Word: bochco
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Hill Street's success was followed by Bochco's most notable failure: Bay City Blues, an ensemble show about a minor-league baseball team, canceled after just four episodes in 1983. Less than two years later, Bochco was ousted from Hill Street and MTM. But he resurfaced quickly at 20th Century Fox, where he began working on an idea that had been percolating for a year and a half: a Hill Street-style ensemble drama about a high-powered contemporary law firm. L.A. Law, which debuted in September 1986, caught on almost immediately...
...Bochco has remained closely involved in the series, overseeing everything from casting and budgets to regular story conferences. Casually dressed in jeans and sneakers and idly tossing a football during meetings, he is adept at managing the show's complex story lines as well as a crew of collaborators. "I see myself as more of a chorus member than a soloist," he says. "I'm good at creating an environment in which people can function creatively...
...Bochco has less day-to-day involvement in Hooperman, for which he co-wrote the first three scripts and now serves as consultant. The show, a provocative but overly congested half hour of drama and comedy, has yet to hit its creative stride. But Bochco's batting average has been impressive enough that the networks seem convinced he has a golden touch. Last fall CBS tried to hire Bochco as its chief of programming. He turned down the job, partly because it would mean giving up his financial interest in L.A. Law and Hooperman, expected to be worth millions when...
...Instead, Bochco accepted ABC's lucrative development offer. Though he will continue as executive producer of L.A. Law for one more season, his new role will probably force him to give up close supervision of any one series. Some associates think that will be hard. "I think he'd have trouble being an Aaron Spelling, creating a series and stepping away," says Michael Tucker. "Steve isn't a step-away kind...
Unusual among successful TV producers, Bochco has no yen to make movies. "You can reach a tremendous audience with more sophisticated stuff in TV," he says. "Movies have a different audience, and I don't have much to say to that audience." Trying to justify people's increasingly high expectations of him is challenge enough. "I never imagined the tyranny of success -- the way you have to deal with a new standard of excellence," he says. "Do you play the game not to lose? Or do you keep going for a win -- pushing it a bit and doing it better...