N.Y.P.D. Bull

Steven Bochco, the man who, through his show N.Y.P.D. Blue, brought us the "groundbreaking" bare-ass shots and liberal uses of the words "asshole" and "prick", now says TV, at least network TV, is too "conservative."

"I don't think today we could launch or sell a show like 'NYPD Blue,"' Bochco said.

We all know that theatrical films or direct-to-cable movies can show or do pretty much anything. You generally pay for those. But N.Y.P.D. Blue was a gimmick show. Sure, it had good drama, but the titillation factor was high, since you knew you were going to see Amy Brenneman or Kim Delany's ass, or in the first season, David Caruso's.

But now, basic cable is the place for good shows that carry generous portions of violence, nudity, and language. Like The Shield. Michael Chiklis plays a bad cop, who kills, sleeps around, and does other bad things. Or Nip/Tuck, where the plastic-surgeon lead sleeps with his patients, and the gore factor is high from the operations they show.

I love The Shield, and I think Nip/Tuck is a fine show. But these programs have their "R" rated content for a reason: it's intregal to the show. N.Y.P.D. Blue is a cop drama that seems to throw in the above-mentioned words just for effect.

All three C.S.I. shows, Third Watch, 24, and a number of others are violent shows, or at least explicit in their descriptions of violent acts. And Bochco calls TV too conservative? Give me a break. His show is ending on it's 10th year, and he's got nowhere to go, so he complains about the state of TV today.

Ultimately, he said, TV will go back to allowing more adult drama. "You're never going to put the genie back in the bottle," Bochco said. "We're never going to see television go back to what it was 20 years ago."

20 years ago, TV had Hill Street Blues (another Bochco show.... what a coincidence) and the Cosby Show. There were NO shows like the ones I have mentioned. Although we did have Miami Vice, which showed the possiblity of TV giving us a mini-movie every week.

It was a simpler time.