TV & VIDEO - Nov. 14, 1989

A Cop With a New Beat: Emmy-winning TV series creator Steven Bochco is tapping away--literally--on his next project for ABC. The working title is “Cop Rock,” a musical drama based in a Los Angeles police precinct. Like Bochco’s earlier series, “Hill Street Blues” and “L.A. Law,” “Cop Rock” will have an ensemble cast, except that unlike their predecessors, the actors in this show will need to sing and possibly dance. Singer-composer Randy Newman will write and perform the title song in addition to writing five songs for the first episode. Bochco will executive produce the series, which is his second project under a long-term exclusive deal with ABC Entertainment. He’s also writing the first episode with William Finkelstein, who is the supervising producer of “L.A. Law.”