Cop Rock (1990)

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Show Creator: Steven Bochco, William M. Finkelstein

Cast: Anne Bobby as Off. Vicki Quinn; Barbara Bosson as Mayor Louise Plank; Ronny Cox as Chief Roger Kendrick; Vondie Curtis-Hall as Cmdr. Warren Osborne; David Gianopoulos as Off. Andy Campo; Larry Joshua as Capt. John Hollander; Paul McCrane as Det. Bob McIntire; James McDaniel as Off. Franklin Rose; Ron McLarty as Ralph Ruskin; Mick Murray as Det. Joseph Gaines; Peter Onorati as Det. Vincent LaRusso

As American television goes, the following is pretty infamous. Suffice to say, the reason why it exists is happily the same with television as it is cinema, that when someone is successful, they are allowed to have more creative freedom, which is something we thankfully (if only occasionally) have today. Yes, there are usually disasters, but having seen all eleven episodes of Cop Rock, even apparent disasters like this one are much more interesting than they are credited for originally. Steven Bochco, the man behind Cop Rock, was already cementing a legendary status for such shows as Hill Street Blues (1981-87), a major production in the cop procedural TV show which was culturally significant in how it changed the genre and did exceptionally well in the ratings. He worked in other genres, including infamously another cancelled one season show, the animated comedy Capitol Critters (1992), but he's synonymous for the American crime show. A female producer from Broadway, in the height of Hill Street Blues' success, came to him with the offer to turn it into a musical. He declined, but the idea nagged at him and he had the influence to make it, even if from the beginning many were baffled by the idea.

That Cop Rock combines a gritty police procedural with musical numbers, which was seen for a long time as one of the worst shows ever produced, is arguably a strange concept even today. It also isn't the worst show ever made - its instead a show that is at times utterly gauche and cringe inducing when it misses the mark completely, but when it hits said target is both absolutely compelling and uncomfortable pertinent in its subject matters. The notable detail is that it's still a dark show, even if the opening credits sequence - Randy Newman, who wrote the pilot and won a Best Song Emmy for his troubles, playing the main theme Under the Gun as the cast out of character nod along pleasingly - belies this.

Trying to keep the plot synopsis down is going to be difficult as there's so many. Every episode has its own little story, even one a reoccurring one with actress Kathleen Wilhoite playing a heroine addicted mother, but the show follows significant plot threads throughout the entire length of what was created. So let's use bullet points to concise them all....

1. On-the-edge detective Vincent LaRusso (Peter Onorati), when an arrest of a cop killer is botched, kills him whilst he is in handcuffs and tries to cover up said incident. He doesn't succeed and the ensuing court trial places his precariously between a martyr for a right wing cause, and being a racist as the suspect killed was an African American man, made more uncomfortably prophetic as both the Rodney King incident and ensuing riot, where a black man was unjustifiably beaten up by white LA police on film, would take a year after this show set and shot in Los Angeles was cancelled. For me as well the O.J. Simpson trial that would take place in the mid 90s makes this as pertinent, both as a media circus and how it became a hot topic on the issue of racism in the LA police force, a subject that is reversed here years earlier with a white police officer on trial with the topic still a concern.
2.  LaRusso's own partner, a black police officer Det. William Donald Potts (William Thomas Jr.), finds himself in an even worst predicament between being viewed as a Judas by testifying against his colleague, being viewed as stepping down from bravery if he doesn't testify, and actual racism as even a burning cross is placed on his family's front lawn.
3. A young female officer Vicki Quinn (Anne Bobby) has a budding relationship with her male co-partner Officer Andy Campo (David Gianopoulos), which has playful flirtation but with a distance kept as she is married to the much older police coroner Ralph Ruskin (Ron McLarty). Tensions as Ruskin becomes jealous of a potential affair come about.
4. The office whose partner was killed, Officer Franklin Rose (James McDaniel), has a tenuous relationship with the naive but open hearted new partner Det. Joseph Gaines (Mick Murray).
5. Captain John Hollander (Larry Joshua), who believes in virtue and righteousness, places his interest behind LaRusso being put to jail for killing the cop killer, but is stuck in tough work which strains his marriage due to the long hours.
6. Chief Roger Kendrick (Ronny Cox), the very conservative police chief who is a literal cowboy, is obsessed with good ol' Western justice in spite of it being woefully obsolete to Los Angeles of the new era, something he is going to have to confront with only his second Cmdr. Warren Osborne (Ernie Hudson in the pilot, Vondie Curtis-Hall throughout the rest of the show) trying to steer him along a sane path.
7. Mayor Louise Plank (Barbara Bosson), who has higher political aspirations even if it means having drastic plastic surgery; whilst the subject of her requiring surgery to be "beautiful" is never tackled in the show or questioned, it does lead to a romance with Kendrick, who she loves but is stuck in a sometimes tense relationship as everything he says will also make her look bad, worse as he puts his foot in his mouth with deeply problematic ideas in front of the press especially when it comes to the trial of LaRusso.

That's a lot to take in, but by the end of Cop Rock, even due to how it was cancelled and how it decided to end the show, all the plots escalating as the series goes along. Arguably, Vincent LaRusso and his plot is the centre, as it's the biggest in terms of repercussions. Certainly it's the most ethnically and morally complex in terms of the themes Cop Rock is tackling, again surprisingly if disturbingly pertinent for this Los Angeles set show, as knowledge of issues that would take place in real life years later.

