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Steven Bochco
| Steven Bochco | |
 | |
| Birth name | Steven Ronald Bochco |
| Born | December 16, 1943 in New York City, New York, USA |
| Died | April 1, 2018 in New York City, New York, USA from leukemia |
| Notable Shows | Hill Street Blues
L.A. Law Doogie Howser, M.D. NYPD Blue |
| Awards | 10 Emmy Awards, 2 Humanitas Prizes, 1 Edgar Award, 1 Directors Guild of America Award, 1 Writers Guild of America Award |
Steven Ronald Bochco is an American television producer and writer.
Contents |
Biography
Bochco was born in New York City to Mimi, a painter, and Rudolph Bochco, a concert violinist. He was educated in Manhattan at the High School of Music and Art. He enrolled at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1961, and later merged with the Mellon Institute in 1967, to study playwriting and theater. In 1966, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater, having also a MCA Writing Fellowship.
Bochco's career began when he went to work for Universal Pictures as a writer and then as a story editor for shows including Ironside, Columbo, McMillan & Wife, and the short-lived Griff, as well as Delvecchio and The Invisible Man. He wrote the story and teleplay for the Murder by the Book episode of Columbo and the teleplay for several other episodes. He also wrote the screenplay for The Counterfeit Killer and has worked on Silent Running and Double Indemnity.
In 1978, Bochco left Universal to go work for MTM Enterprises, where he had greater scope for producing. His first effort at his new workplace was the short-lived CBS police drama Paris, which was the first time James Earl Jones was cast as the lead role. He then achieved major success for NBC with the police drama Hill Street Blues, which ran from 1981 to 1987. Bochco was credited as co-creator, wrote some episodes and produced. This was the series that had earned considerable critical acclaim and many awards, being nominated for 98 Emmy Awards throughout its six year run. After the failure and cancellation of Bay City Blues, Bochco was fired from MTM in 1985.
Bochco then moved to 20th Century Fox where he co-created and produced L.A. Law, which ran on NBC from 1986-1994. The hour-long legal drama became acclaimed and had become a regular award winner, with higher ratings than Hill Street Blues.
In 1987, Bochco co-created the ABC half-hour dramedy Hooperman, starring John Ritter, which ended up getting canceled after two seasons, despite the fact that Bochco was offering direct day-to-day control for a third season. Hooperman was part of a lucrative deal with ABC in 1987 to create and produce ten new shows. This prompted Bochco to form his self-titled company Steven Bochco Productions. From the deal came Doogie Howser, M.D., starring Neil Patrick Harris, which ran from 1989 to 1993, and the short-lived musical police drama Cop Rock, which combined police drama with Broadway singing and dancing. Cop Rock became one of his most high-profiled failures. In 1992, Bochco co-created an animated series for ABC titled Capitol Critters, along with Nat Mauldin and Michael Wagner, also starring Harris.
After a lull, Bochco co-created the long running police drama NYPD Blue, running from 1993 to 2005, with David Milch. NYPD Blue was initially controversial at the time, but was created with the express intention of changing the nature of network drama to compete with the adult fare broadcast on cable networks.
Roles
Guest Starring Roles
| Series | Role | Episode | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hill Street Blues (uncredited) |
No. 3 in Police Lineup | 1x13 - Rites of Spring (1) | May 19, 1981 |
Specials and Made-for-TV Movies
Talk, News and Game Show Appearances
| Series | Episode | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| The Media Show | Episode 101 | March 18, 1987 |
| Jimmy Kimmel Live | Episode 3265 | February 28, 2005 |
| Tavis Smiley | February 28, 2005 | |
| The O'Reilly Factor | July 26, 2005 | |
| Inside Edition | October 13, 2006 | |
| Entertainment Tonight | August 21, 2008 | |
| Tavis Smiley | November 25, 2013 |
Writer
Episodes Written
TV Movies
| Title | Credit | Airdate | Series/Banner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Indemnity | teleplay | 1973 |
Movies Written
| Title | Release Date | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Counterfeit Killer | May 1, 1968 | |||||
| Silent Running | March 10, 1972 | |||||
| Lieutenant Schuster's Wife | October 11, 1972 | |||||
Producer
Staff Producer
| Series | Year(s) | Credit | Season(s) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant Schuster's Wife | 1972 | Producer | M | |||||||||||
| Griff | 1973 | Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Richie Brockelman, The Missing 24 Hours | 1976 | Executive Producer | M | |||||||||||
| Delvecchio | 1976 –1977 | Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Richie Brockelman, Private Eye | 1978 | Executive Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Operating Room | 1978 | Co-Executive Producer | M | |||||||||||
| Paris | 1979 | Executive Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Vampire | 1979 | Executive Producer | M | |||||||||||
| Hill Street Blues | 1981 –1985 | Executive Producer | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||||||
| Every Stray Dog and Kid | 1981 | Executive Producer | M | |||||||||||
| L.A. Law | 1986-1989, 1992 | Executive Producer | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||
