Bochco Assigns His ‘Cop’ a Rock Beat : Television: Producer thinks viewers are ready for ‘Cop Rock,’ with songs by Randy Newman. It’s one of at least three new network series projects with musical premises.

Steven Bochco is going fishing again. First there was “Hill Street Blues,” which revolutionized cop shows. Then there was “L.A. Law,” a frank new TV approach to attorneys. And now, as one of his 10 series commitments to ABC, the producer is embarking on what seems by far his biggest gamble--a weekly, one-hour, rock ‘n’ roll musical drama about Los Angeles police.

Randy Newman wrote the music for the pilot episode. The show, targeted for the fall season if all goes right, is called “Cop Rock.” And, says Bochco, “This is not like ‘Miami Vice,’ where you hear the music while other things are happening. These are characters who sing and dance.”

All this, in itself, is intriguing enough. But even more intriguing, and promising, is the fact that “Cop Rock” is one of at least three new network series projects with musical premises. The first, “Elvis,” a weekly half-hour drama about the young Elvis Presley, debuts Tuesday on ABC.

Bochco maintains, and correctly, that “Elvis” is distinct from “Cop Rock” because “the music is germane” to the singer’s story--”you couldn’t do the show without his songs.” In addition, he says, “Presley, on his own, draws interest simply as a subject.”

Nonetheless, the question on the minds of TV executives is bound to be whether viewers are finally ready to give new life, in any form, to weekly, prime-time musical series, a dead item on the networks for years. Did a decade of MTV perhaps lay the groundwork for a revival?

The MTV factor may have been part of the thinking in the third musical project under way--a one-hour NBC pilot from Disney tentatively titled “Hell Street High.” Described by an NBC spokeswoman as a fast-paced, irreverent entry with elements of “Grease” and “Fast Times at Ridgmont High,” it, too, is a fall contender.

Bochco says the Disney show is “jumping on my bandwagon.” No, it’s not because “Hell Street High” seems a title vaguely close to, and somewhat mocking of, “Hill Street Blues,” if only by coincidence. He’s just certain he led the way. Asked whether “Hell Street High” was changed from a straight story to a musical, a Disney spokeswoman said, “Yes, I believe that’s correct. They thought it (music) would make it more special.”

Clearly, though, “Cop Rock” is a project of exceptional interest--whether it explodes onto the scene like “Hill Street Blues,” or even if it strikes out. It is, at least, a go-for-broke venture in the ultra-cautious world of network television, and no element thus far is more fascinating than the prospect of Newman’s contributions. The composer-performer already has turned in his work for the pilot, Bochco reports.

“Yes, sir,” the producer says exuberantly. “Six songs--main title theme and five songs. And they’re spectacular. They’re as good songs, I think, as Randy Newman has written.”

That, of course, would be quite an accomplishment. But no one, including Randy Newman, is going to knock out half a dozen great songs a week over the length of an entire TV season, or two, or three, or four. So what does Bochco have in mind for a musical encore after the first episode?

“I’m hoping that I can get Randy to stay involved somehow,” he says. “He’s a real storyteller. But, obviously, what I’ve got to do is put together a staff of songwriters, the same way you’d put together a staff of writers. So I’m hoping I can find three or four songwriters who will be responsible for providing the majority of the music you hear.”

Once upon a time, of course, the sound of music was a weekly staple of prime-time TV, though generally light years from the concept of a “Cop Rock” or “Elvis.” In 1969, for instance, the networks offered weekly hours starring Andy Williams, Carol Burnett, Dean Martin, Leslie Uggams, Glen Campbell and Lawrence Welk, plus “The Kraft Music Hall.”

But musical series soon began to fade away. They were considered too soft to draw big ratings. The public cynicism that accompanied the Vietnam War seemed to give TV a harder edge. Variety shows became tougher with “Laugh-In” and “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” Sentimental ballads gave way to “All in the Family” and “MASH.”

Every so often, someone tried, as Bochco is attempting now, to break the mold and win back audiences for musicals. In 1982, for instance, “Fame,” with Debbie Allen, depicted students at a high school for the performing arts. In 1987, “Rags to Riches,” with Joe Bologna, wove music into its story of a playboy who adopts a group of orphans. But neither show enjoyed a long network run. Musical series were out.

In recent seasons, music found its only real home in weekly, network prime-time TV as an atmospheric element in such series as “Miami Vice,” “China Beach” and “The Wonder Years.”

But MTV was ever-present. And now comes “Cop Rock.”

Bochco has been mulling over the idea since 1983 or 1984, when someone suggested turning “Hill Street Blues” into a Broadway musical. He won’t release the script and he won’t give story details of the pilot, but he says it’s not simply “Hill Street Blues” in musical form.

It differs from that landmark police series “in a lot of significant ways,” he says. “If you’re looking for a theatrical analogy, I’d say it’s almost like Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht (“The Threepenny Opera”). That’s an exotic analogy,” he admits. “Maybe ‘West Side Story.’ But the music isn’t like that. The music is rock ‘n’ roll, although there are a couple of beautiful ballads that Randy wrote. It’s set in the city of Los Angeles, so it’s very realistic. It’s completely contemporary--action, personal drama, cop melodrama.”

No blushing violet, Bochco. And he’s confident that “it’s absolutely the right time to do something like this.” Why? Well, he says, TV has grown up but there’s not enough imaginative programming--”simultaneous with which you’ve got the hardware, the sound systems, the TVs that are extraordinary, and there’s nothing to fuel it. It’s like you have a $75,000 touring car and nobody’s got the fuel to fire the engine.”

Why is he so sure he can ignite TV again--and the public? Easy, he says: “You’ve got 10 years of MTV under your belt. I’m not representing what we’re doing as anything like MTV. God forbid. Nevertheless, you do have a couple of generations of TV viewers who are used to the idea of watching music performed to some sort of accompanying story line (in videos). So now, you come along with ‘Cop Rock,’ and it seems to be a sort of organic evolution to go from those silly little stories that last a few minutes to something more complex.”

You have to wonder, though: Would Sgt. Joe Friday sing an aria? Would Lt. Columbo do a pirouette? Welcome to the 1990s. And, oh yes, I love L.A.