HILL STREET’S NEW COP SPECIALIZES IN SLEAZE

His wardrobe is a testament to clashing patterns and circus-clown ties. His police work ignores protocol and a few constitutional rights. Lt. Norman Buntz could never work on fashion-conscious “Miami Vice,” but he’s a perfect fit on the cop kennel called “Hill Street Blues.”

Buntz, played by Dennis Franz, was brought to “Hill Street” last year, its sixth season, to shake up the troops and television viewers alike. NBC and the producers felt the Emmy-winning series had become too predictable.

“It was clear that Buntz was designed to be a bad apple,” Franz said in an interview. “He was described to me as the J. R. (Ewing) of ‘Hill Street.’ He was going to do things that were unacceptable to television audiences, and I was delighted.”

Buntz was not a mean-spirited, crooked cop, as was Franz’s earlier “Hill Street” character, Bad Sal Benedetto, who was pure swine and killed himself in the 1982-83 season. Buntz just goes by a different book than his fellow cops.

For instance, he once needed a reason for a drug search, so he grabbed a turkey and told the suspect that it was a cocaine-sniffing bird. When the guy started fleeing, Buntz had probable cause to search him.

“In all his bending of the law, the audience’s sympathy is with Buntz,” said John Litvack, co-executive producer on “Hill Street.” “I hope everything he does causes smiles in the audience. He’s not conceived or written as a fascist.”

Last season, as the Buntz character was fleshed out, he became a bit more humane. Franz welcomed that--up to a point. “I don’t want it to go too far,” he said. “I don’t want to be just another nice guy on the hill.”

Perhaps because he was new, Buntz’s antics seemed more engaging than the requisite weekly growling collar by Mick Belker or another militaristic assault by Lt. Howard Hunter.

“I think all the characters are as quirky as ever,” Franz said, “but we’ve come to know them so well that their strangeness doesn’t seem so strange anymore.”

In tough scrapes, Buntz can be seen folding a stick of gum and popping it into his mouth. Franz said he chewed gum on the set to relax, and the producers picked up on it.

Last season, there was much nervousness around “Hill Street.” Its ratings were in decline, and few expected it to be renewed for a seventh season. Franz feared he might become known as a jinx, since he had been a regular on two quickly canceled series. He played a cop on “Chicago Story” and was the sleazy, underhanded pitching coach on “Bay City Blues.”

Brandon Tartikoff, president of NBC Entertainment, said he enjoyed the Buntz character and thought the series performed well enough for renewal. But he instructed the producers to develop several fresh characters this season. The show’s survival depends on it, since the original cast signed seven-year commitments and several actors, including Daniel J. Travanti who plays Capt. Frank Furillo, say this is their final year.

Some cast additions will include a female undercover cop who often unknowingly bends the rules (Megan Gallagher) and a handsome street cop (Robert Clohessy.)

Franz says no character is indispensable, including Furillo who survived a shooting in last week’s rerun episode. Franz says “Hill Street” could grow this season because its toughest competitor, CBS’ “Knots Landing,” has been moved up an hour.

Franz has made a career out of playing sleazeballs. Director Brian De Palma used him in “Dressed to Kill” and “Body Double.”

Franz, soft-spoken and a quiet dresser in real life, played an oily character in “Psycho II,” where he got to wear the abrasive ties and plaids he now sports on “Hill Street.”

“Our costumer picks out Buntz’s ties,” Franz said. “I think he found some of Arthur Godfrey’s old ties.”

One measure of Buntz’s acceptance is Franz’s fan mail. Much of it comes from “strange women and cops,” the actor said.

“They (the cops) can identify with Buntz. They send look-alike pictures and say this is our Norman Buntz. Some of them look pretty close.”

His mail sometimes includes some useful props. “I get a lot of free gum and ugly ties,” he said.