Hill Street Blues changed television drama forever.
Running between 1981 and 1987, the series combined realism, humour, ensemble storytelling and emotional depth in a way television audiences had never experienced before.
This guide follows the episodes from the groundbreaking early years through the development of the characters, stories and relationships that made the series a television landmark.
Episode summaries, guest appearances and production information have been preserved from the original archive wherever possible.
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The season that redefined television police drama.
Introduced in 1981, Hill Street Blues broke away from traditional police procedurals by focusing on character, realism and overlapping storylines.
The first season introduced Captain Furillo, Sgt. Esterhaus, Belker, Hunter, Goldblume, LaRue, Washington and the rest of the unforgettable Hill Street precinct.
The series gets off to a powerful start as stalwart Hill Street Precinct Captain Frank Furillo endures a string of personal and professional crises.
Furillo tries to defuse a powder-keg hostage situation in a liquor store despite a media circus, his overzealous Emergency Action Team leader, and a pair of nervous gang kids and their leader.
His secret lover, Public Defender Joyce Davenport, hounds him about a client who has gone missing. Meanwhile, his ex-wife Fay berates him after his child-support cheque bounces.
Detective J.D. LaRue tries to pick up Davenport after sending her on a wild goose chase and receives a lapful of hot coffee in return.
Belker busts a bald-headed pickpocket — the first of several encounters to come.
Sgt. Phil Esterhaus tells Fay about his teenage sweetheart Cindy.
And after handling a domestic situation, Hill and Renko discover that their police unit has been stolen and are shot when they walk into a building to report the theft.
Furillo is again on the rack as Fay makes a spectacle at the station with her demands for more money.
Division alerts him to prepare for a presidential visit to the Hill — a task he does not relish.
The news prompts a summit with gang leaders that nearly turns sour thanks to the smug presidential press secretary.
And to top it all off, he endures another personal clash with Joyce Davenport.
Emotions run high as Hill and Renko meet for the first time since they were shot.
The new police decorator, Grace Gardner, tries Esterhaus' patience.
A pair of transfer officers roust the wrong people and quickly find trouble.
Meanwhile, Belker pursues rapists through the park.
Furillo and his officers run themselves ragged preparing for the impending presidential visit to the Hill.
Goldblume helps work out a secure route while Calletano and the Captain bargain with the Shamrock and Blood gang leaders to ensure a peaceful tour.
Frank consults Joyce after Fay — in a letter from her attorney — threatens to garnish his wages for more child support.
A dirty cop involved in a drug buy offers the troubled LaRue a bribe, then frames him when he attempts to return the money.
Emotional fallout from their shooting prompts Hill and Renko to briefly consider splitting up.
Belker agrees to a blind date at his mother's urging, proving a source of amusement to his regular collar, the bald-headed pickpocket.
Phil interrupts Frank's evening with Joyce after Fay is arrested at a friend's hot tub party.
Against all odds, Furillo supports LaRue in the bribery case brought against him by Macafee.
The Captain also persuades Davenport to help his troubled detective.
Esterhaus soothes Bates' hurt feelings after an encounter with the tactless Hunter.
Hill and Renko arrest a car thief whose mechanical genius proves both valuable and troublesome at the station.
Furillo scrambles to salvage credibility with the gangs after the President's tour of the Hill is cancelled.
When the streets erupt in violence in response to the news, anxious officers fear revenge and barricade themselves inside the station house.
The “crisis” also causes Esterhaus to see Grace in a new light.
Furillo and Washington investigate Macafee in the hope of clearing LaRue — and discover more than a few interesting things.
At Frank's request, Joyce tries to round up legal representation for the troubled detective.
As part of “Operation: Duckling”, Belker and several others reluctantly don women's clothing to lure out a rapist.
Esterhaus broods over Grace and Cindy.
Goldblume is plagued by self-doubt after he loses a jumper.
While busting a petty thief, LaRue and Washington find the gun used in the Hill–Renko shooting and trace it back to junkie Eddie Hoban.
The discovery leads to tension between the patrolmen.
TV reporter Cynthia Chase invades the precinct to document “what the station house is all about” and joins Hill and Renko on patrol.
Hunter's weapon demonstration has hilarious results.
Belker busts Kevin Herman Dracula for biting a prostitute, and the mental out-patient's subsequent suicide in the station's new holding cell sends Joyce to Frank for comfort.
It's déjà vu for Furillo as he reaches out to Hector Ruiz, who has again taken hostages — this time in a grocery store meat locker.
Hunter wants to freeze them out, while TV reporter Cynthia Chase uses the situation to inflame the Dekker Avenue merchants.
A side of beef shot up during the hostage crisis is quickly sized up by scheming officers as more than just “evidence”.
LaRue and Washington continue their attempts to tie the gun from the Hill–Renko shooting to Hoban.
Belker busts the bald-headed pickpocket once again.
Fay momentarily finds herself in the crosshairs of Furillo's officers when she pulls out a toy gun in the station house.
Funding for Grace's decorating project is cut, upsetting Esterhaus, who is already struggling to get someone to collect the body of “Freddie the Wino”, who died in a holding cell.
A perceptive Fay begins to suspect Frank and Joyce's relationship.
Division orders Furillo to deal with the Dekker Avenue merchants, who are bent on taking law enforcement into their own hands.
Frank enlists Joyce and Fay in his efforts to help Hector Ruiz.
