# Was "Hill Street Blues" really the first prime time drama to serialize? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hill-street-blues-really-the-first-prime-time-drama-to-serialize/706524 "2014-12-06T20:10:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hill-street-blues-really-the-first-prime-time-drama-to-serialize/706524/21 "2014-12-07T13:56:11Z")
UK had Z-Cars fro January 1962. In drama terms, HSB offered quite a lot of ‘new’ but the concept itself wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hill-street-blues-really-the-first-prime-time-drama-to-serialize/706524/22 "2014-12-07T14:05:19Z")
Very few TV shows prior to _HSB_ had to be watched in any particular order. Dallas was one, as it began stylistically as a miniseries. Miniserieses (sp?) like _Roots_ and _Holocaust_ definitely had to be seen in order, but they were over in a month. Apart from being British, I can’t think of any reason _Upstairs Downstairs_ shouldn’t be considered a serial drama. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hill-street-blues-really-the-first-prime-time-drama-to-serialize/706524/23 "2014-12-07T14:11:42Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > What was the first cop show, doctor show, sitcom, western, sf etc. with a strongly continuing storyline? _Hill Street, ER, Rhoda_ (although _M_A_S_H\* kind of developed one late into its run), either _Branded_ or _Alias Smith and Jones_, and probably _Space: 1999_ or _The Invaders_. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hill-street-blues-really-the-first-prime-time-drama-to-serialize/706524/24 "2014-12-07T19:59:03Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Same Bat-time. > > Same Bat-channel. I wouldn’t count _Batman_ as a serial. It was pitched to ABC as an hour-long show. The network liked the idea, but they didn’t have an hour long slot on their schedule. They had two one-half hour slots on consecutive nights, so that why they had a cliff hanger at the end of the first episode and the escape at the start of the next. It may be similar to a movie serial in that respect but every two episode (or occasionally three) arc was self-contained. Besides, it wasn’t even a drama. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hill-street-blues-really-the-first-prime-time-drama-to-serialize/706524/25 "2014-12-08T01:50:56Z")
Two more sitcoms for your consideration: _Soap_ and _Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman_ drew on serial conventions. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hill-street-blues-really-the-first-prime-time-drama-to-serialize/706524/26 "2014-12-08T14:34:20Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > _Hill Street, ER, Rhoda_ (although _M_A_S_H\* kind of developed one late into its run), either _Branded_ or _Alias Smith and Jones_, and probably _Space: 1999_ or _The Invaders_. Noe of those (except HSB) apply. Some have serial continuity (like the Invaders before and after Vincent starts working with the anti-alien group), but are not serialized. Space 1999 especially. You can pick any random episode and it is still stupid whether you’ve seen the previous one or not. 🙂 Don’t forget - HSB wasn’t just serialized. Each episode was one day. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hill-street-blues-really-the-first-prime-time-drama-to-serialize/706524/27 "2014-12-08T15:28:29Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Space 1999 especially. You can pick any random episode and it is still stupid whether you’ve seen the previous one or not. 🙂 Absolutely not true! In the second season their uniforms changed completely! And the top-level figure of the Security Chief appeared from nowhere! On a closed world with limited resources! Sigh. I did like the spacecraft in that one, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hill-street-blues-really-the-first-prime-time-drama-to-serialize/706524.md?page=1)