The following "Hey, let's be careful out there!" is a line almost always spoken by Sgt. Phil Esterhaus, played by Michael Conrad, in the TV show Hill Street Blues (1981-1987). Every week, Sgt. Esterhaus would gather the cops of Hill Street together. He would to let them know about all the crime in various areas of the city. He pointed to crimes they needed to stop (murders, robberies, rapes, prostitution, arson, etc.). You name it, the Hill Street folks in blue dealt with it. As he finished up his roll call for the day, he'd bid his officers farewell with the important advice—"Let's be careful out there!". Most of them tried to do as he said.

In the series, it was a gritty, realistic look at the life of cops in a large metropolitan city. The police officers of the Hill Street Station tried to keep the peace. There were however a good number of casualties along the way. The show focused on conflicts between the work lives and private lives of the individual characters. People living each day with harsh social problems were part of the story lines. "Hill Street Blues" was created by Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll; it ran for 7 seasons and aired 146 episodes. Key stars were Daniel J. Travanti, Veronica Hamel, Michael Conrad, Bruce Weitz, Joe Spano, Michael Warren, Charles Haid, James B. Sikking, Betty Thomas, Kiel Martin, Taurean Blacque, Rene Enriquez, Ed Marinaro, and Barbara Bosson.

This show obtained critical acclaim and received 98 Emmy nominations during its run.

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