Hill Street Blues Trivia
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60 free Hill Street Blues trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Hill Street Blues changed what a television drama could look like: overlapping storylines, handheld cameras, a roll call to open every episode and a captain who spent his nights arguing with a public defender. This quiz has 56 free Hill Street Blues trivia questions with answers covering the whole run, from the January 1981 pilot to the 1987 finale. You will find the easy stuff (who said "Let's be careful out there", who composed the theme) alongside genuinely hard material: Bobby Hill's boxing nickname, the city Bochco had in mind, the season-1 ending that was re-edited, the spin-off that was cut short, and which cast member was Emmy-nominated every single year. Every question was checked against the show's Wikipedia entries and the cast's own pages, and each one carries a citation, so you can settle any argument at trivia night with a source rather than a hunch.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01On which network did Hill Street Blues air during its original run?
NBC
NBC kept the show despite dreadful first-season ratings, a decision that later looked like one of the network's smartest.
Q 02In what year did Hill Street Blues premiere?
1981
It debuted in January as a mid-season replacement and ran for seven seasons.
Q 03Steven Bochco co-created Hill Street Blues with which writer?
Michael Kozoll
Kozoll's role shrank quickly; by season 2 he was credited only as a consultant.
Q 04Which production company developed Hill Street Blues for NBC?
MTM Enterprises
MTM, the company behind The Mary Tyler Moore Show, later fired Bochco from his own series over budget overruns.
Q 05Who composed the show's famous piano-led theme music?
Mike Post
Post also wrote the themes for The Rockford Files, Magnum, P.I. and Law & Order.
Q 06Which guitarist is featured on the Hill Street Blues theme?
Larry Carlton
Carlton, a jazz-fusion session veteran, also played on Steely Dan's Aja.
Q 07How high did the theme single climb on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1981?
No. 10
A TV instrumental in the top ten was rare; it also won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
Q 08How many episodes of Hill Street Blues were made?
146
Seven seasons on the air, ending in May 1987 after Daniel J. Travanti decided not to return.
Q 09Which desk sergeant closed each roll call with 'Let's be careful out there'?
Phil Esterhaus
The line ended when Michael Conrad died partway through season 4.
Q 10Which sergeant, played by Robert Prosky, took over roll call after season 4?
Stan Jablonski
Prosky's 'Stosh' was a deliberately old-school contrast to his predecessor.
Q 11What roll-call sign-off did the sergeant played by Robert Prosky use?
Let's do it to them before they do it to us
The harder line was written to signal a very different man from the fatherly desk sergeant fans had lost.
Q 12Michael Conrad's final appearance, aired in February 1984, was in an episode with what title?
Grace Under Pressure
His character died mid-tryst with Grace Gardner, and the episode doubled as a farewell to the actor.
Q 13How many Emmy Awards did Hill Street Blues win for its debut season in 1981?
Eight
Q 21What was Joyce Davenport's job for most of the series?
Public defender
Her courtroom sparring with the precinct made her secret romance with Furillo deliciously awkward.
Q 22What did Furillo affectionately call Joyce Davenport?
Counselor
Their pillow-talk scenes typically closed each episode.
Q 23Furillo and Davenport's first date was a free classical concert followed by what?
Pizza
They met in court while he was still a lieutenant and newly divorced.
Q 24Near the end of which season did Furillo and Davenport marry?
That debut-season record stood until The West Wing beat it in 2000.
Q 14How many Emmy Awards did the series win in total?
26
Those 26 wins came from 98 nominations over seven seasons.
Q 15How many consecutive Outstanding Drama Series Emmys did the show win starting in 1981?
Four
The streak ran 1981 to 1984, and was broken by Cagney & Lacey in 1985.
Q 16Bochco reportedly imagined the show's unnamed city as a hybrid of which three places?
Chicago, Buffalo and Pittsburgh
The city is never named on screen, though its precinct numbers and street names feel like the Rust Belt.
Q 17In which city were the show's exterior shots, including a real 7th District station, filmed?
Chicago
The Maxwell Street station stood in for the Hill, while interiors were shot in Los Angeles.
Q 18At which Los Angeles studio was Hill Street Blues produced?
Republic Studios
The old Republic lot in Studio City was CBS Studio Center by then, and Republic Pictures had once been the home of B-westerns.
Q 19Who played Captain Frank Furillo?
Daniel J. Travanti
Travanti won two Emmys in the role and was nominated five times.
Q 20What is Captain Furillo's middle name?
Xavier
Francis Xavier is a classic Catholic naming, fitting a character who was a recovering alcoholic wrestling with guilt.
Third
The wedding came at the end of the show's highest-rated season.
Q 25Detective Mick Belker was notorious for doing what to suspects?
Biting them
He revealed the habit ran in the family: his tailor father bit people during fights too.
Q 26Which insult was a Belker trademark?
Hair bag
He also favoured 'dog breath', and used both on friend and foe alike.
Q 27What did Belker and his wife Robin name their son in season 6?
Philip
The name honoured the desk sergeant whose death still hung over the squad room.
Q 28Despite his Southern drawl, Officer Andy Renko says he was born in which state?
New Jersey
He also claimed never to have been west of Chicago, which made his country-and-western persona pure affectation.
Q 29What nickname did Bobby Hill use for his partner Renko?
Cowboy
Charles Haid played Renko for the entire run of the show.
Q 30Under what boxing nickname had Bobby Hill won Golden Gloves titles?
Blueberry
He won the championship twice before joining the force.