''Bay City Blues'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from October 25 to November 15, 1983. The series stars

Michael Nouri Michael Nouri (born December 9, 1945) is an American screen and stage actor. He is best known for his television roles, including Dr. Neil Roberts on ''The O.C.'', Phil Grey on ''Damages'', Caleb Cortlandt on '' All My Children'', Eli David in ...

Dennis Franz Dennis Franz Schlachta (; born October 28, 1944), known professionally as Dennis Franz, is an American retired actor best known for his role as NYPD Detective Andy Sipowicz in the ABC television series ''NYPD Blue'' (1993–2005), a role that ea ...

, and

Pat Corley Pat Corley (June 1, 1930 – September 11, 2006) was an American actor. He was known for his role as bar owner Phil on the CBS sitcom '' Murphy Brown'' from 1988 to 1996. He also had a recurring role as Chief Coroner Wally Nydorf on the tel ...

, and was created and produced by

Steven Bochco Steven Ronald Bochco Masterson (December 16, 1943 – April 1, 2018) was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, including ''Hill Street Blues'', ''L.A. Law'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Cop Rock'' ...

. Eight episodes were produced, but only four were aired prior to its cancellation.

Synopsis

''Bay City Blues'' centers on a Bay City, California

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team, the Bluebirds. Players varied from young hopefuls to once-great players who were sent to the minors before retirement. Storylines revolve around the players' lives, loves, and problems. ''Bay City Blues'' features an ensemble cast of regulars including a then-unknown

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...

Mykelti Williamson Mykelti Williamson (born March 4, 1957) is an American actor best known for his roles in the films ''Forrest Gump'', ''Con Air'' and ''Ali'', and the television shows ''Boomtown'', '' 24'', and '' Justified''. In 2016, he portrayed Gabriel Maxso ...

and

. The series from producer

utilized many actors who had appeared on ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'' including Franz, Jurasik, Corley and Rodriguez. After the series' cancellation,

Ken Olin Kenneth Edward Olin (born July 30, 1954) is an American actor, television director, and producer. He is known for his role as Michael Steadman in the ABC drama series ''Thirtysomething'' (1987–1991), for which he received a Golden Globe Award ...

joined ''Hill Street Blues'' cast in the fall of 1984 and Mykelti Williamson appeared in a recurring role.

portrayed Joe Rohner, the Bluebirds' kindly manager. His love interest on the show was played by

Kelly Harmon Kelly Jean Harmon Miller ( Harmon; born November 9, 1948) is an American actress and model, best known for appearing in a series of television commercials for mints. She was a regular on the 1983 NBC series ''Bay City Blues'', playing the role ...

Filming

Filming took place in a parking lot in

Pacoima Pacoima (Tongva: ''Pacoinga'') is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Pacoima is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley region of LA. Geography Location Pacoima is bordered by the Los Angeles districts of Mission Hill ...

, a neighbourhood town in Los Angeles, California. Production for Bay City Blues was started in August 1983.

Broadcast

Scheduled opposite ABC's ''

Hart to Hart ''Hart to Hart'' is an American mystery television series that premiered on August 25, 1979, on ABC. The show stars Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, respectively, a wealthy couple who lead a glamorous jetset lifes ...

'' and CBS's Tuesday Night Movies, ''Bay City Blues'' drew poor ratings and was pulled from NBC's lineup after airing four of the eight episodes that were produced at 10 pm. The four remaining episodes were aired by selected

affiliates In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or ...

in two-hour blocks on Sunday July 1 and Sunday July 8, 1984, after the local news broadcasts. The prime-time run ended up ranking 93rd out of 101 programs, averaging only a 10 household rating and a 17 percent audience share. The remaining four episodes had not been seen again in prime-time until 2011, when

ESPN Classic ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%). The channel was originally l ...

acquired the rights to the series and aired all eight episodes.

Cast

as Joe Rohner *

as Rocky Padillo *

as Angelo Carbone *

as Ray Holtz * Patrick Cassidy as Terry St. Marie *

Bernie Casey Bernard Terry Casey (June 8, 1939 – September 19, 2017) was an American actor, poet and professional American football player. Early life Casey was born in Wyco, West Virginia, the son of Flossie (Coleman) and Frank Leslie Casey. He graduated ...

as Ozzie Peoples *

Perry Lang Perry Lang (born December 24, 1959, Palo Alto, California) is an American director, writer and actor. Acting Lang has appeared in several films and television shows, such as '' Teen Lust'', and directed himself in '' Men of War'' (1994). He had ...

as John "Frenchy" Nuckles *

Larry "Flash" Jenkins Larry "Flash" Jenkins (May 10, 1955 – April 25, 2019) was an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. Early life, family and education Jenkins was born on Long Island, New York. He graduated from Fenger High School i ...

as Charlie Henderson *

as Deejay Cunningham *

Jeff McCracken Jeff McCracken (born September 12, 1952) is an American actor, director and producer. Early life and education Born in Chicago, McCracken graduated Evanston Township High School in 1970. He served in the United States Air Force during the ...

as Vic Kresky * Marco Rodríguez as Bird * Tony Spiridakis as Lee Jacoby *

Sheree North Sheree North (born Dawn Shirley Crang; January 17, 1932 – November 5, 2005) was an American actress, dancer, and singer, known for being one of 20th Century-Fox's intended successors to Marilyn Monroe. Early life North was born Dawn Shirley ...

as Lynn Holtz *

as Cathy St. Marie *

Michele Greene Michele Dominguez Greene (born February 3, 1962) is an American actress, singer, and author. She is known for her role as attorney Abby Perkins on the TV series ''L.A. Law'' from 1986 to 1991, for which she was nominated for a 1989 Primetime ...

as Judy Nuckles *

as Sunny Hayward *

Eddie Velez Edwin Velez (born June 4, 1958) is an American film, stage and television actor. He is best known for playing Frankie Santana in the final season of the American action and adventure television series ''The A-Team''. Early life and education ...

as Pepe Garcia

US television ratings

Episodes

References

Citations

Sources

* *

External links

* * {{MTM Enterprises 1983 American television series debuts 1984 American television series endings 1980s American comedy-drama television series American sports television series English-language television shows NBC original programming Television shows set in Los Angeles County, California Baseball television series Television series by MTM Enterprises Television series created by Steven Bochco