Rating : - Christmas is not exactly a happy time up on the Hill
Granted, "All in the Family" gets credit for making a major breakthrough in terms of prime time television programming. After Norman Lear's landmark series there was really nothing you could not talk about on television, not to mention nothing that you could not treat with humor. Consequently, "All in the Family" is arguably the most important television series in history, but after it did not come the deluge and it was "Hill Street Blues" that opened the gates for television dramas. It not only established a strong precedent for mixing drama and comedy it also proved in that time before cable television exploded that a quality television show could survive with low ratings if it had the right time of audinece (young people with a high percentage of disposable income). Created by Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll, "Hill Street Blues" was one of the lowest-rated series during its first season but was renewed due to the tremendous critical acclaim it received and its six Emmy awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, the first of four straight in that category. What we have here is an episode from the show's third season that proves how great the show was because this is really just an average episode:

Episode 47, "Santaclaustrophobia" (Written by Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich & Jeffrey Lewis, First aired December 16, 1982) is a fairly pedestrian episode by "Hill Street Blues" standards, although it would certainly qualify as a "holiday" episode, taking into account that being uplifting is a relative term upon the Hill. Captain Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) is desperate to stop four youths who are having their own brand of holiday fun in the area and leaving behind a trail of victims. Bobby Hill (Michael Warren) has an unwanted visitor when his father Reggie (James McEachin) shows up at the station house trying to make sure the first thing he does is not ask for a handout. An even darker storyline has Neil Washington (Taurean Blacque) being overwhelmed by his guilt over shooting a store owner by mistake. But maybe there is some glimmer of hope in this one as Howard Hunter (James B. Sikking) tries to reach a rapproachamount with a waitress named Dora (Jan Stratton) who is also suffering from the seasonal blues. Oh, and Buck Naked flahes Faye (Barbara Bosson)m which is wrong on so many levels.

The other comic relief comes from Mick Belker (Bruce Weitz) working undercover as a Santa, but being bothered by a kid (Khalif Bobatoon) who will not go away. So Santa busts him. The finale comes when a bunch of the Hill Street cops dress up to take toys over to the kids in the hospital and end up running down some robbery suspects. That is almost enough to make me round up on this one, but "Santaclasutrophobia" is a solid "HSB" episode and not a great one, which is why it was such a great television series. Lucy Bates (Betty Thomas) gets hurt and she ends up in the hospital for Christmas, which means a late night visit from Joe Coffey (Ed Marinaro). No wonder Frank is taking Joyce (Veronical Hamel) and Frank Jr. on a holiday ski trip, because it is clearly time to get out of Dodge. Still, this episode provides ample evidence of why shows like from "St. Elsewhere" and "L.A. Law" to "The Sopranos" and "Desperate Housewives" can look back at their family tree and see that their roots are firmly grounded in "Hill Street Blues."