Hunter seeks volunteer counsellors to help with “Camp Guadalcanal”.
Goldblume is outraged by the recruiting drive.
A cleaner's fire claims Furillo's suits.
Esterhaus braces himself for a showdown with an old adversary who is now back on the streets.
The deadly black van spells trouble for officers Harris and Santini.
Inconclusive results in Hoban's lie detector test throw a kink into the Hill–Renko shooting investigation.
Renko stews after Hoban's release and makes a spectacle of himself with two hookers at a nice restaurant, increasing the tension with Hill.
Back on the street, Hoban finds himself out in the cold and eventually confesses.
A confused Santini gets some career advice from Furillo.
LaRue starts drinking on the job after he invites TV reporter Cynthia Chase along on a quiet stakeout that suddenly heats up.
The Dekker Avenue merchants' continued “help” results in tragedy.
Belker is put off by his girlfriend's violent sexual advances.
Everyone's efforts to help Hector hit a dead end, and Frank and Joyce must break the news.
Renko pouts after a Division homicide detective belittles his attempt to discover who murdered a 15-year-old hooker.
The officer later raises suspicions about the investigation, and Furillo begins to take notice.
Speculation buzzes around the station house after Furillo learns he is in the running for a promotion to Commander.
Hunter gets a surprise — courtesy of LaRue and Washington — while on the annual search of the city sewers for alligators.
His hunt is complicated by an animal activist.
Meanwhile, a persistent obscene phone caller sends Fay to Furillo for help.
Davenport's client, Nemo Rodriguez, implicates a city councilman in the slaying of a young prostitute.
Furillo decides to launch his own investigation into the murder — a move which endangers his chances for promotion.
Frank is left holding the bag after evidence is found linking the councilman to the girl and his publicity machine springs into action.
Fearing rumours of collusion, Joyce tells Frank they should separate for a while.
Chief Daniels chokes during a breakfast meeting and Furillo saves his life.
Hunter wins the Police Association's Mental Health Award and unveils a model of his “urban tank” to Furillo.
Everyone becomes maudlin after Bates finds officer Marv Box dead in the squad room.
LaRue rounds up investors for his “saloondramat”.
Grace and Esterhaus plan a visit to a nudist retreat.
Furillo sends Fay and Frank Jr. to his home after the obscene phone caller breaks into her house and goes through her belongings.
An anti-Semitic cop provokes Belker.
In anticipation of Furillo's promotion, apprehensive Hill Street officers apply for transfers in droves — 28 uniforms, 17 plain clothes and one possible retirement.
Joyce feels Rodriguez is being railroaded in the prostitute's murder in an attempt to protect McCauley.
Frank relinquishes his chances for promotion to forge ahead with his investigation of the councilman and confronts Swanson and Schneider about the cover-up.
Marv's ashes “lie in state” next to the squad room coffee machine.
Furillo's possible promotion leaves him buried in transfer requests, including one from Belker, who wants to transfer to narcotics because there is “a better chance of getting killed”.
Esterhaus reveals his desire to have children with Cindy.
Fay's obscene phone caller is caught and revealed to be one of Harvey's patients.
Furillo promptly takes Harvey to task and convinces Fay to press charges.
After a test run down “sniper alley”, Hunter's “urban tank” is stolen and dumped in the river, much to Furillo's amusement.
LaRue's business dream crumbles — literally.
There is joy on the Hill as Furillo stays.
Furillo bristles at having to protect Macafee, who has turned state's witness.
He becomes furious when his officers are endangered during an attempted hit that he believes was orchestrated to make Macafee's testimony appear more credible.
Violence erupts in Jefferson Heights Precinct and Hill Street officers are sent to help out.
Belker arrests an entertaining professional cat burglar whom the police have been trying to catch for several years.
Esterhaus sweats bullets as his wedding day to Cindy arrives, made worse when Grace shows him exactly what he will be giving up.
Everyone rushes to prepare for the wedding.
Meanwhile Frank and Joyce make use of the intended honeymoon suite after Esterhaus faints at the altar.
After several junkies are found dead from tainted drugs, Goldblume clashes with obnoxious and racist narcotics detective Charlie Weeks over procedure.
Weeks is angered when Midtown solves his case and later brutalises a witness.
Bates gets a new partner — Joe Coffey.
Hunter and Esterhaus discuss the women in their lives.
LaRue's drinking gets out of hand, endangering Belker who goes undercover to catch a robber targeting city buses.
Frank and Joyce clash when she assumes his officers brutalised her rapist client.
Goldblume's son Josh undergoes medical tests for a mysterious illness.
Hill and Renko take pains to help a young black mother accused of neglecting her children.
Weeks shoots a black man in an alley.
A gut feeling leads Furillo and Washington to go out of their way to help clear Weeks, who is accused of shooting an unarmed black man.
Washington blasts an ungrateful Weeks over his attitude.
Furillo confronts a harried LaRue about his drinking and money problems.
Hill and Renko check on Shirrett Anders and her children.
Belker and Leo donate blood.
Hill, Renko, Coffey and Bates arrest a woman who is beating her husband.
Belker joins a DEA fencing operation, which produces a surprise result.
Renko begins a relationship with his night-school teacher.
Frank and Joyce take a long lunch and make plans for a holiday.
Fay is mugged and Goldblume's sick son finally improves.
Furillo and Washington continue pushing the Weeks investigation despite pressure from Chief Daniels to back off because of bad publicity and rising tensions on the street.
