The BEST episodes of Hill Street Blues

Every episode of Hill Street Blues ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Hill Street Blues!

This groundbreaking and award-winning NBC crime drama provided a very realistic view into the lives of the dedicated cops and detectives of an urban police station. From January 1981 to August 1986, the show ran on Thursdays at 10/9 Central, with occasional repeats on Saturdays at 10/9 Central. From August 1986 to August 1987 first-run episodes aired Tuesdays at 10/9 Central.

Last Updated: 1/2/2024Network: NBCStatus: Ended
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Fruits of the Poisonous Tree
star
8.91
67 votes

#1 - Fruits of the Poisonous Tree

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/3/1981

Night court interferes with "Monday Night Football" as LaRue and Washington are accused of entrapping a mugger; Bates and Coffey look for gang members responsible for the drive-by shooting of a child; Fay announces that she's getting married again.

Directors: Rod Holcomb
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Freedom's Last Stand
star
8.66
64 votes

#2 - 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.

Directors: Gregory Hoblit
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Hill Street Station
star
8.31
166 votes

#3 - 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.

Directors: Robert Butler
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Washington Deceased
star
8.24
21 votes

#4 - Washington Deceased

Season 5 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/7/1985

LaRue moonlights on a low budget horror picture and "borrows" one of the props for a joke on an obnoxious detective; a department accountant dogs Furillo; and Chief Daniels uses his position to punish Mayo for refusing his advances the night before.

Directors: Mark Frost
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The End of Logan's Run
star
8.21
24 votes

#5 - 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.

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Last Chance Salon
star
8.15
20 votes

#6 - Last Chance Salon

Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/13/1984

Renewed gang feuding involves a small local grocery store and its owners; Belker takes his anger about Robin's decision to stop seeing him out on his frightened informant during a beauty parlor undercover; Garibaldi cuts corners to help a young hooker and in his night school class; and Furillo must work against Daniels to head off a major gang battle.

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Grace Under Pressure
star
8.14
28 votes

#7 - 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.

Directors: Rick Wallace
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Pestolozzi's Revenge
star
8.11
61 votes

#8 - Pestolozzi's Revenge

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/14/1982

The Captain meets LaRue and Washington when he returns from a purse snatching; Renko (who has lost his service revolver) and Hill are rear-ended by a wedding party; Bates gets mad at Coffey when he stands her up for a breakfast date; Lou threatens again to remove his vending machines from the precinct house; Daniels tells Furillo to initiate a scam saloon in the South Ferry Precinct as a preemptive move against the corruption-seeking Sullivan Commission.

Directors: Randa Haines
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Remembrance of Hits Past
star
8.11
19 votes

#9 - Remembrance of Hits Past

Season 6 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/13/1986

Joyce reflects on her past relationship with Furillo as she waits for him to come out of surgery after he's shot on the courthouse steps just prior to testifying against a recaptured gangster. Meanwhile, Belker is sent undercover at a meat packing plant while Buntz searches for the gunman.

Directors: Ben Bolt
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I Want My Hill Street Blues
star
8.10
21 votes

#10 - I Want My Hill Street Blues

Season 6 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/6/1986

Belker goes undercover to expose a corrupt parole officer; Goldblume clashes with Furillo over the demolition of some low-rent housing in his new neighborhood; Bates makes a deal with Vivian DeWitt; Jablonski tries to cope with a crew making a music video in the station house.

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Suitcase
star
8.10
21 votes

#11 - Suitcase

Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/2/1986

Sid and Buntz wrestle with 80 lbs. of cocaine found in a suitcase at the site of a small plane crash; Goldblume looks into a suspected case of aspirin tampering; Belker goes under to look into a hotel owner scamming city housing chits from vagrants; Hill and Renko handle a domestic call concerning a woman abusing her invalid grandparents.

Directors: Stan Lathan
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It Ain't Over Till it's Over
star
8.05
21 votes

#12 - 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.

Directors: Stan Lathan
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The World According to Freedom
star
8.03
65 votes

#13 - 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.

Directors: Jeff Bleckner
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The Second Oldest Profession
star
8.02
41 votes

#14 - 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.

