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/
cocaine
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: Airwolf, Knight Rider, Otherworld, etc.