HILL STREET BLUES: CHIPPED BEEF (TV)
Summary
One in this series of police dramas about the personal and professional lives of the officers of Hill Street Station, a precinct located in a run-down urban area.
Furillo speaks to Nash about his upcoming investigation by Internal Affairs. Joyce asks Furillo to have dinner with her that night. Renko and Hill respond to a traffic accident and find two drivers arguing with each other; Renko breaks them up. One of the drivers attempts to bludgeon Renko over the head with a lead pipe, but another driver, a man named William Teacher, warns Renko just in time and the attacker is subdued. Renko discovers that Teacher is apparently uninsured, although Teacher insists otherwise. Teacher is worried that being arrested will cause him to lose his job, thus rendering him unable to provide for his family. Renko is obligated to bring Teacher down to the station, but is grateful that Teacher saved his life and allows him to come by later that afternoon with proof of his insurance.
Later, Calletano discovers that Teacher has an outstanding felony charge from a crime committed five years ago in Kansas City, and he is wanted there. Thus LaRue and Washington are forced to bring him in, albeit reluctantly, as they feel Teacher is a genuinely decent person. When they arrive at Teacher's home to arrest him, his neighbors move to defend him and make threats against LaRue and Washington, but Teacher calms them down and says goodbye to his family, promising that he will return. Meanwhile, Furillo attends a fundraiser luncheon with Hunter, Fay, and Hal. Hal is invited up to give a speech, although he is feeling ill. He collapses and is proclaimed dead.
Teacher is brought into the station and discusses the charges against him; he was charged with assault and jumping bail, but claims that a bar fight broke out around him and he acted in self-defense. Many officers are reluctant to continue to hold Teacher in the station. Nash tells Renko he appreciates his covering for him, but Renko insists he only did it to protect Hill. When Renko finds out that Teacher was arrested he becomes furious and lets him out of his cell, promising to get him released from police custody. Hill tells Washington that he saw his girlfriend Jill in town last night, even though she is supposedly in Los Angeles. Washington at first disputes this, but then investigates the matter.
Teacher explains to Renko that the criminal charges in Kansas City got him fired from his job, so he had to seek employment elsewhere. The opposing lawyers kept delaying his case so that he couldn't get the matter resolved. He fears that being arrested now will cost him his new job. Renko and Hill try to convince Furillo to let Teacher go, viewing him as a good man with a string of bad luck. However, Furillo insists that they cannot bend the rules for Teacher simply because he was helpful to a police officer. Washington finds Jill and confronts her in her apartment. She claims she lied to him because she wanted him to see what his life would be like without her, believing that he thinks he's better off. Washington is mad at her deception and leaves. Meanwhile, Belker goes undercover to lure out a band of pickpockets who have been attacking people using ATMs. His plan works and he gives chase as the perpetrators get away by van. Soon other policemen join him and the pickpockets are successfully captured.
Furillo speaks to Renko, Hill, Bates, and Coffey in private about the Nash incident. He notices inconsistencies in their reports on the incident and believes they are all trying to cover for him. He warns them that Internal Affairs will surely notice these discrepancies. He leaves them to decide what to do. Bates and Coffey say they will change their reports to reflect the truth and an argument ensues between them and Renko. Hill breaks up the argument and says that while he knows Renko was only trying to help him, he will also change his report so that no one else will suffer on his account.
Jill arrives at the station to speak to Washington and they seem to make up. Furillo speaks to Esterhaus about the changes in the reports on Nash, believing they will now reflect the truth. He also says that he has decided to let Teacher go free. Nash arrives to speak to Furillo. He announces he is resigning from the force and will continue his pursuit of a degree in accounting. Furillo wishes him the best. Joyce arrives while Furillo calls Internal Affairs about Nash. Fay then arrives and Joyce notices her and she formally introduces herself. Fay is distraught over the loss of Hal and has an emotional breakdown while Joyce comforts her. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: December 17, 1981 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:49:09
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:08297
- GENRE: Drama, police/detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/detective
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1981-1987
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Steven Bochco … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Gregory Hoblit … Supervising Producer
- David Anspaugh … Producer
- Anthony Yerkovich … Producer
- Scott Brazil … Associate Producer
- Georg Stanford Brown … Director
- Michael Kozoll … Created by, Writer
- Jeffrey Lewis … Writer
- Mike Post … Music by
- Daniel J. Travanti … Cast, Captain Frank Furillo
- Michael Conrad … Cast, Sgt. Phil Esterhaus
- Michael Warren … Cast, Officer Bobby Hill
- Bruce Weitz … Cast, Detective Mick Belker
- James B. Sikking … Cast, Lt. Howard Hunter
- Joe Spano … Cast, Sgt. Henry Goldblume
- Barbara Bosson … Cast, Fay Furillo
- Taurean Blacque … Cast, Detective Neal Washington
- Kiel Martin … Cast, Detective J.D. LaRue
- Rene Enriquez … Cast, Lt. Ray Calletano
- Betty Thomas … Cast, Sgt. Lucille Bates
- Ed Marinaro … Cast, Officer Joe Coffey
- Charles Haid … Cast, Officer Andy Renko
- Veronica Hamel … Cast, Joyce Davenport
- Stephen McHattie … Cast, Officer Gerry Nash
- Robert Sampson … Cast, Hal Massey
- Art Evans … Cast, William Teacher
- Dori Brenner … Cast, Luana Belker
- Lynn Whitfield … Cast, Jill
- Robert Hirschfeld … Cast, Leo
- Ella Raino Edwards … Cast, Teacher's Wife
- John Diehl … Cast, Tom
- Daphne Maxwell … Cast, Sheila Roberts
- Fred Pinkard … Cast, Toastmaster
- Nick Savage … Cast, Pickpocket
- Pat Benson … Cast, Lady Driver
- Jessie Lawrence Ferguson … Cast, Panhandler
- Hal Hawkins … Cast, Stoned Driver
- Louis Rivera … Cast, Onlooker