I’ve been watching the reruns on “Bravo,” and I had forgotten what an obnoxious neurotic whiney-ass she was. She makes here usual cameo appearance with something like, “Fraaaaaank–the plumbing’s leaking. . .” or some other such nonsense.
In the series finale, instead of Buntz punching out the chief, I would have preferred seeing Joyce Davenport punching out Faye.
However, givin Barbara Bosson’s connections, that just wasn’t gonna happen–and that’s probably the only reason for her presence in the series.
My mother used to tease me unmercifully about my lusting over Joyce Davenport. Put her (Joyce, not my mother you perv) in a man’s dress shirt and nothing else, with a few buttons undone, and those glasses at the tip of her nose…
My quick opinion of Faye is that Barbara Bosson must have really loved her husband to agree to play that character. But let’s remember that in the first couple of season a lot of the characters (think of Faye, Esterhaus, Howard, Renko and Belker) were essentially cartoon characters who weren’t given any facets to their personalities until later. If I recall, Faye was a pretty sympathetic character in the episode where Furillo was shot.
Mjollnir - I had a reaction similar to yours. Hill Street was and remains my favorite TV show, and during its original run, I didn’t think to much about Faye at all. I remember finding her vaguely comic.
Watching the reruns, I am shocked by how annoying she is. I get the feeling she is playing a male perspective on the obnoxious ex. Of course, Bochco didn’t have an ex at the time (perhaps a case of life imitating art?) Faye seems to embody every ugly stereotype about the frumpy, demanding, sexually unsatisfying, neurotic, clingy ex-wife.