nyny

Cop Rock

A couple of days ago I became aware of a very short-lived television show from 1990 called "Cop Rock." Since then, I've been obsessed with getting my hands on it. This has proven difficult, however, because it's never been released on DVD, isn't available for sale in any of the places I've looked, and isn't available on Netflix or Blockbuster Online.

The premise of the show is unbelievable. Steven Bocho (Hillstreet Blues, L.A. Law) boldly attempted to create an entirely new programming genre... the hour long drama musical. Apparently half of the critics thought it was a brilliant cutting-edge idea, and the other half laughed it off as the joke of the century. Anyway, it's a serious police show with gritty stories and real-life subject matter, but each episode includes 5 song/dance numbers. Here's a brief summary of the songs in the first episode, courtesy of imdb.com:

..."first episode alone included a rap song delivered by junkies as they're being arrested in a drug raid, a gospel number by a judge and jury convicting a drug dealer, a tender pop ballad by a husband about his much younger wife, and an R&B number by a corrupt lady mayor to the man who's just offered her a bribe. But the most powerful number came at the end of the episode. A young junkie sits on a bus stop bench singing a lullaby to her infant daughter, a haunting Randy Newman song called "Sandman" (later re-used in Newman's Faust). As she finishes the song, a station wagon pulls up, a man gets out and pays her $200 for the baby. As he drives away with the baby, the junkie finishes the lullaby and breaks down in tears as the music quietly ends and the camera pulls away. It was devastating. And it was brilliant drama."

How awesome does that sound??? I've GOT to see this show. It only lasted for 11 episodes, but occasionally the whole series runs on VH1 or on Trio. Since it doesn't seem to be for sale anywhere, guess I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled on these two networks. If anyone reading this has actually seen "Cop Rock," please let me know what you think of it!

posted by becka @ 9:27 PM