Esterhaus receives a birthday surprise during roll call.
Fay considers a weekend getaway with her black orthopedist.
LaRue desperately tries to raise money to get himself out of trouble.
Furillo later tells him to get help for his drinking problem or quit the force after he ruins a drug bust.
A disappointed Hill discovers that Shirrett Anders has abandoned her children once again.
Bates' new partner, Joe Coffey, expresses his feelings for her.
Another vending machine falls victim to Hill Street mayhem.
Meanwhile, Frank and Joyce's covert relationship is nearly exposed when they arrange dinner at the same restaurant where Hill and Renko are dining.
Washington and Goldblume take the Weeks investigation down to the wire.
Meanwhile, Chief Daniels continues pressuring Furillo to drop the probe and tells him the department is “hanging Weeks out to dry”.
After everyone declines to help him, LaRue finally hits bottom.
When Furillo tells him to put in for a transfer, he makes a scene in the squad room.
Shirrett Anders loses her children.
Hill breaks the ice with social worker Denise Thompson.
A frightened Fay asks Furillo's advice after her black orthopedist's wife threatens to kill her.
Renko's girlfriend deals a blow to his ego by ending their relationship.
LaRue takes the first step toward recovery and finds a familiar face in the crowd.
Coffey is shot when he and Bates make a traffic stop.
The Hill grows darker, more ambitious and even more emotionally charged.
As the second season begins, relationships become more complicated, tensions inside the precinct deepen and the dangers on the street escalate.
Old wounds linger, new rivalries emerge and the officers of Hill Street find themselves pushed harder than ever before.
The second season gets off to an explosive start when a domestic situation turns violent in the squad room.
Furillo is sceptical of an ex-Black Arrow gang leader, Jesse John Hudson, who returns to the Hill as a social reformer.
Belker makes contact with a rookie undercover officer planted inside the Black Arrows who tells a much different story than Hudson.
The cops' scepticism is increased when two rival warlords of the gang turn up dead.
Calletano and Goldblume search for a missing boy.
Fay descends on the Hill with a birthday cake for Furillo, who turns 40.
Joyce represents a topless waitress who accuses a detective of blackmailing her for sex.
Belker nabs a purse-snatching orangutan.
Esterhaus questions his involvement with Grace.
Frank and Joyce split up after he demands their relationship move forward.
Virgil reports to Belker on Hudson's takeover of the Black Arrows.
Still hurting, Frank and Joyce needle each other when they meet socially for the first time after splitting up.
While driving a cab in an undercover operation, Goldblume meets a lonely woman — and later returns to her apartment for a little extramarital activity.
On the same operation, Belker nabs a cross-dressing robber.
A desperate snitch offers to help LaRue and Washington solve a prostitute murder — but his story doesn't quite add up.
Belker helps seize weapons that were stolen from a National Guard armoury.
Hunter swoops in after a sexually exhausted Esterhaus ends his relationship with Grace.
Fay tells Furillo she's engaged.
The police's seizure of the stolen weapons and efforts to tie them to the Black Arrows prompt Hudson to look for an informant inside his gang.
When Brooks turns up dead, a furious Furillo virtually declares war on the gang leader.
Joyce asks Frank for advice in the Downing case and both confess to missing each other.
Hill and Renko respond to a domestic call where an old man — bitter over the influx of minorities in his community — is threatening his neighbours with a gun.
Hunter is testy after his date with Grace.
Esterhaus' new friend, Mac, pays a visit to the station house.
Fay delivers wedding invitations to Esterhaus and Furillo.
Goldblume and his wife, Rachel, separate after his affair.
Chief Daniels urges Furillo to back off on Hudson until he has more concrete evidence.
Frank and Joyce have it out on a racquetball court.
Hudson beats up his lawyer and Furillo tries to get her to testify against him, but she has other plans for the gang leader.
After a junkie prostitute nearly dies due to her mistake, Bates lashes out at everyone and walks out of the small arms competition in which she and Coffey are favoured.
Mac confesses his sexual attraction to Esterhaus, sending a stunned Phil back into Grace's arms.
Furillo counsels Bates.
Goldblume and his wife, Rachel, reconcile.
A miserable Joyce pays an evening visit to the Hill and brings her relationship with Frank out into the open with a kiss.
Night court and the shooting of a 10-year-old promise to ruin everyone's evening.
Joyce outmanoeuvres Frank, Washington and LaRue after they are accused of entrapping her client, a mugger, by singling him out and luring him into a criminal act.
Wachtel tries to persuade Joyce to use her now-public relationship with Frank to help his client, a professional “kneebuster”, who was arrested by Belker.
Fay's concerned after Frank Jr. shoplifts and Furillo promises to talk to him.
Washington worries the department will force him to retire after he re-injures his knee during a bust.
Renko's plans to watch Monday night football are sidelined after he and Hill bust the vending machine bandit.
Esterhaus' elation turns into disappointment when Grace's “pregnancy” turns out to be a false alarm.
While in pursuit of gang members involved in the drive-by shooting of a 10-year-old girl, Bates is forced to return fire at a 14-year-old boy, killing him.
After saving two people from a burning car, Officer Gerald Nash later uses excessive force during an arrest and Hill, who feels compelled to cover for his old friend, enlists Renko and a reluctant Bates and Coffey in the cover-up.
Renko's prank on a female transfer officer causes problems.
