Actor JOHN MAHONEY. He started out in Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater.His film roles include "Tin Men," "Eight Men Out," the randy professor in"Moonstruck," and the father in "Say Anything."... Mahoney now playsFrasier's (Kelsey Grammer) father in the "Cheers" spin-off "Frasier".Television producer STEPHEN BOCHCO. With shows like "Hill Street Blues," "L.A.Law," and this season's "NYPD Blue," Bochco can claim credit for awhole TV genre: intensely realistic dramas that use an ensemble cast andmultiple, interweaving plots that quickly cut back and forth. TV critics allude to the "Bochco-ization of network TV," as more and more programsuse the Bochco trademarks of large casts, gallows humor and allusions tounconventional sex. Bocho remains an innovative, albeit controversial,force in television. His latest series "NYPD Blue" has been rejected by asizeable number of ABC affiliates for vulgarity and nudity. The ratingsand critics,though, assert that this is television at its finest.Actor DENNIS FRANZ. He played the tough, gum chewing LieutenantNorman Bunz on the acclaimed TV series, "Hill Street Blues." Bunz brieflystarred in the short-lived "Hill Street Blues" spin-off, "Beverly Hills Bunz.He returns to television in ABC's "NYPD Blue." As Detective Sipowicz, heplays a legendary cop that is now battling burn-out and the bottle.

Copyright 1993 Fresh Air