Directors: Robert Butler
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Larry of Arabia
star
8.00
20 votes

#15 - Larry of Arabia

Season 6 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/27/1986

Coffey persuades Bates to file guardianship papers for Fabian; Furillo considers returning to work as Daniels asks him for help getting the consultancy job he wants; Buntz appears on a TV small claims court; an impatient old woman messes up Belker's undercover at a pawn shop; and Hill, Renko, LaRue, Washington and Goldblume stumble on a courier for an international arms purchaser and deal themselves into his action.

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Slum Enchanted Evening
star
7.95
21 votes

#16 - Slum Enchanted Evening

Season 6 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/27/1986

Wachtel sentences a slumlord to time in one of his dilapidated units; Furillo is warned that Cleveland stands to benefit from an investigation into Donahue's death; and Mary finally gives up the evidence needed by Buntz.

Directors: Michael Switzer
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Parting is Such Sweep Sorrow
star
7.91
22 votes

#17 - Parting is Such Sweep Sorrow

Season 4 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/16/1984

A judge intent on elevating jail conditions releases the court's overflow back into the streets; Bates has a rocky start as roll call sergeant; another professional hit covers up the murder of Whitney Barnes; after his memorial service, Furillo follows Esterhaus' last wishes to scatter his ashes on the Hill.

Directors: Gregory Hoblit
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Dogsbreath Afternoon
star
7.90
20 votes

#18 - Dogsbreath Afternoon

Season 7 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/17/1987

Buntz tracks down Belker's snitch as the whole station house works to find out who shot Mick; Renko is forced to be honest with Daryl Ann by a blackmailing hooker; and Russo and Flaherty stalk a reported lion.

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Scales of Justice
star
7.88
24 votes

#19 - Scales of Justice

Season 6 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/30/1986

LaRue and Washington continue to stake out the tattoo parlor for a killer; Bates has a tough decision to make about Fabian; Jablonski tries to enforce a city ban on smoking in the station house; Hill meets someone special at his father's funeral; Chief Daniels surprises Furillo by offering to endorse him as his successor; Buntz cuts some corners to get a dealer selling killer synthetic heroin off the streets.

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Das Blues
star
7.87
23 votes

#20 - Das Blues

Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/23/1986

Hunter hallucinates he's aboard a Russian submarine; Belker finally gets married; Renko busts his favorite country singer again; Furillo meets with a political power broker about the Chief's job; Hill takes his daddy home to St. Louis for his burial; Buntz' old partner comes asking for help with a loan shark; and LaRue and Washington use a lady tattoo artist to help them find a killer.

Directors: Scott Brazil
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The Last White Man on East Ferry Avenue
star
7.86
70 votes

#21 - 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.

Directors: David Anspaugh
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Iced Coffey
star
7.85
20 votes

#22 - Iced Coffey

Season 6 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/6/1986

Bates agonizes over identifying Coffey's killer; Hunter uncovers an unexpected thief in the station; a prostitute sells out Jesus and Attorney Brown in a bribery scandal; and Belker's harassed by an overzealous security guard.

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Fathers and Huns
star
7.83
23 votes

#23 - Fathers and Huns

Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/21/1985

Belker's undercover at a bookie joint gets him involved in a protest against Nazis parading through the precinct; Furillo angers the chief and many others with his hard line pursuit of a senile drug king on trial for a relatively minor sale; Hill's father drifts into town claiming to be dying; and Jablonski tries to mediate between a priest and a scrap metal dealer.

Directors: Stan Lathan
Writer: Walon Green
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Life, Death, Eternity
star
7.81
69 votes

#24 - 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.

Directors: Jack Starrett
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A Pound of Flesh
star
7.80
20 votes

#25 - A Pound of Flesh

Season 7 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/5/1987

The Hill faces renewed gang violence when Jesus' sister is apparently kidnapped on the eve of her wedding to a Gypsy Boy; LaRue experiences emotional highs and lows when a perp's gun misfires three times in his face; Hunter is found, but his survival came at a high cost; IAD Shipman pursues a case against Buntz concerning a missing kilo of cocaine.

Directors: Don Weis
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