After solving a domestic situation in his old neighbourhood, Coffey arrests an old family friend who he mistakenly believes is connected to the mob.
Fay introduces her fiancé, Hal Massey, to Furillo.
And everyone's testy after negotiations between the police union and the city break down.
Dubious reports from Hill, Renko, Bates and Coffey compel Furillo to question the foursome about their protection of Nash, who decides to resign when reports are changed to reflect the truth.
Joyce pushes Frank to short-circuit “pent ante” busts brought on by the cold weather.
Belker busts the bald-headed pickpocket again and then goes undercover as a rabbi to catch a gang targeting ATM customers.
A good Samaritan saves Renko, LaRue and Washington and then faces arrest on an old out-of-town felony warrant.
Belker's parents refuse to go on a scheduled cruise, prompting a visit from his sister.
Furillo and Hunter attend a luncheon where Fay's engagement to Hal Massey comes to a sudden end.
Washington is angered when he discovers his girlfriend, Jill, has deceived him.
Frank looks on as Joyce reaches out to a distraught Fay.
Frank lashes out at everyone, including Joyce, after a savage massacre at a shady bar on the Hill, and when evidence suggests a gang connection, he uncharacteristically threatens gang leaders with hard times unless they help him catch the offenders.
An anonymous caller — speculation points to Jesus Martinez — gives the culprits over to Furillo.
The eccentric “Captain Freedom” foils Belker's bust of a robber.
LaRue goes undercover in the Hill Street jail and gets more than he bargained for when he is helpless to stop a tragedy in the next cell.
Chief Daniels orders Furillo to initiate a scam saloon in the South Ferry Precinct in a pre-emptive move against the corruption-seeking Sullivan Commission, which subpoenas Furillo, Calletano and Hunter.
Furillo storms out during his testimony when the prosecutor suggests he has committed perjury.
He later consults Joyce.
After standing up Bates for breakfast, Coffey comes to work with a black eye.
An upset Bates throws the book at some poor guy during a routine traffic stop.
Renko enlists Hill, Bates and Coffey in a futile search for his gun that was stolen by an armed robber who burst in on a late-night card game.
Another vending machine falls in the line of duty and Esterhaus must stop Lou from removing all of them from the station house.
“Captain Freedom” is arrested by LaRue and Washington after he turns up at their stakeout.
Grace and Esterhaus plan a trip to France.
Fay brings her fatalist views to the Hill.
Hill and Renko's bad luck with patrol cars continues, losing two in one day.
The unfortunate duo are rear-ended by a wedding party, thrusting them between a young man and his work supervisor.
Joyce rounds up Douglas Comstock to represent Frank before the Sullivan Commission, but Furillo declines to retain the lawyer after he insinuates the captain has something to hide.
Hill Street officers mount “Operation: Fido”, in which Hunter attempts to use pedigreed Basset Hounds to track wild city dogs.
The EAT leader is injured when he enters an abandoned building alone and nearly falls prey to the “wino-eating mutts”.
In yet another odd visit to Furillo's office, Fay shows up for lunch and wants to discuss cemetery plots.
Furillo and the gang search frantically for officer Art Delgado.
Belker, Hill and Renko's scam saloon operation to sniff out corrupt cops in South Ferry proves profitable despite “Captain Freedom's” help.
Furillo blasts Chief Daniels — who's recovering from haemorrhoid surgery — after a suspicious Calletano learns a beautiful new khaki officer is actually a spy detective sent by Daniels to gauge corruption on the Hill.
Furillo visits Hunter at the hospital where a process server delivers more subpoenas from the Sullivan Commission.
After a lunchtime rendezvous with Joyce at the Hotel Francois, Frank testifies before the Sullivan Commission for the second time.
He offers Daniels his gun and badge afterwards.
Fay storms the Hill and confronts Furillo after she discovers one of Davenport's negligées amongst Frank Jr.'s toys.
After competing in the interdepartmental poker finals, Bates must carefully fend off a sexual advance from Coffey.
Narcotics Capt. Jerry Fuchs refuses to help one of his own detectives after LaRue and Washington catch him forging prescriptions.
Goldblume dons a dress as part of “Operation: Smash & Snatch”, designed to stop vehicular purse snatchings, and he gets a little roughed up while arresting a perp.
Belker, Hill and Renko continue their successful scam saloon until an attempted robbery forces them to blow their cover.
“Captain Freedom” meets a tragic end when a shootout erupts.
Furillo is summoned to a crime scene and discovers public defender Pam Gilliam has been gunned down in a robbery.
A devastated Joyce comes to Frank's office for comfort after identifying Gilliam's body at the morgue and later seriously questions her line of work.
Royal Blood gang colours were reportedly spotted at the scene and a sweep of a nearby playground nets the gun and, ultimately, the killer of Gilliam.
After being nominated by Cleveland, Hill is elected vice president of the Black Officers' Coalition, causing friction with Renko.
Fay questions Furillo about the lack of ranking black officers on the Hill after attending a WAD (Women Against Discrimination) meeting.
Goldblume sets his sights on taking down an abusive landlord.
Belker's pet mouse — which he carries in his shirt pocket — meets an unfortunate end after a congratulatory pat.
The rodent's funeral in the station house men's room comes at an inopportune moment.
LaRue and Washington bust a cocaine dealer, who cuts a deal to give them a PCP lab.
LaRue starts drinking again.
