Cop Rock

It's fresh, invigorating and one of the true highlights of the new season. ... Even without the score and choreography, "Cop Rock" is a compelling, well-acted police series that indeed does (as some of its critics charge) echo Bochco's late, great "Hill Street Blues," almost as if he meant it as a homage to his own work.

This is not the most seamless pilot of the season, or the most enjoyable. But nobody whets the appetite for more as well as Bochco. "Cop Rock" is the most exciting program of the fall season. [26 Sep 1990, p.47]

So bizarre it must be seen to be disbelieved. [17 Sep 1990, p.D1]

"Cop Rock" is less innovation than next logical step (some might even say overdue step) for an increasingly music-conscious medium. [26 Sep 1990, p.1C]

As a cop show, it gets down with all the gamy fervor you'd expect from Bochco. ... But as a rock musical, it reeks - of awkwardness, to be sure, but also of an audacious recklessness, at its best exploring a fresh canvas of raucous absurdism or emotionalism. It challenges and sometimes violates your expectations, but more important, it entertains. [26 Sep 1990, p.1D]

Even when the transition from music to drama seems abrupt, or the staging of a number a bit too prosaic, "Cop Rock" has the audaciousness and energy of a true original, plus moments of brilliance that are almost blinding. [26 Sep 1990, p.C1]