8.7/10140 votesLoading...#1 - Grace Under Pressure
Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 2/2/1984
Sergeant Esterhaus dies unexpectedly and the whole station house tries to deal with their grief as they eulogize the man. Meanwhile, Leo finds out his wife is cheating on him; Bates may get a unique promotion; Mrs. Furillo is mistakenly arrested for soliciting by a rookie; Sandy is raped.
Director: Rick Wallace
Writer: Michael I. Wagner, Mark Frost, Karen Hall
8.6/10170 votesLoading...#2 - The World According to Freedom
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 1/7/1982
Belker meets an eccentric calling himself ""Captain Freedom"" while on a stakeout; LaRue gets more than he bargained for as a cell plant when he overhears an arson suspect taunting an accused child molester; and Furillo issues an ultimatum to the gangs after a savage massacre in a local tavern.
Director: Jeff Bleckner
Writer: N/A
8.6/10158 votesLoading...#3 - Freedom's Last Stand
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 1/28/1982
Bates plays in the interdepartmental poker finals; Fuchs refuses to help out one of his own men caught forging prescriptions; Henry goes undercover on a smash-and-grab purse snatching detail; Delgado admits he's afraid of testifying before the commission; Joyce chides Furillo for being naive about his supposed innocence protecting him against the commission; the scam saloon closes down after a gun battle; and a furious Furillo testifies before the commission and offers his resignation to Chief Daniels.
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Writer: Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich, Michael I. Wagner
8.6/10120 votesLoading...#4 - Trial by Fury
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/30/1982
Furillo throws away the rule book when two young men rape and murder a nun during a church robbery; Belker befriends gay prostitute Eddie Gregg; Calletano faces a tax audit; and Joyce feels helpless as public opinion works to destroy her client.
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Writer: David Milch
8.5/10120 votesLoading...#5 - It Ain't Over Till It's Over
Season 7 Episode 22 - Aired 5/12/1987
Sid and Furillo work to find out who is setting up Buntz while Daniels publicly vilifies him; LaRue decides to beat a TV crew doing a live broadcast from a gangster's cellar to the punch; Bates agrees to go out with Sal the plumber; rumors are flying about what will happen to the station house after a three-alarm fire guts it.
Director: Stan Lathan
Writer: David Milch, John Romano
8.4/10192 votesLoading...#6 - Rites of Spring (2)
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 5/19/1981
Furillo and Neal go out of their way to help clear an obnoxious, racist narcotics detective accused of shooting an unarmed black man; LaRue's drinking gets really out of hand; and Hill and Renko try to help a young black woman accused of neglecting her children.
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Writer: Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich
8.4/10139 votesLoading...#7 - The Second Oldest Profession
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 11/19/1981
Bates loses a junkie prostitute through an error in judgement; Hudson beats up his lawyer after his release on bail; Furillo and Joyce reconsider their separation; and Esterhaus ends his friendship with Mac.
Director: Robert Butler
Writer: Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich
8.3/10111 votesLoading...#8 - Eugene's Comedy Empire Strikes Back
Season 3 Episode 19 - Aired 3/3/1983
Bates poses as a bus driver; LaRue continues to groom Vic Hitler for his debut; Daniels is ready to sacrifice Coffey to quiet public opinion; and Furillo and Davenport take a major step in their lives.
Director: David Anspaugh
Writer: Anthony Yerkovich, David Milch
8.2/10373 votesLoading...#9 - Hill Street Station
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 1/15/1981
Precinct Captain Furillo tries to defuse a hostage situation despite the advice of his gung-ho Emergency Action Team leader and the temperament of a self-absorbed gang leader; public defender Joyce Davenport tries to find a client who has been lost in the bureaucratic maze; Detective LaRue gets a lapful of coffee; Sgt. Esterhaus confides to Fay about his teenage sweetheart; Officers Hill and Renko are shot in the line of duty.
Director: Robert Butler
Writer: Steven Bochco
8.2/10124 votesLoading...#10 - The Last White Man on East Ferry Avenue
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 11/12/1981
Hill and Renko handle a domestic call involving an old man threatening his neighbors with a shotgun; Hudson looks for the informer in his gang; and Joyce asks Furillo for advice about the Downey case.
Director: David Anspaugh
Writer: Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich
8.2/10131 votesLoading...#11 - Requiem For a Hairbag
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/1982
LaRue and Washington open Maizel's safety deposit box and find evidence of his corruption; Bates and Coffey try to help an abused child with her baby; Belker ends his insurance scam investigation with a visit to Hill's doctor; and Daniels pressures Furillo to keep quiet about Maizel.
Director: Bob Kelljan
Writer: Mark Frost
8.2/10106 votesLoading...#12 - A Hill of Beans
Season 3 Episode 22 - Aired 5/12/1983
Belker and LaRue learn that Washington was set up by someone in the station house; the long overdue cash payroll is hijacked; Joyce meets a really nice purse snatcher; and Furillo finds Jesus Martinez behind bars.
Director: Rick Wallace
Writer: Anthony Yerkovich, Mark Frost, David Milch
8.2/1099 votesLoading...#13 - The End of Logan's Run
Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 3/1/1984
Belker has a final run in with his bald headed pickpocket with many names; Joyce defends a man whose brother plans to threaten the prosecution witness into silence; and Operation Stop 'N Cop begins.
