Dennis Franz is best known for playing gruff cops, most recently as Detective Andy Sipowicz on N.Y.P.D. Blue. But before that he played Lieutenant Norman Buntz on Hill Street Blues. Hill Street Blues was the first in a new line of cop shows trying to get a more realistic feel. The cops weren't supermen, they were men with faults and problems doing what could be a pretty crappy job.

   Buntz was very much like Sipowicz, cranky and pretty much "what you see is what you get". And in the last episode Chief Fletcher Daniels got it good. Buntz clobbered him and quit the force. What became of him was revealed in the spin off series Beverly Hills Buntz.

   It turns out that Buntz packed up and left town (whatever town that was - Hill Street Blue never actually said what city it was set in). He moved to sunny Los Angeles, California and set up shop as a private detective. He didn't head out alone though. He brought Hill Street's police informant Sid the Snitch with him as his partner. Sid was played by Peter Jurasik who went on to star in the space drama Babylon 5 as Londo Mollari.

   Needless to say, these two were not the creme of the detective crop. Also needless to say (So why am I saying it?) is that these two shlubs didn't exactly fit in in glossy L.A. They got themselves into all sorts of trouble with clients and just trying to keep their heads above water. While Hill Street Blues was an hour long drama, Beverly Hills Buntz was a half hour... comedy? ....drama? ...dramady? Who the hell knew? Folks couldn't tell and then folks didn't care. After a short single season Dennis Franz was free to go play a guy who was still a cop.

Other Hill Street Blues Crossover Links
Hill Street Blues and Cop Rock
Hill Street Blues and N.Y.P.D. Blue


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