Title: Steven Bochco Papers

Dates: 1980-2012

Collection Number: WGF-MS-092

Creator/Collector: Steven Bochco

Extent: 14.5 linear feet, 14 boxes

Repository: Writers Guild Foundation Archive

Abstract: The Steven Bochco Papers covers Bochco’s work as a writer, creator, and producer of television programs including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and Doogie Howser, M.D. The bulk of this collection is scripts for the aforementioned shows. Many of the episodes also include production materials like shooting schedules, credit listings, and network notes regarding standards and practices.

Language of Material: English

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The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

[Identification of item]. Steven Bochco Papers. Collection Number: WGF-MS-092. Writers Guild Foundation Archive

Donated by Dayna Bochco on 9/28/2018 and 3/7/2022.

Steven Bochco was born on December 16, 1943 in New York City. After receiving a BFA in Theater in 1966 from Carnegie Mellon, he moved to L.A. and worked as a writer at Universal Studios on mystery and procedural shows including Columbo and McMillan & Wife. Though he created multiple short-lived series prior to 1981, it was only with NBC’s Hill Street Blues that Bochco and co-creator Michael Kozoll received both critical and commercial success. With its gritty, realistic style, character-focused drama, and season-spanning story arcs, Hill Street Blues is widely credited with revolutionizing and reinventing the television procedural drama. Between 1981 and 1987, Hill Street Blues received 98 Emmy nominations. Bochco applied this same ethos to L.A. Law in 1986, which won 15 Emmys and ran for 8 seasons. When Bochco moved from NBC to ABC in an unprecedented network exclusivity deal, he once again found success with the comedy-drama Doogie Howser, M.D. and the expletive-ridden NYPD Blue, the latter of which paved the way for prestige cable dramas of the 2000s. Over the course of his career, Bochco won 10 Emmys and was nominated for 34 more, received two Humanitas Prizes and four nominations, was nominated for 13 WGA awards and won three (including the 1994 Award for TV Writing Achievement), and won four Peabody Awards. Steven Bochco passed away on April 1, 2018 at the age of 74 due to complications with leukemia. He is survived by his wife Dayna Kalins and three children.

The Steven Bochco Papers, 1980-2012, covers Bochco’s work as a prodigious creator, writer, and producer of procedural programs. It is notable for its assortment of network standards and practices notes, which highlight Bochco’s exploration of sex, violence, morality, and subjects otherwise deemed too taboo for network television of the time. The collection is organized into five series. Series I: Hill Street Blues, 1980-1985, includes 96 scripts from the first five seasons of Hill Street Blues. Most of the scripts come with additional production materials, including shooting schedules, handwritten story notes, and correspondence from NBC regarding content standards and legal research. Series II: L.A. Law, 1986-1989, consists of 63 scripts from the first three seasons of L.A. Law. Most of the scripts come with additional production materials, including shooting schedules, handwritten story notes, and correspondence from NBC regarding content standards and legal research. Series III: Doogie Howser, M.D., 1989-1992, contains 80 scripts from the first four seasons of Doogie Howser, M.D., along with earlier drafts of a few scripts. Series IV: Other Work, 1981-1992, consists of Steven Bochco’s work on season one of Hooperman (including handwritten and network notes), the short-lived Bay City Blues (also containing production info such as call sheets, handwritten story notes, and network content notes), the script for the NYPD Blue pilot, and a syndication report from TvQ between the years of 1981 and 1984. Series V: Awards, 1981-2012, includes Emmy, WGA, Humanitas and Golden Globe nomination certificates as well posters and memorabilia from Bochco’s Los Angeles office. Shows represented include Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Doogie Howser M.D., Civil Wars, Murder One, Philly, NYPD Blue, and Over There. The collection contains handwritten notes and an early annotated pilot script for Murder in the First as well as sheet music for the Civil Wars theme song.