And again, this is all in mind these has musical numbers and even dance choreography, which will probably cause one's head to spin and look to this review in bafflement unless you have grown up with a lot of Broadway and theatrical musical adaptations of unconventional source material choices. Since this is the crux of the show, the question to ask is whether it's any good or not. Truthfully, it varies wildly though only one is truly dire - there's unintentional comedy in a plastic surgeon singing to Major Plank whilst models parade around him, but the only song that's truly indefensible even in unintentional comedy is one of a new female partner for Andy Campo who is turned on by beating perps up and has awful lyrics to it. Even when the songs might be deeply inappropriate, songs about a group for Hispanic men in a suspect line dancing about racial profiling or the female cops seducing their co workers whilst about to pose as sex workers to catch Johns, its felt like Cop Rock was at least being ambitious in those scenes. Randy Newman, famous for the likes of Toy Story's soundtrack, is the biggest name in terms of the music, but barring the opening credits he only wrote the pilot, which in itself took risks by starting with a rap song of all things. After that, the composers who stepped into his shoes took a risk of embarrassment through anything like country to straight ahead rock.

When it does succeed, it does well. Newman got the Emmy for the likes of the most memorable from the pilot "Guilty" where former Temptations singer Louis Price is the judge at a trial where a keyboard appears and the jurors become a gospel group; as absurd as it is, it's a fairly good example of what to expect. Ronny Cox has only one song, the country one, where he plays the antiquated cowboy singing of the good times whilst riding a horse through urban LA, much to the horrified bafflement of non-Caucasian families watching him pass. His assistant Osborne, as Cox's character has his own shooting gallery in his office, takes advantage of it to summon the backing singers of a Motown group he heads, Vondie Curtis-Halloffering romantic advice to his boss by way of his own Temptations like ballad. Or LaRusso confronting an African American campaigner who suggests he is a racist whilst the press gourd them on in the middle of a court house. Cop Rock wisely chooses actors who can sing and act, and that's arguably proven an advantage for the show as, reputation on the line, it's a lot more credible then its notoriety suggests. The issue is more that some of the song choices are abruptly included, or the musical backing has dated, people not used to trying rap or other genres trying it with awkward results. There's a sense that songs were included because that had to be a certain number per ad break, which is disruptive, more so when a few less meant that the best could've stood out more. Then you get something like the baby merchant who nearly steals his one scene, singing about selling tots with relish on a human black market, which is honestly a great moment, and the one that gets viral hits as a clip online, but also reveals that Cop Rock's issues come, being an experiment, as a result of tonal problems which can suddenly turn some scenes camp against what is actually a lot of compelling, complex drama.

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It also comes with the knowledge that I eventually took the songs as a natural part of the show's universe, that there was nothing at all amiss about stalker targeting Gina Gershon, in a one episode as an actress, bursting in a song as I had adapted to the structure of the series. It all however comes too with the knowledge that this in itself is bizarre, and that even within the structure of a regular cop show at the time, the entire combination of it with this musical presentation is absolutely idiosyncratic. Reality is constantly intruded by these songs, including dance sequences, but they still speak the drama of the tales within itself, so even the funny songs like Joseph Gaines misplacing his car in a parking structure have to be taken seriously as character development, so it gets into a curious state of reality for a TV show to have.

Even the cop show structure is of note, as someone who rarely watches television and hasn't seen a lot of this era's American programming, what was considered normal here becoming unique to me as a result. And it goes without saying the drama is actually compelling, a level of depth as a result of continuous stories followed along together which means Cop Rock as a one off which never succeeded still works as a long form mini-series by proxy. The curious duality of Cop Rock, where its infamy comes from, doesn't deny that its very well acted and well made, and the idiosyncrasy is still unique to this day. Truly if it had focused more on a more serious tone for the songs, it "could've" lasted longer, or at least wouldn't of had as much of the stigma of its reputation. This is all in mind that, probably the case, musicals even in 1990 had lost so much of their pop cultural reputation outside certain circumstances it would've still been seen as a ridiculous premise. But it could've at least won a few more fans much earlier into its existence.

Certainly, it emphasises for me a brand new interest in the figure of Steve Bochco, as whilst there are heavy handed moments here, his very open minded and confrontational take on the cop drama for television is utterly engaging and thematically rich. Even a side story, where Joseph Gaines tried to help a homeless man only to find it more complicated then he'd presume it to be, comes off less nihilistic or cynical. Instead, this paints that these figures are complex figures that can try their best, but in the murky world of reality for the police, always bump against obstacles and detours with the potential of corrupt and slipping, which the story of Paul LaRusso becomes the most potent in how quietly that resolves. Every moment of pure cheese is contrasted by something still strong and pertinent, and not only is there an ending but Cop Rock got a good one.

[Major Spoiler Warning]

For you see, with the cast absolutely enjoying working on Cop Rock and aware that they were likely to be cancelled anyway, everyone comes to together for a final scene in the final episode which breaks the fourth wall so hard they literally make a joke about it not being over until a fat lady appears to sing. Ronny Cox complains to Vondie Curtis-Hall over scripts that he only got one song, everyone when they appear for a group song is clearly enjoying it all, and there's even a damn joke about both this series being more expensive than Heaven's Gate (1980), which is really an eye opener knowing the infamy of Michael Cimino's western epic, and of a show that replaced Cop Rock but only lasted for two seasons.

[Spoilers End]

Certainly, Cop Rock has the distinction of being one of the most infamous of all American shows that only got one season. Thought it's ironic, considering how long it actually took to even get a proper physical release, a DVD set from Shout Factory in the early 2010s, that it's been talked about for so long even before then. A lot of it was derision but as is common, the creations of any medium that usually get the most talked about even as the worst technically don't count for that as they're too memorable and interesting for the distinction. Also, major creative flaws and all, Cop Rock has too many good moments to outweigh the scenes for me that lunged badly into poor choices. And, come on, it's too memorable and weird for me to not like, someone whose obsessions from my writing usually about the peculiar one-offs.

Abstract Spectrum: Tonally Jarring/Unconventional

Abstract Rating (High/Medium/Low/None): Low

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