Director: Christian I. Nyby II
Writer: Mark Frost, David Milch
8.2/10125 votesLoading...#14 - What Are Friends For?
Season 6 Episode 9 - Aired 12/5/1985
Belker goes to the dogs working undercover at the pound; Furillo chases down the reason he's been denied mortgage insurance; LaRue and Washington bust a former baseball star for drunken driving; and Buntz is held hostage by a vicious parolee.
Director: John Patterson
Writer: Dick Wolf
8.1/10186 votesLoading...#15 - Double Jeopardy
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 1/31/1981
Neal continues to investigate Macafee's life as a way of clearing LaRue; Belker and several others go undercover dressed as women to catch a rapist; Esterhaus broods over his two women; and Goldblume questions his ability after losing a jumper.
Director: Robert Butler
Writer: Steven Bochco
8.1/10148 votesLoading...#16 - Rites of Spring (1)
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 5/19/1981
Furillo and Neal go out of their way to help clear an obnoxious, racist narcotics detective accused of shooting an unarmed black man; LaRue's drinking gets really out of hand; and Hill and Renko try to help a young black woman accused of neglecting her children.
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Writer: Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich
8.1/10137 votesLoading...#17 - Cranky Streets
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 12/10/1981
Hill covers for an old friend with personal problems who uses excessive force on an arrest; Coffey arrests an old family friend during a visit to his old neighborhood; Fay introduces her fiance; and negotiations breakdown between the police union and the city.
Director: Randa Haines
Writer: Robert Crais
8.1/10105 votesLoading...#18 - The Shooter
Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 5/6/1982
Belker tries to renew his expired driver's license; Renko tries to take his father home from the hospital; LaRue rehabilitates himself with Furillo; and everyone follows the trail of the gun used to kill two officers during a burglary.
Director: Thomas Carter
Writer: Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich
8.1/10109 votesLoading...#19 - Moon Over Uranus: the Final Legacy
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 2/10/1983
The courts settle Daniels' crime operation; a jealous Furillo questions Joyce about her interview at the Justice Department; LaRue imports a surplus tank; Fay gets herself arrested so she can confront Judge Grogan about the paternity of her expected child; and Goldblume outthinks some gang members threatening a stand up young man who turned in their friends.
Director: David Anspaugh
Writer: Anthony Yerkovich, Michael I. Wagner, David Milch
8.1/10110 votesLoading...#20 - Here's Adventure, Here's Romance
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 10/13/1983
The only witness to a massacre in a gay bar is an off duty cop; the Cisco Kid ties up traffic; and Goldblume offers to be Fay's natural childbirth coach.
Director: Christian I. Nyby II
Writer: Michael I. Wagner, Mark Frost, David Milch
8.1/10110 votesLoading...#21 - Doris in Wonderland
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 11/10/1983
Commander Ozzie Cleveland enters the mayoral race; Officer Perez accidentally shoots a little boy; Daniels begins ""Operation Tenderloin"" out of a sexual cafeteria; and Mahoney tries to make political capitol for Daniels out of a shooting.
Director: Arthur Allan Seidelman
Writer: N/A
8.1/10100 votesLoading...#22 - Goodbye, Mr. Scripps
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/24/1983
On election day, Goldblume tries to keep a last minute candidate clear of the polling places; Mahoney turns on Daniels; Wachtel reports gangsters threatening to torch Murray's Wonderland; and Furillo tries to help Perez' family.
Director: Corey Allen
Writer: Mark Frost
8.1/10105 votesLoading...#23 - Midway to What?
Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 12/1/1983
Bates and Coffey clean up ""Buck Naked"" for a court appearance; a busted bookie turns over several tapes incriminating cops on the take, including a rookie Hunter; Belker pursues a paraplegic who spray painted his car; and Hill boxes for the precinct.
Director: Thomas Carter
Writer: Michael I. Wagner, Mark Frost, Karen Hall
8.1/1094 votesLoading...#24 - Nichols from Heaven
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 1/19/1984
The rats return; Esterhaus is hospitalized for tests; Bates, Coffey and Joyce try to protect a woman and her children from her abusive husband; the latest cop killing looks to be a hired gun copying the random killer; and the corruption investigation strikes close to Hill Street; Hill Street gets word of the murder of Marty Nichols.
Director: Thomas Carter
Writer: N/A
8.0/10156 votesLoading...#25 - Life, Death, Eternity
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 3/14/1981
Furillo's chances for promotion are threatened when a city councilman is implicated in the murder of the teenage prostitute; LaRue continues to look for money for his ""saloondramat""; Fay's obscene caller breaks into her home; and Belker confronts an anti-Semitic cop just transferred to the Hill.
Director: Jack Starrett
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Hill Street Blues
Every episode of Hill Street Blues ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Hill Street Blues!
A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.
Genres:DramaCrime
Network:NBC
Best Episodes Summary
"Grace Under Pressure" is the best rated episode of "Hill Street Blues". It scored 8.7/10 based on 140 votes. Directed by Rick Wallace and written by Michael I. Wagner, Mark Frost, Karen Hall, it aired on 2/2/1984. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "The World According to Freedom".