September 26, 1990. On this day one of television's weirdest experiments began. Steven Bochco, creator of
Hill Street Blues,
convinced ABC to air a grim, gritty urban police show in which
characters inexplicably burst into song several times each episode. I
remember wondering "What
were they smoking when they dreamed this up?" It lasted eleven weeks.
TV Guide ranked it as the 8th worst TV series of all time.
