Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Beverly Hills Buntz: Cast Photo

( pictured L to R) Peter Jurasik, Dennis Franz and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson

Beverly Hills Buntz aire from November 1987 until April 1988 on NBC.

Television lost it's most beloved police series but gained 2 seedy private eyes in this spin-off from the much honored Hill Street Blues. In the final Hill Street episode, Buntz ( Dennis Franz) punched out pompous Chief Daniels and resigned. He then moved with his friend Sid " The Snitch" to sunnier climes, opening his own low-rent private detective business in Los Angeles. Fish out of water in a trendy LA ( " knights in shining polyester" the ads called them ), the 2 shifty sleazeballs took on the dregs of detective work, but somehow managed to get things done when higher priced talent could not. Sid, true to his code, cooked up a succession of scams to augment their meager income.

Also seen regularly were writer Rebecca Griswold ( Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), whose office was near Buntz's and Lt. Pugh ( Guy Boyd), of the L.A.P.D.

Beverly Hills Buntz was one of two 1987 series starring alumni of Hill Street Blues ( Mama's Boy was the other) and intended by NBC to serve as " designater hitter" series-shows that could be quickly summoned to replace faltering programs. The idea never caught on, mainly because both were scheduled so erratically that there was no chance for either to build an audience. Neither drama nor outright comedy, Beverly Hills Buntz confused critics and viewers alike. After 4 " try out" episodes in various time periods from November to January, the series settled down to a regular run in March but the series never caught on.

A Review From USA TODAY

'Buntz 'is shy of a homer

This Hill Street Blues spinoff is a terible choice to be one of NBC's " designated hitters"-once a month entries eventually to end up on the schedule.

As the latest in the new wave of half-hour comedy-dramas ( Frank's Place, Hooperman, The " Slap Maxwell" Story, and Molly Dodd), this series will need time to grow on you.

And Buntz may have a tougher time than most catching on, because its heroes are-on the surface-thoroughly unappealing. The odd couple is a tv cliche, but this time each is truly strange.

There's Norm Buntz, formerly from the Hill Street precinct and now trying for the good life in Beverly Hills as a private eye. He still has the fashion sense and manners of a thug, but if you look beyond the polyster fibers, you'll discover an admirable moral fiber. Dennis Franz again is wonderful in the part: tough-guy gruff but a thoroughly noble hero.

Unfortunately , he's still saddled with his sidekick, weaselly Sid the snitch. It's the kind of outrageously geeky role that some may say Peter Jurasik plays to slimy perfection. To me, he's just irritating.

There's something endearing though, in watching Norm suffer his sleaazy pal, who's destined to get involved in dopey scams while Norm struggles to build a business in a city that treats him like a misfit.

Buntz is much lighter than Hill Street, but as written and produced by Hill veterans Jeffery Lewis and David Milch, it brims with the hoped-for off-beat details and dialogue. A woman in Buntz's building is trying to sell a script about a " horror condo." In one memorable moment, Buntz describes a fellow ex-cop-turned-private-eye as " some kind of mixture of goat puke and fruit."

Only Franz could make such a grody line sing. It's fun to have him back, but it can't be a sometime thing.

For more on Detective Norman Buntz go to http://www.thrillingdetective.com/buntz.html

For more on the relationship between Beverly Hills Buntz and its spin-off Hill Street Blues go to http://www.poobala.com/beverlyandhill.html

For a website devoted to Dennis Franz http://www.diggstars.com/1-5-1118/links/Dennis_Franz_fan_websites/Dennis_Franz_fan_websites.html

For a website devoted to Peter Jurasik go to www.peterjurasik.com/index.htm