TMC
03-13-2025, 08:05 PM
Why did so few cast members from Hill Street Blues go on to bigger roles? (https://www.quora.com/Why-did-so-few-cast-members-from-Hill-Street-Blues-go-on-to-bigger-roles/answer/Jon-Mixon-1)
Question: Why did so few cast members (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hill_Street_Blues_characters#Main_characters) from Hill Street Blues (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031123834/http://www.jumptheshark.com/h/hillstreetblues.htm) go on to bigger roles?
Multiple reasons, including:
Most were character actors - While they would probably be able to get character work later much of that consisted of episodic television that most people didn’t see.
A lot of the cast was “older” - Many of the leads were already in their 40s when the series began, which made it unlikely that they would remain in acting past the early 2000s, at the latest, as they aged out, retired or passed away.
They looked like regular people - With the exception of perhaps Michael Warren and Veronica Hamel, the cast looked like average people. While that was compelling to cast in the 1970s and 1980s, by the 1990s, Hollywood wanted “good/great looking” people again and so the collective slowly started to fade from the scene.
Some died early - Michael Conrad died during the production of the series (He was 58). Kiel Martin died of lung cancer in 1990 after the series (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/134739-hill-street-blues-general-discussion/) left the air, as did Rene Enriquez who died from AIDS in the same year.
The series (https://forum.dvdtalk.com/tv-talk/453500-hill-street-blues-how-does-hold-up.html) has largely faded from memories - Fans of the series remember it, but if you were born after 1985, it’s likely a mystery to you. Ironically its creator, Steven Bochco “abandoned” the series when it left as he had multiple big money projects (Doogie Howser and especially NYPD Blue) and so basically sent Hill Street (https://web.archive.org/web/20140403160244/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3121077-hill-street-blues/page-4#entry16229034) to the “back of the bus”. Even when you try to stream it now, nothing about how its listed, nor advertised, makes you want to go out of your way to watch it. It’s just another show in the cornucopia of series that came from the 1980s.
Early seasons cast:
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-a572bcd977022648539a76f0777cf7d2
After the death of Michael Conrad:
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-df97b4aab27a049603236caf62bda296
Question: Why did so few cast members (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hill_Street_Blues_characters#Main_characters) from Hill Street Blues (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031123834/http://www.jumptheshark.com/h/hillstreetblues.htm) go on to bigger roles?
Multiple reasons, including:
Most were character actors - While they would probably be able to get character work later much of that consisted of episodic television that most people didn’t see.
A lot of the cast was “older” - Many of the leads were already in their 40s when the series began, which made it unlikely that they would remain in acting past the early 2000s, at the latest, as they aged out, retired or passed away.
They looked like regular people - With the exception of perhaps Michael Warren and Veronica Hamel, the cast looked like average people. While that was compelling to cast in the 1970s and 1980s, by the 1990s, Hollywood wanted “good/great looking” people again and so the collective slowly started to fade from the scene.
Some died early - Michael Conrad died during the production of the series (He was 58). Kiel Martin died of lung cancer in 1990 after the series (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/134739-hill-street-blues-general-discussion/) left the air, as did Rene Enriquez who died from AIDS in the same year.
The series (https://forum.dvdtalk.com/tv-talk/453500-hill-street-blues-how-does-hold-up.html) has largely faded from memories - Fans of the series remember it, but if you were born after 1985, it’s likely a mystery to you. Ironically its creator, Steven Bochco “abandoned” the series when it left as he had multiple big money projects (Doogie Howser and especially NYPD Blue) and so basically sent Hill Street (https://web.archive.org/web/20140403160244/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3121077-hill-street-blues/page-4#entry16229034) to the “back of the bus”. Even when you try to stream it now, nothing about how its listed, nor advertised, makes you want to go out of your way to watch it. It’s just another show in the cornucopia of series that came from the 1980s.
Early seasons cast:
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-a572bcd977022648539a76f0777cf7d2
After the death of Michael Conrad:
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-df97b4aab27a049603236caf62bda296