User Reviews

Joe continues to be investigated for the death of a prisoner who was in police custody. J. D. Comes very close to committing a VERY bad mistake with schoolgirl Kristen (Ally Sheedy). Mick receives some devastating news after he makes a bust (he'd been working undercover again, posing as a blind beggar). Leo tries to give addict Rico (Marco Rodriguez) something constructive to do by sending him on a breakfast run. And Frank & Joyce have a beautiful scene where they pour out their hearts to each other.

'Life in the Minors' is full to the brim with great guest stars (Ron Silver makes a brief appearance as Joes' savvy attorney), and great drama. There is not as much room here for comedy, although there are some good laughs to be had. (Rico shows up hours later, although it appears as if he actually did his job.) Some of the most powerful moments involve Lynn Tatums' grieving family, who are furious and upset and want ANSWERS. It's also a subtly powerful moment when Mick has to sit down after receiving the bad news. It's also frustrating when big, burly biker "witness" Sonny Crockett (Dennis Burkley) hands his interviewers a story that we can automatically sense is B. S. It makes the viewers eager for upcoming episodes where hopefully he will receive some comeuppance. Lucy and the head I. A. D. Officer have a heated exchange that is riveting to watch. And, in the end, it's nice for Frank & Joyce to have a big emotional confrontation, and we can see the love between them, bringing this solid episode to a close.

The guest stars include regulars Terry Kiser, Pat Corley, Gregory Sierra, and Lisa Sutton, along with other familiar faces like Robin Gammell ("Rituals"), Ketty Lester ("Blacula"), Lionel Mark Smith ("Spartan"), Stack Pierce ("Vice Squad"), Bill Randolph ("Friday the 13th Part 2"), and Peggy Blow ("Penitentiary II").

Eight out of 10.

The main focus of this episode involves Joe's close proximity to a man who dies in a jail cell. In the cell next to him was an enormous biker/thug who decides to accuse Joe of murder. The IAD guys have already decided Joe's fate. In another focus, J. D. has the hots for that high school girl played by Ally Sheedy. He comes close to some serious bad. Also, I have to say that Joyce and Frank are becoming really boring. Get it settled for heaven's sake.

I've been a huge fan of Al Pacino for a very long time, I never heard of him appearing in an episode of 'Hill Street Blues'. So when I saw the entry, I downloaded the episode, only to find Pacino does NOT appear in the episode at all. The episode credit is incorrect. Someone may have mistaken Ron Silver for Pacino as Silver's character portrays Coffey's lawyer. Silver did resemble Pacino's character 'Serpico' but Al Pacino does not show up in the episode at all. I don't get why you need to have 10 lines of text in order for it to be posted. I just wanted to correct that and move on with my life. I have done so, now I have come up with more stuff to say, not relating to the original subject at hand.