Steven-bochco

Steven Bochco [Dec. 16, 1943 - Apr. 1, 2018, BFA Carnegie Mellon University, 1966]
Writer/producer of semi-impermanent and at times abstract sci-fi, legal and law enforcement-based television dramas through the 1980's and early 1990's including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, NYPD Blue , and the never-aired hyper-realistic Hawaiian-based series byrds-of-paradise . Widely credited for the introduction of extended story arcs into weekly primetime dramas ¹ , Bochco is commonly known as the father of experimental network television. As a showrunner, Bochco was notorious for extremely risky and sometimes ill-advised production choices, resulting in the almost immediate cancellation of multiple series: titles including the cyberspace-based Neuromancer offshoot wintermute , the terminator -offshoot skynet-syndrome , and my-nepenthe , a time-travel/ error trafficking show taking place in both ancient and modern Greece. Born to a concert violinist, musical scoring, especially opening credits, were of vital import to Bochco ² . Throughout his oeuvre, music played an outsized role by contemporary standards ³ - whether it be the choice to present Cop Rock as a musical, or his frequent engagement of the mildly progressive rock group octagon-of-dex in the development of extended opening/closing sequences and in-episode montages.

¹ dallas is seen as an early precursor to this approach.

² dallas is seen as an early precursor to this approach.

³ Exceptions notwithstanding, ex: jan-michael-vincent , knight-rider , otherworld , etc.