGTON: Neil may just be a captain of some other
precinct. Think about it - he's black (the department was always concerned
about the image of not having enough minority leadership), he's dedicated,
he's (these are Furillo's words, said more than once to Daniels) "the best
detective I've got", and he gets along well with everybody.
LT. HENRY GOLDBLUME: Henry left the force - I'm almost sure of it. He was
always too conflicted over a lot of different issues to be able to stay a
cop forever and stay sane. He may have finally gone whole hog with the
writing thing, and could be famous for all we know.
(RET) SGT. STAN JABLONSKI: I dunno. The way they were showing Stan in the
last few episodes of the series, he seemed pretty much convinced that his
life was over with - no career, no companionship, nothing. If Robert
Prosky weren't still around and acting, I'm sure they would say that
Jablonski passed away.
LT. HOWARD HUNTER: They could have a lot of fun with Hunter - I'd
personally like to see him not be on the force anymore, but instead see
him have beocome rich by selling those survivalist condos of his. Either
that, or else have him have become a pacifist.
(ex)LT. NORMAN BUNTZ: They've gotta bring back Buntz - he was the best
thing that ever happened to the Hill. Say that his PI agency in Beverly
Hills (remember "Beverly Hills Buntz"?) failed, and he came back to
Whatever-The-Name-Of-The-City-Is to work there. Maybe - if Daniels is no
longer Chief - he even got reinstated (doubtful). Still, they have to find
some way to include Buntz and Sid - that is, if Franz (the only HSB'er who
has a regular job these days in front of the camera) can get time off from
NYPD Blue.
I doubt they would bother bringing back Russo and Flaherty (the new beat
cops who had an affair in the final season).
Did I leave anybody else out? What do you think should be happening with
our favorite boys in blue when we meet up with them again?
-Alan Sepinwall
-sepi...@mail.sas.upenn.edu
(Not-so)RANDOM QUOTE:
"Let's roll. And hey - let's be careful out there."
-Michael Conrad, "Hill Street Blues"
Hank Gillette
(Alan Sepinwall) wrote:
> Well, with the report that NBC is gonna do reunion miniseries for two of
> the best TV shows of all time, "Hill Street Blues" and "St. Elsewhere",
> time to speculate on what the various characters have been doing since
> both went bye-bye in the late 80s.
>
[snip]
> Did I leave anybody else out? What do you think should be happening with
> our favorite boys in blue when we meet up with them again?
>
> -Alan Sepinwall
> -sepi...@mail.sas.upenn.edu
You left out Lt. (later Capt.) Ray Calletano, played by Rene Enriquez.
Enriquez died a few years ago of AIDs, but that probably wouldn't fit his
HSB personna.
Hank Gillette
--
*****************************************************************************
*
* "I think liberalism lives. We have promises to keep. It is
* liberalism which has animated all the years of my life. What
* on earth did conservatism ever accomplish for our country?"
* -- Charles Kuralt
*
* hank_g...@smtp.esl.com
*****************************************************************************
Greg Hader
>Well, with the report that NBC is gonna do reunion miniseries for two of
>the best TV shows of all time, "Hill Street Blues" and "St. Elsewhere",
>time to speculate on what the various characters have been doing since
>both went bye-bye in the late 80s.
>(ex)LT. NORMAN BUNTZ: They've gotta bring back Buntz - he was the best
>thing that ever happened to the Hill. Say that his PI agency in Beverly
>Hills (remember "Beverly Hills Buntz"?) failed, and he came back to
>Whatever-The-Name-Of-The-City-Is to work there. Maybe - if Daniels is no
>longer Chief - he even got reinstated (doubtful). Still, they have to find
>some way to include Buntz and Sid - that is, if Franz (the only HSB'er who
>has a regular job these days in front of the camera) can get time off from
>NYPD Blue.
Sidney Thurston a.k.a "Sid the Snitch" was played by Peter Jurassic, who
is currently appearing almost every week in "Babylon 5" as Ambassador
Londo Mollari.
