8.3/10370 votes#1 - 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
7.8/10239 votes#2 - Presidential Fever
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 1/17/1981
Hill and Renko meet again for the first time since their shooting; Esterhaus tries to avoid Grace Gardner, the new police decorator; two transfer officers get themselves into trouble; Belker pursues rapists in the park; and Furillo must deal with Fay's demands for more money and an impending Presidential visit.
Director: Robert Butler
Writer: Steven Bochco
7.8/10205 votes#3 - Politics as Usual
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 1/22/1981
Hill and Renko decide to split up as a team; LaRue is offered a bribe by a drug dealer who turns out to be a cop; Furillo tries to negotiate with the gangs to ensure a peaceful Presidential tour; Belker agrees to a blind date; and Fay is arrested in a hot tub.
Director: Robert Butler
Writer: Steven Bochco
8.0/10191 votes#4 - Can World War III Be An Attitude?
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 1/24/1981
Furillo backs LaRue in the bribery case brought by Macafee; Hill and Renko bust a car thief who's a mechanical whiz; and Esterhaus sees Grace in a new light when they share a crisis at the station house when the Presidential visit is cancelled and gang revenge is feared.
Director: Robert Butler
Writer: Steven Bochco
8.1/10183 votes#5 - 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
7.8/10178 votes#6 - Film at Eleven
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 2/7/1981
A television reporter rides with Hill and Renko; Washington and LaRue find the gun that shot Hill and Renko; and Belker busts Kevin Herman Dracula for biting a prostitute.
Director: Georg Stanford Brown
Writer: Anthony Yerkovich
7.7/10175 votes#7 - Choice Cut
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 2/14/1981
Hector Ruiz takes hostages again, this time at a supermarket; LaRue and Washington try to connect the gun that shot Hill and Renko with addict Eddie Hoban; and Cynthia Chase uses the hostage scene to stir up the local merchants.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/10181 votes#8 - Up in Arms
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 2/21/1981
Furillo gets orders to deal with a neighborhood merchants association; Esterhaus goes out to meet a criminal he helped put away; Harris and Santini get into trouble with the deadly black van; and Hoban's lie detector results are inconclusive.
Director: Georg Stanford Brown
Writer: Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich
7.7/10168 votes#9 - Your Kind, My Kind, Humankind
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 2/28/1981
The Dekker Avenue Merchants Association continues helping the police; Eddie Hoban finds himself out in the cold; Hill, Renko and Belker all have personal problems; Furillo tries to help a confused Santini decide what to do; and LaRue asks Cynthia Chase along on a dull stakeout that suddenly heats up.
Director: N/A
Writer: Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich
7.8/10158 votes#10 - Gatorbait
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 3/7/1981
Renko gets put out when a Division homicide detective ridicules his efforts to learn who killed a 15-year-old prostitute; Furillo learns that he may be in line for a promotion to commander; LaRue and Washington have a surprise for Hunter during his annual Alligator hunt in the city sewers; and Fay asks Furillo's help with an obscene phone caller.
Director: Georg Stanford Brown
Writer: N/A
8.0/10154 votes#11 - 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
7.9/10151 votes#12 - I Never Promised You a Rose, Marvin
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 3/21/1981
Furillo pushes the investigation of Councilman McAuley; LaRue's business dream comes to a bitter end; Lt. Hunter gets his chance to test out an ""urban tank"" in sniper alley.
Director: Robert C. Thompson
Writer: Anthony Yerkovich
7.9/10161 votes#13 - Fecund Hand Rose
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 3/25/1981
Esterhaus faces immense pressure as his wedding day to Cindy dawns and Grace shows him what he's giving up; Furillo resents providing protection for Ralph Macafee, who's now a state witness; Belker busts an entertaining professional cat burglar; and everyone scrambles to get ready for the wedding ceremony.
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Writer: N/A
8.1/10146 votes#14 - 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
8.4/10190 votes#15 - 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
NaN/100 votes#16 - Jungle Madness (1)
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 5/26/1981
Neal continues to investigate the Weeks shooting, despite pressure from the Chief to drop it because of the bad publicity; LaRue goes from one shady scam to another as he tries to raise money; Belker's sham fence operation nets a surprise; Shirrett Anders leaves her children again; Furillo warns LaRue to get help for his drinking problem after he ruins a drug bust; and Joe Coffey, Lucy's new partner, is shot.
Director: Corey Allen
Writer: Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich
NaN/100 votes#17 - Jungle Madness (2)
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 5/26/1981
Neal continues to investigate the Weeks shooting, despite pressure from the Chief to drop it because of the bad publicity; LaRue goes from one shady scam to another as he tries to raise money; Belker's sham fence operation nets a surprise; Shirrett Anders leaves her children again; Furillo warns LaRue to get help for his drinking problem after he ruins a drug bust; and Joe Coffey, Lucy's new partner, is shot.
Director: Corey Allen
Writer: Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich
The Best Episodes of Hill Street Blues Season 1
Every episode of Hill Street Blues Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Hill Street Blues Season 1!
A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.
Genres:DramaCrime
Network:NBC
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Hill Street Station" is the best rated episode of "Hill Street Blues" season 1. It scored 8.3/10 based on 370 votes. Directed by Robert Butler and written by Steven Bochco, it aired on 1/15/1981. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "Presidential Fever".