Ask Matt
Question: Your list of TV’s Top 5 cop shows in the Feb. 27 issue didn’t include NYPD Blue. How could you leave it out? — Larry
Matt Roush: I did call out NYPD in my list — within the Hill Street Blues item. I had to narrow down the genre to a Top 5 (which is pretty impossible), and since NYPD Blue would not have existed without Hill Street Blues, which redefined the genre and was also produced by Steven Bochco, I led with Hill Street while acknowledging that NYPD pushed the format even further. Giving both shows separate items would have meant leaving out something else just as essential, though I understand if many would rank NYPD over Hill Street. Both broke ground, but Hill Street advanced the medium in the 1980s in a way that I feel we don’t appreciate as much in this age of premium and streaming options.
Question: OK, I think someone may be fibbing about what the #1 new show is. CBS says it’s Bull; NBC says it’s This Is Us. -— Linda
Matt Roush: It sounds like CBS is touting total viewers while NBC is bragging about the demographics that is more important to advertisers. Both shows are successful, but
to me, what counts is which show is having the greater cultural and critical impact, and it’s not even close. This Is Us is tops in my book.
To submit questions to TV Critic Matt Roush, go to: tvinsider.com