I think that I still have one or two episodes of BHB somewhere in the
great stack of unlabled tapes...
Anthony Koumis
Does anyone know when it will be shown during the week?
Thanks
Robert Williams
> sepi...@mail.sas.upenn.edu (Alan Sepinwall) writes:
>
>>Well, with the report that NBC is gonna do reunion miniseries for two of
>>the best TV shows of all time, "Hill Street Blues" and "St. Elsewhere",
>>time to speculate on what the various characters have been doing since
>>both went bye-bye in the late 80s.
[snip]
>
> Sidney Thurston a.k.a "Sid the Snitch" was played by Peter Jurassic, who
> is currently appearing almost every week in "Babylon 5" as Ambassador
> Londo Mollari.
>
> I think that I still have one or two episodes of BHB somewhere in the
> great stack of unlabled tapes...
========
Is this the guy who was a comic called Sid Hitler?
skip
Robert A. DeLisle
: I jsut saw on ad for this show on NBC. BUt no week day time.
: Does anyone know when it will be shown during the week?
: Thanks
Sweet Justice is listed for Saturday night at 9pm.
Also on: The ABC movie in progress
The Five Mrs. Buchanans
America's Most Wanted
Perhaps there are syndicated shows also.
Colin Campbell
episode where they poured his ashes into the the street. Trinidad Silva
was a minor character. Strange that both Kiel Martin and Rene Enriquez
died of AIDS, but there's a high turnover in real police departments, and
a reunion without them would not be unusual.
John Austin
Dunno about the actor.
However, the character was the almost-unforgettable...
Vic Hitler, the Narcoleptic Comic.
"It's an old family name. I promised my father I would never change it..."
John Austin- BTI Network and Graphics Sherpa
Ithaca, New York
jdsh...@ulkyvx.louisville.edu
> Strange that both Kiel Martin and Rene Enriquez
> died of AIDS, but there's a high turnover in real police departments, and
> a reunion without them would not be unusual.
Actually, Kiel Martin died of emphysema. Rene Enriquez's death was
reported as being from pancreatic cancer, with much "talk" at the time
alluding to the cancer being an AIDS-related complex.
I think it's going to be difficult to get a reunion together, largely due to
the recalcitrance of Pizzaman himself, Daniel J. Travanti. I recall a
magazine piece in the past year which said that he refuses to even mention
HSB, much less discuss the show.
Lawrence E. Hoffer
The actor that played Vic Hitler was Terry Keyser (sp?) the
same actor who played Bernie, the dead guy in Weekend at
Bernie's I & II.
Larry (lho...@pipeline.com)
Ronald Oakes
We should be careful about rumors.
Trinidad Silva died in a car crash shortly after finishing work on The
Milagro Beanfield War, and while working on UHF.
I have heard that Kiel Martin died of Cancer. I do not know about Rene
Enriquez (this thread is the first time I heard he had died).
I do know that it is popular to assume that any actor who dies had Aids,
but I believe that most people who die -- including actors -- die of
something else.
Ronald B. Oakes
Joshua Tarplin
: Dunno about the actor [who played] Vic Hitler, the Narcoleptic Comic.
The actor's name is Terry Keiser (sp?), who's earliest TV role (that I
can remember, anyway) was with Alice Playten in the Alka-Seltzer commercial
in which they played newlyweds: Terry was in bed with an upset stomach
after eating one of his new bride's (Playten) meals, as she contemplated
her next culinary adventure (disaster): Marshmallow meatballs.
Terry Keiser has since been seen in in "Weekend at Bernie's (I and II),
among others.
Joshua
________________________________________________________________________
| Joshua Tarplin, | "...and you can believe me, |
| UNIX semi-guru, triviameister, | because I never lie, and I'm |
| and "all-around nice guy" | always right." |
| jos...@gate.net fax 407.860.5751 | - George Tirebiter |
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TRINA TSIPPORAH BIRNBAUM
Gail Gross
I thought Kiel Martin died of cancer, not AIDS. I think he had t
throat or lung cancer.
Gail