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Saying Goodbye to "Hill Street Blues"

TV critic David Bianculli regrets the mixed reviews he once gave to what he later considered the best show on television. Though it often never reached its full potential, Bianculli credits Hill Street Blues with laying the groundwork for more sophisticated programming and storytelling on TV.

03:44
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Other segments from the episode on May 11, 1987

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, May 11, 1987: Interview with Peggy King and Mike Abene; Review of the album "The Birth of Rhapsody in Blue"; Interview with Isabel Allende; Review of the television show …

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Director Betty Thomas Brings the Bradys to Theaters

Thomas directed the new movie, "The Brady Bunch." The film is adapted from the TV series that ran from 1969-74. But there's a twist: the innocent family is transported with all its 70's values and fashion into the 90's. Thomas also directed "Only You" and "My Breast," and played Sergeant Lucy Bates on the TV series "Hill Street Blues."

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Television Producer and Writer Steven Bochco.

Television producer Steven Bochco. He is, arguably, one of the most influential creative people in television. With shows like "Hill Street Blues" and "L.A.Law," Bochco can claim credit for a whole TV genre: intensely realistic dramas that use an ensemble cast and multiple, interweaving plots that quickly cut back and forth. Those programs helped make NBC the top network and the perceived leader for innovative programming.

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Allan Burns' New Program About A Public Radio Station.

Television producer and screenwriter Allan Burns. He co-created "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Rhoda," "He and She," "Lou Grant" and "The Munsters," a body of work that has earned him 8 Emmys. Burns has a new series this fall on NBC titled "FM." It's about the on-the-job and at home travails of a public radio program director. (Interview by Sedge Thomson)

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Daughter of Warhol star looks back on a bohemian childhood in the Chelsea Hotel

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