Cop Rock

This program was a well-written and sensitively acted police drama. If you have a chance to see any or all of the four episodes that actually aired you will no doubt be as puzzled as viewers were in 1990 as to why this excellent show brought out such spiteful and cruel reactions in television critics. Steven Bochco had assembled some of the most talented people working in television at the time. He was simply offering viewers something "different"--a thing they'd been saying they wanted since television started. Musical theater has historically been a legitimate and compelling way to tell a story. Steven Bochco did this with flair. "Cop Rock" was a last, lonely, courageous attempt to break away from the formula of cookie cutter television programming.

this show was actually better than the promos would have made it seem. it was by all means innovative, unlike anything else in the time or since. why this show failed is beyond me. the music was catchy and the characters represented the same caricatures we love to watch in law and order and shows of the like. perhaps the selling point (or point of no return, depending upon how you look at it) was the combination of the two. if this show had been produced as a run of the mill cop show it probably would have been popular, and maybe still airing today. but this was a time when the American viewing audience was not willing to take a chance on something new. while the songs used provided a great insight into the minds of the characters, they were the obvious downfall of a promising drama. please join me in my continued mourning of a show that was never allowed to reach it's potential.

if ever there was a show that went whimsical on you, it was this one. one gets in the mood to watch another Steven b. "real" cop show and wham! a full blown Broadway musical production begins and the giggling starts and then on to the guffaw and the laughing won't stop! it is a joy that won't let you stop smiling. i have most of these episodes on vcr tape...i am missing 2 of the last ones. if anyone has them, i would like to get a copy, please? every time i have a friend over and i put this on...it starts "as what the heck is this?" and goes on to "i've never seen this before, when was it on?" and finally, "how come it went off the air? this is great!" i guess some of us just see the world with just a tilt of the funny bone and can enjoy life a little on the slanted side of humor! kasvstar

I thought this was a series, finally that had depth and was made to entertain and move one emotionally, without so many talking heads but through music. Every song was approbate and expressed so much of the true human emotion.

I will never forget the scene with the girl on the bus bench when she sells her baby for dope. Alone she sings an amazing song. I had seen so many depictions of dopers and horrible mothers but never had I felt the depth of emotion that this scene brought me.

I think our general public was just not mature enough to realize what was really going on with this show! I only saw each episode once but they were so compelling that to this day I well remember much of them.

I would really like to get my hands on the VHS and/or (if made) DVDof any or all of this series.

Quite like Twin Peaks, this was an idea so far ahead of its time that most viewers just don't get it. Add this to the fact that the average TV junkie is looking for either soap operas or shoot-em-ups, and it's easy to understand how Cop Rock was doomed from the start.