Before The Wire, There Was The Hill: How One Show Invented the Modern Docu-Drama

Celebrating the 45th Anniversary of Hill Street Blues (premiering January 15, 1981) is about more than just nostalgia; it is about honoring the show that taught us how to see the "human" behind the badge. Before this series, cop shows were often sanitized "case-of-the-week" fantasies with perfect heroes. Hill Street changed the DNA of television by making it messy, loud, and startlelingly real.