| Doogie Howser, M.D. | 1989 –1991 | Executive Producer | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Cop Rock | 1990 | Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Civil Wars | 1991 | Executive Producer / Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Capitol Critters | 1992 | Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| NYPD Blue | 1993 –2005 | Executive Producer | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| The Byrds of Paradise | 1994 | Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Murder One | 1995 –1997 | Executive Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Public Morals | 1996 | Executive Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Brooklyn South | 1997 | Executive Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Total Security | 1997 | Executive Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| City of Angels | 2000 | Executive Producer | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Philly | 2001 –2002 | Executive Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| NYPD 2069 | 2004 | Executive Producer | M | |||||||||||
| Blind Justice | 2005 | Executive Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Over There | 2005 | Executive Producer | 1 | |||||||||||
| Hollis & Rae | 2006 | Executive Producer | M | |||||||||||
| Raising the Bar | 2008 –2009 | Executive Producer | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Murder in the First | 2014 –2016 | Executive Producer | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||
Episodes Produced
| Series | Credit | Episode | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banacek | Associate Producer | 1x00 - Detour to Nowhere | March 20, 1972 |
| The Invisible Man | Producer | 1x01 - The Invisible Man | May 6, 1975 |
| Delvecchio | Co-Producer | 1x12 - APB: Santa Clause | December 26, 1976 |
| Delvecchio | Producer | 1x16 - Licensed to Kill | February 13, 1977 |
| Bay City Blues | Executive Producer | 1x01 - Pilot | October 25, 1983 |
| Bay City Blues | Executive Producer | 1x08 - Play It Again, Milt | July 8, 1984 (12:30am) |
| Hooperman | Producer | 1x09 - Blues for Danny Welles | December 2, 1987 |
Story
Staff
| Series | Year(s) | Credit | Season(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbo | 1971 –1972 | Story Editor | 1 |
| McMillan & Wife | 1974 –1976 | Executive Story Consultant | |
| Hill Street Blues | 1981 –1985 | Story | |
| Philly | 2001 –2002 | Story | 1 |
| Commander in Chief | 2005 –2006 | Story | 1 |
| Murder in the First | 2014 | Story | 1 |
Episodes
| Series | Credit | Episode | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Name of the Game | Story Editor | 2x02 - A Hard Case of the Blues | September 26, 1969 |
| The Name of the Game | Story Editor | 2x05 - Chains of Command | October 17, 1969 |
| Richie Brockelman, Private Eye | Story | 1x03 - A Title on the Door and a Carpet on the Floor | March 31, 1978 |
| NYPD Blue | Story | 1x02 - 4B or Not 4B | September 28, 1993 |
| NYPD Blue | Story | 1x17 - Black Men Can Jump | March 1, 1994 |
| NYPD Blue | Story | 1x18 - Zeppo Marks Brothers | March 22, 1994 |
| NYPD Blue | Story | 2x01 - Trials and Tribulations | October 11, 1994 |
| NYPD Blue | Story | 2x05 - Simone Says | November 15, 1994 |
| NYPD Blue | Story | 2x22 - A.D.A. Sipowicz | May 23, 1995 |
| NYPD Blue | Story | 6x08 - Raging Bulls | December 15, 1998 |
| Blind Justice | Story | 1x01 - Pilot | March 8, 2005 |
| Raising the Bar | Story | 1x01 - Pilot | September 1, 2008 |
Creator
| Series | Premiere Date | Creation Credit |
|---|---|---|
| The Bold Ones: The New Doctors | September 19, 1969 | Co-Creator |
| The Invisible Man | September 8, 1975 | Co-Creator |
| Richie Brockelman, Private Eye | March 17, 1978 | Co-Creator |
| Paris | September 29, 1979 | Creator |
| Hill Street Blues | January 17, 1981 | Co-Creator |
| Bay City Blues | October 25, 1983 | Co-Creator |
| L.A. Law | September 15, 1986 | Co-Creator |
| Hooperman | September 23, 1987 | Co-Creator |
| Doogie Howser, M.D. | September 19, 1989 | Co-Creator |
| Cop Rock | September 26, 1990 | Co-Creator |
| Capitol Critters | January 31, 1992 | Co-Creator |
| NYPD Blue | September 21, 1993 | Co-Creator |
| Murder One | September 19, 1995 | Co-Creator |
| Brooklyn South | September 22, 1997 | Co-Creator |
| City of Angels | January 16, 2000 | Co-Creator |
| Philly | September 25, 2001 | Co-Creator |
| Blind Justice | March 8, 2005 | Co-Creator |
| Over There | July 27, 2005 | Co-Creator |
| Raising the Bar | September 1, 2008 | Co-Creator |
| Murder in the First | June 9, 2014 | Co-Creator |
Miscellaneous Crew
| Series | Year(s) | Credit | Season(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L.A. Law | 1989 –1994 | Executive Consultant | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
Awards and Accolades
Primetime Emmy Awards
- Won: Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (1981)
- Won: Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (1982)
- Won: Outstanding Drama Series (1983)
- Won: Outstanding Drama Series (1984)
- Won: Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (1987)
- Won: Outstanding Drama Series (1989)
- Won: Outstanding Drama Series (1995)
Humantis Prize
- Won: 60-minute Category (1981)
- Won: 90-minute Category (1999)
Edgar Awards
- Won: Best Episode in a TV Series Teleplay (1982)
- Won: Best Episode in a TV Series Teleplay (1995)
People's Choice Awards
- Won: Favorite New Television Series (1990)
- Won: Favorite New Television Dramatic Series (1995)
- Won: Favorite New Television Dramatic Series (1996)
Writers Guild of America
- Won: Diversity Award (1999)
Trivia
- Older sister is actress Joanna Frank.
- Brother-in-law of actor/writer Alan Rachins.
