https://thegoldenhornblog.blogspot.com/2021/08/beverly-hills-buntz.html
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1534933/
1987 NBC. "Sid and Randy." Hill Street Blues private detective sitcom spinoff with Dennis Franz. David Milch was a writer and creator. Hal Ashby directed one of the pilots. Peter Jurasik as Sid. Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Guy Boyd. Guest stars are Cindy Morgan, Brian George, Ralph Manza, Joseph Chapman, Erica Yohn. Norman Buntz from Hill Street Blues quits the cops and becomes a Beverly Hills private investigator. Sid, a former crook and snitch, is now his partner. The scheduling was unusual. From Wiki:
In a programming experiment, NBC president Brandon Tartikoff announced that this show would be a "designated hitter" and was originally given prize time slots once a month following Cheers and Night Court. The other two "designated hitters" that season were the Bruce Weitz and Nancy Walker sitcom, Mama's Boy, and the second season of the Edward Asner drama The Bronx Zoo.
A political campaign hires the Buntz agency to get dirt on a rival. After staking out a hotel and trying to get pictures, Norman is nearly run down by a different target (Ralph Manza), and Sid loses his pics to the feminine whiles of Cindy Morgan, who had an assignation with the candidate. When Norman finds out, Sid is on the outs.
Not the usual kind of material for a 30 minute show. It's pretty good but it isn't sitcom funny. Would have worked better as an hour-long dramedy. It's hard to judge a 30 minute show based on one episode and there are several more Buntz eps. on Youtube. Nine aired. This was my first time seeing it and I would watch more of them.
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