5 /10 1 Votes
5.5/10 TV Theme music composer Randy Newman | 4.3/10 IMDb Genre Police drama
Musical Country of origin United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Created by Steven Bochco
William M. Finkelstein Opening theme "Under the Gun" performed by Randy Newman Composer(s) Greg Edmonson
Alan Elliott
Randy Newman
Mike Post Network American Broadcasting Company Executive producers Charles Haid, John Romano, Michael M. Robin, Craig Zisk Program creators Steven Bochco, William M. Finkelstein Cast Peter Onorati, Ronny Cox, Barbara Bosson, James McDaniel, Paul McCrane | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cop rock let s be careful out there mpg
Cop Rock is an American musical police drama series that aired on ABC in 1990. The show, a police drama presented as a musical, was co-created by Steven Bochco, who also served as executive producer. TV Guide ranked it #8 on TV Guide's List of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time list in 2002. The periodical dubbed it "the single most bizarre TV musical of all time".
Contents
Cop rock tv show clip
Synopsis
Cop Rock combined the police procedural with musical theatre, the former a genre in which Bochco had already been very successful with Hill Street Blues. The series centered on the LAPD and featured an ensemble cast that mixed musical numbers and choreography throughout storylines. For example, one courtroom scene in the pilot episode had the jury break into song, proclaiming their verdict on the defendant ("He's Guilty") Gospel-style. Another episode had a lineup of Hispanic suspects proclaim in song "We're the local color with the coppertone skin / And you treat us like we're guilty of some terrible sin." The show also featured crossover appearances from other Bochco series; one episode featured James B. Sikking reprising his Hill Street Blues role of Lt. Howard Hunter (Sikking was working on another Bochco series at the time, Doogie Howser, M.D.), while another episode featured cameos by L.A. Law stars Jimmy Smits and Michele Greene.
The series' theme song, "Under the Gun", was written by Randy Newman, who also performed it in the series' title sequence music video-style in a recording studio, complete with a full backing band and the show's cast (appearing out of character) serving as an audience. Mike Post, who served as Cop Rock's music supervisor, was also part of Newman's band in that opening sequence; Post is the keyboardist in dark glasses sitting next to Newman.
Reception
The show was a critical and commercial failure and was canceled by ABC after 11 episodes. Owing to the combination of its bizarre nature (a fusion of musical performances with serious police drama) and its high-powered production talent, it became infamous as one of the biggest television failures of the 1990s. The series' final episode, which aired on December 26, 1990, concluded with the cast breaking character and joining crew members in performing a closing song. (That final episode featured Sheryl Crow appearing as a back-up singer.)
Despite its overwhelmingly negative reception and short run, the series still has been rebroadcast in later years, with VH1 and A&E Network airing it on separate occasions later in the 1990s, and Trio airing it in the 2000s.
Main cast
Recurring cast
DVD release
On May 17, 2016, Shout! Factory released the complete series on DVD in Region 1.
International broadcasts
In the United Kingdom, Cop Rock was televised on BBC1 in 1991.