Bochco went to work for
Universal Pictures'
television division as a writer and then story editor on
Ironside,
Columbo,
McMillan & Wife, and the short-lived
Lorne Greene and
Ben Murphy series
Griff, as well as
Delvecchio and
The Invisible Man. He wrote the story and teleplay for the
Columbo episode "Murder by the Book" (1971), and the teleplays for several other episodes. He wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film
The Counterfeit Killer and worked on
Silent Running (1972) and
Double Indemnity (1973). He left Universal in 1978 to go to
MTM Enterprises where he had greater scope for producing. His first effort there was the short-lived
CBS police drama
Paris, notable as the first series on which
James Earl Jones played a lead role. He achieved major success for
NBC with the police drama
Hill Street Blues. It ran from 1981 to 1987 and Bochco was credited as co-creator along with
Michael Kozoll, also writing and producing. The series also garnered considerable critical acclaim and many awards, and was nominated for a total of 98
Emmy Awards throughout its run. Bochco was fired from MTM in 1985 following the failure of
Bay City Blues (1983). Bochco moved to
20th Century Fox where he co-created and produced
L.A. Law (1986–94) which aired on NBC. This series was also widely acclaimed and a regular award winner. In 1987, Bochco co-created the half-hour
dramedy Hooperman which starred
John Ritter but was canceled after two seasons, despite Bochco offering to take over direct day-to-day control of a third season.
Hooperman was part of a lucrative deal with
ABC in 1987 to create and produce ten new television series, which prompted Bochco to form Steven Bochco Productions. That year, Bochco was in final talks with an exclusive agreement with
CBS or ABC, and ABC reportedly being the winning bid. From this deal came
Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989–93) and
Cop Rock (1990). The latter combined straight police drama with live-action Broadway singing and dancing, and was one of his highest-profile failures. In 1992, Bochco created an animated television series,
Capitol Critters, along with Nat Mauldin and Michael Wagner. After a lull, Bochco co-created
NYPD Blue (1993–2005) with
David Milch. Initially controversial at the time, the series was created with the express intention of changing the nature of network one-hour drama to compete with the more adult fare broadcast on cable networks. The spring 1994 television schedule on ABC presented the only run of a television series executive produced by Bochco,
The Byrds of Paradise. The series showcased a plot structure that was an early forerunner in presenting a more realistic, and not idealized, representation of character development in the
prime time television format, but it aired for only one season, and has yet to be re-aired on television. Although
The Byrds of Paradise achieved significant critical acclaim during its initial run, and helped launch the careers of actors
Seth Green and
Jennifer Love Hewitt, the show has never received an official release on any
home video format or
streaming media platform. Other projects in this period that failed to take off include
Murder One (1995–97),
Brooklyn South (1997),
City of Angels (2000),
Philly (2001), and
Over There (2005). All five shows failed to match Bochco's earlier success though
Murder One and
Over There garnered critical praise. In 1995, he had a contract with
CBS to air the network's future programs, and had to distribute the shows worldwide. In 1999, he moved to
Paramount Television where he remained until 2005. Shortly afterwards, he was moved to ABC's corporate subsidiary
Touchstone Television later in 2005. In 2005, Bochco took charge of
Commander in Chief (2005–06), created by
Rod Lurie, and brought in a new writing team. However, in spring 2006, he left the show because of conflicts with ABC, and shortly afterward the program was canceled. Bochco described his experience on the show as "horrible". In 2006 Bochco produced a pilot for an ABC show,
Hollis & Rae, and was reported at the same time to be developing a baseball drama and another legal drama for ABC in partnership with
Chris Gerolmo. It was announced in March 2007 that Bochco had taken his first steps into internet TV with the 44-episode
Cafe Confidential, each episode being 60-seconds of unscripted "confessions" by members of the public. Yet another legal drama titled
Raising the Bar was produced for
TNT, this time in partnership with
David Feige, although it was cancelled in December 2009 during the second season. According to an interview with Bochco published in September 2007, he was winding down his involvement with network television, feeling that his tastes and current fashions in TV drama no longer coincide. "When I sit down [now], they're sitting in a room with someone who's old enough to be their father and I'm not sure they want to sit in a room with their fathers." Prior to
Hill Street Blues it was rare for American straight drama series to have
story arcs, i.e. several stories running over many episodes (with the exception of prime time soap operas such as
Dallas). It was also rare to have a large regular cast. The structure of the modern "ensemble" television drama can be traced to Bochco, who many regard as having changed the "language" of television drama. From 2014 to its cancellation in 2016, he wrote and executive produced
Murder in the First, a series drama which he co-created with
Eric Lodal. ==Personal life==