TV musicals are all the rage right now. The Sound of Music, The Wiz LIVE, and Grease: Live were big — if not instantly mockable — hits for NBC and Fox. Plus, Rachel Bloom rightfully took home the award for Best Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy for her starring role in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
This is a shocking development for anyone who remembers Cop Rock.
The musical cop-drama from Steven Bochco, still riding high from the success of Hill Street Blues, lasted all of 11 episodes in 1990 until the proverbial fat lady, ABC, sang. That’s 11 more than it deserved. Cop Rock was ill-conceived on every level. An actual, no-fooling lyric from the futuristic country swinger “Let’s Be Careful Out There”: “Homicide, arson, robbery, rape/Everybody gets their share.” Is there a song about police brutality called “Bumpty Bumpty?”
Of course there is.
Or a “baby merchant,” which is exactly what it sounds like.
Cop Rock, which tried to be both theatrical and gritty (it was neither), was ahead of its time. Unfortunately, no one bothered to officially release TV Guide‘s eighth worst show of all-time… until now. Shout! Factory announced today that the cult series will be released on DVD on May 17, “complete with new interviews with Steven Bochco and [star] Anne Bobby.”
Here’s the entire interview.
INTERVIEWER: What were you thinking?
BOCHCO: I have no idea.
It may have taken 26 years, but it was worth the wait.