Frank meets with ADA Bernstein on the Gilliam-Harmon case and Joyce tags along.
And after learning a technicality will force the gun to be tossed as evidence, Furillo tries in vain to get Bragg to testify against Harmon.
Esterhaus is exposed to details of Grace's sexual past after she asks him for help with her neighbour and his barking dog.
Belker gives Hunter and his EATers tips on venting rage.
After a tenant is beaten up, Goldblume reluctantly resorts to force to deal with an abusive landlord — he gets a little help from Belker and two large officers from the night shift.
Renko is injured when he rides with pushy officer Grebey and later confronts his disapproving father, who's in the hospital.
Fay tries to identify with Hill, who is irritating everyone with his recruiting efforts for the BOC.
LaRue, suffering a crisis of confidence, shows up drunk minutes before the PCP lab bust, forcing Washington to talk his way into a very dangerous situation.
Fuchs and Washington cover for LaRue, but a knowing Furillo senses the truth.
Fallout from Pam Gilliam's murder continues to besiege the Hill.
After a reward is offered for information in her slaying, Goldblume checks out a witness who seems too good to be true.
A subsequent interrogation by Furillo confirms their suspicions, forcing the release of Bragg and Harmon.
Coffey gets another black eye when he and Bates respond to a domestic call.
Belker laments growing older after he goes undercover as a hot dog vendor and loses a drug dealer during a foot chase.
Furillo busts LaRue down to the motor pool, prompting the troubled detective to seek help.
Hill gets his fill of BOC pressures and resigns.
Esterhaus still stews over Grace involving him in her problem with a former lover.
Frank and Joyce's plans are detoured after Fay is arrested at a sit-in at Chief Daniels' office and are derailed entirely after Harmon is arrested for killing Bragg.
Joyce grows more bitter as Harmon rubs Frank's nose in the fact he still walks on Gilliam's murder.
Frank watches as Joyce, still angry over the injustice in the Gilliam case, storms out of court while defending a repeat offender.
At a subsequent lunch, Frank offers little support — for which he later apologises — when she tells him she's quitting the PD's office.
After losing a promotion to Chesley, a bitter Goldblume goes undercover to help catch a con team shaking down johns and is shot.
Callentano threatens to quit due to money troubles and Esterhaus threatens to retire after his prized car is stolen.
Chief Daniels narrowly misses a verbal backlash from Fay when she witnesses him telling Furillo to “muzzle the little woman”.
Fay, who's quit WAD, asks Furillo about her sexual identity after a lesbian makes a pass at her.
Belker and Washington find pieces of Esterhaus' car when they raid a chop shop.
Renko learns his father is dying of cancer.
Full-scale negotiations are required before a benefit basketball game between the police and the gangs can take place.
The cops' victory ultimately is foiled by the Gypsy Boys.
Belker and Washington go undercover to catch a robber hitting patrons in a porno theatre's bathroom.
Tragedy strikes when Hill and Renko respond to a domestic call where a suicidal man is holding his girlfriend and their child hostage.
Furillo offers emotional support and advice to Goldblume, who has informed the captain of his impending divorce.
Renko's family troubles persist as he briefly resists his dying father's request to go home.
Coffey and Bates discover two officers — one dead, the other seriously wounded — who were shot during a burglary.
The deceased officer's wife lashes out at Furillo after he breaks the grim news, an all-too-frequent task.
In an effort to find the killer, everyone follows the bizarre trail of the gun used to shoot the officers.
Hunter tries to sell First Strike Estates to Goldblume and Fay.
While taking his driver's test, Belker chases down a robber.
Furillo can't help but laugh when a panicked Fay tells him she found Frank Jr. “playing doctor” with a girl and that the girl's mother is threatening to bring charges.
A distraught Renko is forced to put his father back in the hospital after his condition worsens.
Joyce tells Frank she's been carrying a gun since Pam Gilliam's death.
Shortly after his father succumbs to cancer, a distraught Renko learns that the hearse bearing his father's remains has been seized without regard for its cargo.
Hunter's morbid analysis of the situation repulses the other officers.
Belker unknowingly finds Renko's dad while he is undercover, trying to find out who's been knifing winos.
Coffey runs interference for Bates with her recently dumped lover, a Michigan Avenue commander.
Davenport finds her faith renewed when she pulls out all the stops to defend a nice young man who is accused of rape.
Goldblume attempts to coax the young man's reluctant alibi to come forward, and Furillo also lends a hand when a big-gun prosecutor gets the case.
Washington confronts Furillo on his hard-line stance against LaRue and asks him to consider letting his partner return.
Fay and Goldblume cross paths at a singles bar.
The Hill enters a darker and more emotionally turbulent era.
As pressure mounts both inside and outside the precinct, Furillo and his officers find themselves facing corruption probes, personal crises and increasingly dangerous streets.
Relationships are tested, loyalties shift and the emotional cost of police work becomes harder than ever to ignore.
The Hill is on the verge of going up in flames after a Roman Catholic nun is raped and killed during a church robbery.
Frank plays fast and loose with the rule book to capture and hold two young men accused of the crime.
And Joyce, who is assigned to defend one of the men, Celestine Gray, feels helpless as public opinion works to destroy her client.
Joyce later confronts Frank about his zealous bending of the rules.
A robbery/shooting at a grocery store takes a back seat to the heinous crime against the church.
Belker befriends a gay prostitute, Eddie Gregg, after arresting him.
