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The Cast of Hill Street Blues, which includes the main ensemble and other recurring characters - these won't be listed under each episode, as there's no point in reinventing the wheel. Here are the credited actors in the pilot:

Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.05.46 AM.png Daniel J. Travanti as Capt. Francis Xavier "Frank" Furillo
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.05.52 AM.png Michael Conrad as Sgt. Phil Freemason Esterhaus
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.05.57 AM.png Michael Warren as Ofc. Bobby Hill
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.06.03 AM.png Bruce Weitz as Det. Mick Belker
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.06.08 AM.png James B. Sikking as Sgt. (later Lt./Sgt./Lt.) Howard Hunter
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.06.12 AM.png Joe Spano as Sgt. (later Lt.) Henry Goldblume
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.06.15 AM.png Barbara Bosson as Fay Furillo
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.06.19 AM.png Taurean Blacque as Det. Neal Washington
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.06.22 AM.png Kiel Martin as Det. J.D. LaRue
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.06.26 AM.png Rene Enriquez as Lt. Ray Calletano (later Capt.)
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.06.29 AM.png Betty Thomas as Ofc. (later Sgt.) Lucille Bates
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.06.33 AM.png Charles Haid as Ofc. Andy Renko
Screenshot 2017-02-04 at 3.06.37 AM.png Veronica Hamel as Joyce Davenport

Season One (Jan 15, 1981 - May 26, 1981)

1.1 - "Hill Street Station" - Screenshot 2017-02-05 at 1.36.19 AM.png
Directed by Robert ButlerWritten by Michael Kozoll (Co-Creator of "Hill Street Blues") and Steven Bochco  (Co-Creator of "Hill Street Blues")
Featuring Panchito Gómez (Young Abraham in "Selena"), Trinidad Silva (Frog in "Colors"), Barbara Babcock (Emmy Nominee for "Outstanding Supporting Acrtress in a Drama Series" as Dorothy Jennings on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman"), Mark Metcalf (Doug Neidermeyer in "Animal House"), Steven Bauer (as Rocky Echevarria) (Manny Riberta in "Scarface"), Charles Seaverns (Real Estate Man in "Frances"), Veronica Redd (Mamie Johnson on "The Young and the Restless"), Eleanor McCoy (Emerald City Citizen and Poppy in "The Wiz," and Bird in Paradise and Najua in "Timbuktu!" on Broadway), Vernon Washington (Rev. Mills Vernon on "Roots: The Next Generations")

[My TV days ended with my high school graduation, and I went *decades* without watching any television - for example, I've never seen "Dallas" in my life, and I'd never before seen "Hill Street Blues" either. The sheer number of characters in the ensemble cast is daunting, but the list of pictures above is more than sufficient to get you through this first episode - it will also help to know what the ranks mean within a police department, which are essential to learn (it will also help you during a traffic stop, to be able to address the officer by his or her title). Regarding the characters above, this list is typical of a U.S. Police Department, which has quasi-military ranks:

Officer - The formal name of every policeman, even the lowest-ranked - a title of respect - *always* use this term at the minimum.
Detective - It's own entity - often the "weird guys" dressed in plain clothes - solitary creatures who roam the night and make drug busts.
Sergeant - A non-commissioned officer, sometimes held in higher esteem than a Lieutenant, just like in the U.S. Army.
Lieutenant - A commissioned officer, above a Private, Corporal, and Sergeant, and the best time to earn respect (or not).
Captain: The officer in charge of an entire precinct - in this case, Frank Furillo, who runs Hill Street station.

The above picture doesn't really show anything "special" about this episode (the three big story lines in "Hill Street Station" were 1) the hostage situation in the liquor store, 2) Bobby Hill and Andy Renko getting shot and almost dying, and 3) the President of the United States coming to visit the precinct, but none of these is really picturesque, and so I thought I'd take an "introductory" screen shot of three of the people you're likely to be seeing just about the most. To me, Hill and Renko's surprise shooting was easily the biggest moment in the episode, but that's really hard to capture in a single photo - listening to Hill talk about the living Hell he went through as he didn't lose consciousness was pretty rough going; at least Renko mercifully lapsed into a coma for two weeks, having no memory of horrible things like rats crawling over his face. The policeman's life; 99% tedium, 1% panic - it's enough to drive some cops to suicide, like my best friend in 1993. Please do me a personal favor, and watch "Elegy for a Pig" on "Adam-12," and think of my dear friend Evan when you do - I'm going to watch it again right now, and it's 1:52 AM.]

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I'm not sure it's a good thing; perhaps it is. I think "Hill Street Blues" must have been the most influential drama series in American television. Practically every dramatic program since has tried in some ways to be it. I didn't even like it all that much, compared with some of its progeny, such as "The Wire" and "The Sopranos".

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