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Brian posts the first installment of "Let's Be Careful In Here," a retrospective look at Hill Street Blues.

Today, let’s see the first installment of “Let’s Be Careful In Here,” a retrospective look at Hill Street Blues.

Hill Street Blues was an excellent TV series than ran seven seasons between 1981-1987. Its first FOUR seasons all won Best Drama Series at the Emmys, and that was at a time when there was some SERIOUS competition on network TV, including St. Elsewhere, which was basically the medical drama equivalent of Hill Street Blue, the later seasons of Lou Grant (which was the reigning Best Drama on TV before Hill Street Blues), and Cagney and Lacey (which took over the award from Hill Street Blues eventually).

Here’s my video look at the first episode, “Hill Street Station,” which debuted in January 1981.

First, a look at the background of the show’s creation, and where the show’s director, Robert Butler, got the idea for the specific way that he filmed the first episode…