Calletano juggles work and a tax audit.
Hot weather has tempers flaring on the Hill.
Furillo's in the hot seat when he sits on a board of rights for fellow captain Lou Hogan, who is accused of neglecting his duties, and finds himself arguing against his old friend.
Goldblume and Belker go undercover to catch a man robbing ice cream vendors.
Belker forgets his mother's birthday and Davenport helps him with a gift.
Bates, Coffey, Hill and Renko investigate urban cattle rustling.
LaRue and Washington interview for jobs at a posh resort in the Bahamas.
Chief Daniels drops off a movie star who will be filming a movie on the Hill.
Furillo and Fay clash over her all-too-frequent visits to the Hill to heap her problems on the beleaguered precinct captain.
A roast for Chief Daniels goes from bad to worse when a drunk Lou Hogan crashes the event and alleges indiscretions by officers on the Hill and other precincts.
Frank tells Joyce he will follow up on Hogan's accusations, but his plans to talk to Hogan are foiled by the disgraced captain's suicide.
Furillo begins checking out charges made against his men and laments Hogan's death over lunch with Joyce at a hotel.
The couple later decides to “murder” a half-hour upstairs.
On Chief Daniels' order, Furillo releases city councilman Detweiler after Hill and Renko arrest him for drunken driving, but not without a verbal chastening.
Hunter announces he is to undergo a biopsy on a tumour in his leg.
LaRue continues to sulk over not getting the job in the Bahamas and he and Washington spend the day serving subpoenas.
Gennaro shadows Belker and helps him make an arrest.
A movie production manager and the city's film liaison meet with gang leaders.
Fay gets a job as a crime reporter for a less-than-reputable publication.
Goldblume turns in his badge after Furillo — who was tipped off by Daniels — asks him about his involvement with a 15-year-old prostitute.
And Frank and Joyce's attempts to beat the heat have humorous results.
When it rains it pours.
Furillo tracks down the prostitute who Goldblume helped and then trades his silence on Detweiler's arrest/release for his friend's career.
In a follow-up to another of Hogan's charges, LaRue and Washington bust two patrolmen for stealing from burglary victims.
Renko's birthday turns out to be a not-so-happy occasion.
Hunter receives good news after his biopsy and meets a nice nurse.
Washington turns down the Bahamas job.
Fay interviews Gennaro, who later shows up at Belker's drug buy and finds himself in the line of fire.
A drenched Joyce lays out plans for a quiet evening which are torpedoed by yet another phone call bearing bad news.
Furillo faces a parent's worst fear when a distraught Fay tells him Frank Jr. is missing.
Ever the legal eagle, Davenport crushes a nervous and unprepared Bates on the witness stand.
After he and Hill stop an assault, Renko pressures the victim to press charges.
Calletano is named Hispanic Officer of the Year, but things get a little sticky after he airs his true feelings at a luncheon in his honour.
(Afterwards, he tenders his resignation which Furillo promptly refuses.)
Belker works undercover at a massage parlour.
LaRue and Washington's response to a liquor store robbery has tragic results.
And Frank Jr. finally turns up, much to everyone's relief.
Joyce is injured when a suspect scuffles with officers in the squad room, prompting Frank to clean her assailant's clock when the man attempts to take her hostage.
While trying to strike a deal with a cocaine peddler, LaRue and Washington encounter special narcotics undercover cop Stan Mizell.
Furillo warns Fuchs to pull the reckless Mizell off the streets, but his efforts prove in vain.
Hill has the unfortunate task of trying to persuade an elderly black woman that she has to move from her condemned building.
Meanwhile, Goldblume tries to keep one of her neighbours — who's afraid of the change of venue — from jumping off the roof of the building.
Fay and Furillo clash after she sells her Gennaro story and he hints she repay the loan he made her.
Belker foils a heist while applying for a bank loan to help pay for his father's medical care.
The fast-moving nurse Wulfawitz and Hunter meet again.
Once again, Furillo finds himself in a political whirlpool when the Mizell homicide probe thrusts him between mayoral candidates Daniels and Detweiler.
Furillo warns Fuchs of the power play and urges his friend to play by the numbers.
On the bright side, LaRue and Washington bust a suspect in the Mizell slaying.
A still-bruised Joyce returns to work.
Fay agrees to go out with Wachtel after her Gennaro article is misconstrued by the rag she sold it to.
Belker doggedly investigates a clever scam using bums to file injury insurance claims.
Coffey tries to help a fellow Vietnam veteran who's suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
After taking a robbery victim and suspect to the hospital, Hill narrowly misses having his boil lanced by a mental patient posing as a doctor, and Renko's hasty words to a young doctor land him in trouble with Furillo.
While Mizell is laid to rest, LaRue and Washington inventory the contents of his safety deposit box and find hard proof of his corruption.
Chief Daniels pushes Furillo to remain silent about how dirty Mizell was, but later takes the stalwart captain's advice to come clean on the whole affair.
Daniels' actions torpedo Detweiler's plans to bring him down and the angry councilman gets drunk and runs over an old lady.
Fay tells Furillo her home was burglarised and that the culprits made off with her belongings, including all their home movies.
Bates and Coffey stumble into a sad family situation when they try to help an abused young girl with her baby.
Belker wraps up his insurance scam probe with a visit to the doctor — much to Hill's embarrassment — and the arrest of Wachtel.
Hunter pops the question to nurse Wulfawitz.
