 NBC originally wanted to spin off the characters of Officers Renko  (a white cop raised in the South) and Hill (a black cop raised in  the East) from _"Hill Street Blues" (1981)_ (qv) into their own  show, but decided not to when it was discovered that they were two  of the most popular characters with viewers of the show. However,  network executives liked the idea, and eventually it was incoporated  into the characters of Sonny Crockett (white cop raised in the  South) and Ricardo Tubbs (black cop raised in the East) on this  show.