Gregory Hoblit

A much celebrated producer-director of perennial Emmy-winning series, usually in tandem with Steven Bochco, Gregory Hoblit got his start in local TV in Chicago, where he worked as an associate producer and producer on live and taped programming. He returned to Los Angeles in the late 1970s and served as associate producer on the miniseries "Loose Change" (NBC, 1978). Steven Bochco, who had risen to the status of one of the hottest young writers in TV thanks to "Columbo" and other "prestige" series, asked Hoblit to join him in the new company Bochco was setting up at MTM Enterprises. Hoblit accepted, although the partnership got off to a shaky start. Their first series, "Paris," starring James Earl Jones, was unsuccessful. Their second made TV history. Bochco along with Michael Kozoll conceived "Hill Street Blues" (NBC, 1981-87), with Hoblit in the producer's chair. The resulting series about life in and around a gritty urban police station, with constant activity and a very alive camera, was slow to find an audience but went on to create TV history, earning multiple Emmy nominations over its six year run. Most critics cite "Hill Street Blues" as one of the best series ever aired on American television.