Joyce bolsters Frank after he expresses his dislike of Daniels and the political game he was forced to play.
While touring the Hill, the governor's dog is stolen and Daniels launches a massive search operation much to Furillo's disdain.
After a ransom demand is made, Furillo enlists the gangs in their search for the pooch.
Academy graduates arrive on the Hill.
Rookie Robin Tattaglia helps LaRue and Washington arrest a murder suspect — the two detectives then try to chase down an autopsy report.
Belker busts the bald-headed pickpocket again and enlists Eddie Gregg as his snitch.
Furillo confronts Nydorf over a missing autopsy report.
After a quarrel with Renko, Teresa makes a pass at Coffey.
Fay is jailed for contempt in traffic court, but her persistence pays off.
A rookie officer freezes and his partner is nearly stabbed.
Hill launches his relationship with officer Marty Nichols, and dog metaphors are the order of the evening for Frank and Joyce.
Furillo and Bernstein try to make a murder case minus the victim's body or an autopsy report.
As they depart their room following a lunchtime tryst at the Embassy Hotel, Frank and Joyce have an awkward and somewhat humorous encounter with Fay and Judge Grogin.
Esterhaus' best-laid plans to propose to Grace are temporarily sidetracked when his engagement ring is stolen in a jewellery store robbery — Belker arrests one of the culprits, paving the way for a riotous interrogation.
Teresa dumps Renko and then goes out with Coffey.
The Phantom makes one last appearance.
A fear-stricken Eddie Gregg implicates his lover in the savage murders of a group of Peruvian drug dealers — LaRue, Washington and Belker go after him by way of Sid.
Jesus Martinez has the governor's staff jumping through hoops when he brings in some information about the missing dog.
An overconfident Nydorf refuses to heed Furillo's warning not to testify at a preliminary hearing and, consequently, Joyce skillfully shreds his credibility on the stand.
It's a heat wave — at least in the station house where the furnace, “Big Bertha”, won't shut off.
After a failed attempt by Calletano and his wife to set up Esterhaus with a lady, Grace pays a visit to the Hill.
The governor's dog is returned, but tragicomedy strikes when the pooch is left in Hunter's keeping.
A jealous Renko confronts Coffey, then Teresa.
Eddie is exposed as a police informant after LaRue, Washington and Belker bust Sid.
A rookie officer reconsiders his career as a policeman.
There's no place like the Hill for the holidays.
Yuletide cheer is in short supply as Furillo concentrates on finding four marauding youths who have already claimed several victims.
Washington's guilt over shooting an innocent store owner surfaces.
Hill's vagabond father, Reggie, drops by the station house.
Hunter clashes with a waitress suffering from the holiday blues.
Buck Naked flashes Fay.
While undercover as Santa, Belker busts a youngster interfering with his operation.
After taking toys to kids in the hospital, Hunter and several other officers — wearing seasonal costumes — chase robbery suspects.
Bates is hurt during the pursuit and is forced to spend the holiday in the hospital.
Frank, Joyce and Frank Jr. embark on a holiday ski trip.
An armoured car robbery nets a 1960s–70s political radical and has far-reaching effects.
Joyce lands the political militant as a client.
An overconfident FBI agent noses into the investigation, but his information proves to be slightly out of date.
Belker's stakeout of an arcade turns deadly when officer Dorsey goes across the street for some coffee and is shot by one of the robbery suspects.
And Furillo deals with the captured suspects to get the one who shot his officer.
Bates gets an embarrassing birthday surprise, but later gets even with Coffey.
Fay storms the Hill in a fit of jealousy over Frank Jr.'s constant praise of Joyce.
Hunter has a toothache.
Tattaglia and Belker bond after Dorsey's death.
And everyone tries a new takeaway Chinese restaurant with unsettling effects.
After his daughter is raped, a veteran cop tries to interfere in Furillo's search for the rapist.
A terrified young woman seeks help with her malevolent ex-boyfriend from the newly promoted Lt. Goldblume.
Chief Daniels takes a walking tour of Dekker Avenue and is bitten by a rat, and Hunter mobilises a search for the wounded rodent.
Fay seeks Furillo's help and advice after Frank Jr. came home early and caught her in a compromising situation with Judge Grogin.
Bates and Coffey arrest a survivalist and Davenport is assigned as his counsel.
The survivalist meets a tragic end when Donleavy mistakes him for the man who raped his daughter.
Renko's arrest for indecent exposure at a bachelor party gets him busted down to traffic ticket duty where he tangles with Det. Sal Benedetto.
Joyce tells Frank she has a job interview with the Justice Department.
Joyce leaves for her interview with the Justice Department and Frank wrestles with his fears of losing her while trying to run his precinct.
Hunter launches “Operation: Big Broom”, a sweep aimed at cleaning up one block of Dekker Avenue and the courts are flooded as a result.
Furillo calls off the operation because he feels citizens' rights are being trampled, leading to a confrontation with Chief Daniels.
Renko is restored to motor patrol after he saves several people from a burning building.
After Frank Jr. is strong-armed by a schoolmate, Fay and Furillo meet with the principal and the bully's parents.
Esterhaus offers to teach Frank Jr. boxing.
Goldblume is unsuccessful in his efforts to help a terrified young woman being stalked by her ex-boyfriend.
Hill lets his fists do the talking and knocks the brutal Benedetto down a peg or two.
