* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://youtu.be/oUX3TPKVf_Y The series' main theme]], of course.
* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Hunter is a Vietnam vet who advocates violent[=/=]lethal solutions for all situations, demonstrates survivalist traits, and generally has a cocky, uber-patriotic demeanor. There are also brief moments when he shows sadness and remorse over what the war did to Vietnam. This leads some to speculate that he might have PTSD and is overcompensating to mask his internal suffering.
* GenreTurningPoint: The show was the first to show that police work wasn't as neat as shows like ''Series/{{Dragnet}}'' and ''Series/Adam12'' had depicted. It also pushed the limits of how much sex and violence could be shown on network television. However, as groundbreaking as the show was in 1981, nowadays it can look downright quaint compared with the later shows it inspired (''Series/NYPDBlue'', ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'', ''Series/TheWire'', ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'', ''Series/BlueBloods'', etc.).
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Dominique Dunne, daughter of writer Dominick Dunne and best known as the older daughter in ''Film/Poltergeist1982'', appeared on the show as a teenage mother and victim of parental abuse. Some of her bruises were real, having been inflicted by her violent boyfriend the night before. He murdered her shortly afterward.
** Detective J.D. [=LaRue=] is almost always seen either smoking a cigarette or with one in his mouth. His actor, Kiel Martin, would later die of lung cancer three years after the the series ended.
* HilariousInHindsight: On this show, Creator/JeffreyTambor played a man trying to sort out his "feminine identity issues" through doctor-mandated cross-dressing. Tambor would later earn critical and popular acclaim through his role on ''Series/{{Transparent}}'', where he plays a transgender woman coming to terms with her identity late in life.
* MemeticMutation: "Let's be careful out there." Several other cop shows have paid homage to the line.
* RetroactiveRecognition:
** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' actors Creator/DwightSchultz, Creator/JonathanFrakes, Creator/BrentSpiner and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' actor Armin Shimmerman have small speaking parts in single episodes.
** ''Series/BabylonFive'' actor Peter Jurasik as "Sid the Snitch"
** ''Series/CSIMiami'' and ''Series/NYPDBlue'' actor David Caruso as a gang leader.
** Creator/AndyGarcia as a gang member
** ''Series/LawAndOrder'' actor Creator/ChrisNoth as a beat cop.
** Ally Sheedy as the Catholic school girl.
** ''Series/BreakingBad'' and ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' actor Creator/JonathanBanks as Reggie, a murder suspect with multiple personalities.
** ''Series/{{Thirtysomething}}'' actor and ''Series/ThisIsUs'' showrunner Ken Olin as Detective Harry Garibaldi.
** Oscar-winning actor Creator/ForestWhitaker as Ernest Green, a young man who was in prison for murder since childhood.
** Creator/JoaquinPhoenix as the son of a mentally ill man threatening to set fire to his family.
** Barbara Bosson (Fay Furillo), Creator/JeffreyTambor (Judge Wachtel), Marco Rodriguez (Rico the Junkie), and Creator/DennisFranz (Benedetto/Buntz) went on to star in other Creator/StevenBochco-produced series.
** Jesus Martinez would (mysteriously) show up on ''Film/{{UHF}}'''s U62 lineup for ''Raul's Wild Kingdom''. Tragically, his actor, Trinidad Silvia, was killed in a hit-and-run while filming his scenes.
** A young Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos appeared in a few Season 2 episodes.
* SendingStuffToSaveTheShow: A success story.
* ValuesDissonance: It is a show set during TheEighties in a Police Precinct located in a run-down neighborhood of an [[{{WhereTheHellIsSpringfield}} unidentified East Coast city]], so expect a lot of what would be nowadays considered homophobic and sexist comments, a cavalier attitude to administrative procedures of the Police Department, etc. etc. The first episode notoriously features the show putting the blame for a man molesting his stepdaughter on his new wife for not putting out.
* ValuesResonance: The series ended in 1987. Yet, decades later, it's commentaries on social, economic, and political issues[[labelnote:Including]]Aggressive policing, police violence, militarization of police, police corruption, race and gender discrimination, drug use and police response, gun proliferation, homophobia, transphobia, etc.[[/labelnote]] remain frightfully current.
* TheWoobie: Bates. She's the lone female on the squad (for a while) and was seen as being MarriedToTheJob, but not entirely by choice. She wished to have a relationship, but given her career and her tall frame, she was often rejected or in romances that never went anywhere, and she lost both of her partners and good friends Coffey and Garibaldi to murder.
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