After having dinner with parole officer Nancy McCoy, Frank's fears of losing Joyce are compounded when his attempt to call her at her hotel proves unsuccessful.
LaRue gets his hands on a surplus military tank to use in “Operation: Big Broom”.
The courts later put the brakes on the questionable operation after the ACLU and Public Defender's office seek an injunction.
Calletano tries out a toupee.
While in court for another traffic ticket, Fay confronts Judge Grogin about their doomed relationship.
Goldblume harasses some gang members who are threatening a young man who killed one of their members in self-defence.
Belker and Tattaglia express feelings for each other.
A jealous and anxious Frank grills Joyce about her job interview and expresses his fears of losing her.
The senior criminology class of St. Mary's visits the Hill.
Furillo confronts Jesus Martinez over using him as a credit reference and an illegal investment of grant money.
Belker's dad is sick.
Coffey has to deal roughly with a man high on PCP, and when the man later dies in custody, the officer is accused of killing him.
Davenport snags a savage kneebuster for a client.
Fay tells Furillo she's pregnant with Judge Grogin's child.
Belker's protectiveness of Tattaglia nearly endangers their relationship.
Belker busts two old guys for armed robbery.
A testy Furillo mediates a clash over seniority and rank between Goldblume and Calletano.
LaRue sees dollar signs after Hill and Renko arrest stand-up comic Vic Hitler on a bunch of unpaid traffic tickets.
The Justice Department offers Joyce a job, and she and Frank take very different views on what it could mean for them.
IAD grills Coffey on the death of Lynn Tatum, and Tatum's mother makes a scene in the squad room.
Furillo is convinced of his officer's innocence and goes after the man who was in the cell next to Tatum, a kneebuster named Sonny Crockett.
Crockett tells a story which delights the Internal Affairs investigators.
Belker's dad dies and Furillo breaks the bad news.
Calletano still sulks over Furillo's honest evaluation of his captaincy potential.
LaRue makes a fool of himself with a schoolgirl and devises a plan to make money off comic Vic Hitler.
Fay tries to get Judge Grogin to admit his paternity of her baby.
Joyce turns down the Justice Department job, and after an emotional, honest encounter Frank proposes.
Fallout from Lynn Tatum's death continues to rain on the Hill.
Coffey takes a polygraph and Furillo and Goldblume attend a town meeting to soothe the outrage over Tatum's death.
Davenport withdraws from Crockett's case when he says he plans to commit perjury.
Bates goes undercover as a bus driver and gets a little backup from Hill and Renko.
LaRue preps Vic Hitler for his comic debut, which turns out to be a bust.
Tattaglia transfers to another precinct.
Fay decides to have her baby.
Frank and Joyce get married in a lunchtime ceremony, and Fay freaks out when Furillo breaks the news.
After his father's funeral, Belker drives around and helps catch a robber who shot a cop.
Newlyweds Frank and Joyce embark on a night of bliss.
The brutal narcotics Det. Benedetto temporarily transfers to the Hill and partners with Washington to investigate a loan shark.
The operation results in the death of kneebuster Sonny Crockett and Benedetto's true colours are revealed.
Leo helps drug addict Rico go cold turkey.
While investigating the murder of a man in a homeless shelter, Joyce, Frank and Goldblume question a suspect who appears to have multiple personalities.
Fay's upset when Frank Jr. tells her he wants to move in with his new mother.
After nurse Wulfawitz dumps Hunter, he meets a nice Vietnamese girl at a massage parlour.
While undercover on Benedetto's loan-sharking operation, Washington is shot.
Officers have a little fun with the robot TK460.
Goldblume tries to catch the man with multiple personalities after he escapes from county psych and sets off a bomb at the station house.
A cash-strapped Hill and Renko find a bag full of temptation, but it loses its appeal when their patrol car is stolen with the unreported cash inside.
Leo puts Rico to work on the COP-TIPS hotline.
LaRue tries to stack the deck in his favour in the Buddy Genett body-parts pool.
Furillo hauls in loan shark Simone at Daniels' insistence.
Belker and LaRue go on a rampage to find out what ruined a police drug transaction that almost cost Washington's life.
Benedetto feels their investigation closing in on him and tries to make a run for it, but things don't turn out quite like he planned.
Fay learns her baby's a girl and asks Esterhaus to be godfather.
Frank and Joyce's lunchtime tryst is derailed by an elderly, out-of-breath hotel attendant.
Crockett's death allows Joyce to clear Coffey in the Tatum death.
Joyce represents a charming and polite purse snatcher.
The cash payroll is hijacked and fingers point to Jesus Martinez after the hijackers are arrested.
Rico gets high again.
First of all, we make no claim to its total accuracy. The information is here for the benefit of all Hill Street Blues fans, but it can only ever be a guide.
If you spot anything you believe to be incorrect, please feel free to contact the Webmaster.
The core information was published in 2001 on an anonymous GeoCities website and was used by many of us as the definitive episode guide.
Over the next few years, many attempts were made to contact the webmaster/webmistress without success. The assumption must be that they are no longer online.
With the closing of GeoCities in 2010, I took the decision to preserve the core data and re-use it here.
Although it has since been substantially modified, acknowledgement must be given to the unknown person who originally collected all the information and inspired this webmaster to continue the project.
The unforgettable atmosphere of Hill Street Blues began each week with Sgt. Esterhaus addressing the officers before they headed out into the dangers of the Hill.