Steven Spielberg and Cole Hauser’s 32-Episode Police Drama Deserves a Second Look
More than two decades before Nathan Fillion became the face of ABC’s The Rookie, Cole Hauser starred in another police procedural that feels surprisingly familiar. The 1996 series High Incident, created with the involvement of Steven Spielberg, followed rookie officers as they learned the job on the streets of a fictional Southern California city. With The Rookie now heading into its ninth season, the overlooked 32-episode drama is worth revisiting.
Spielberg is best known for his film career, but his television résumé is equally notable. As an executive producer, he was involved with acclaimed projects including Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
Hauser, meanwhile, became widely recognized for his role as Rip Wheeler on Yellowstone and later appeared in the Yellowstone spinoff Dutton Ranch. Long before his Western roles made him a household name, however, Hauser established himself as a versatile character actor with appearances in films such as Dazed and Confused and Good Will Hunting.
One of the more interesting entries in his early career came from his collaboration with Spielberg on High Incident.
High Incident Was a 1990s Precursor to The Rookie
The similarities between High Incident and The Rookie are difficult to miss.
The ABC police drama centers on officers from the El Camino Police Department, a fictional department representing the Los Angeles area. Across its two seasons, the series followed rookie officer Randy Willitz, played by Hauser, as he learned the realities of police work from more experienced officers.
Rather than concentrating primarily on detectives investigating major murder cases, High Incident focused on uniformed officers dealing with the calls that make up everyday police work. Crimes, emergencies and dangerous situations routinely put the officers in unpredictable circumstances.
That basic setup has plenty in common with The Rookie.
Both series are set in Southern California and use fictional communities modeled after the Los Angeles area. Both place rookie officers alongside veteran colleagues who train them while they are already working the streets. And both take a ride-along-style approach, allowing viewers to follow the officers through their professional responsibilities as well as aspects of their lives away from the job.
There is also one particularly obvious distinction. The Rookie centers on John Nolan, a middle-aged man who joins the Los Angeles police force and becomes the oldest rookie in the department. High Incident did not have that same premise. Hauser’s Randy Willitz was simply a young rookie learning the profession.
The biggest difference, though, comes from the eras in which the two shows were made.
High Incident is unmistakably a product of the 1990s, both in its social commentary and in its portrayal of police officers. The Rookie approaches similar material through a much more contemporary lens. Still, the two series share an interest in the people behind the badge and the realities of police work that many procedurals tend to overlook.
Viewed today, High Incident can almost feel like an alternate version of The Rookie in which John Nolan had somehow been sent back to 1996.
Steven Spielberg and an Law & Order Veteran Were Behind the Series
Hauser’s connection to Spielberg is one reason High Incident deserves attention, but the show’s creative lineup goes even deeper.
Spielberg helped create the series alongside Michael Pavone, Eric Bogosian and Dave Alan Johnson. Bogosian is particularly notable to fans of police television because of his work on Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, where he played Captain Danny Ross on the original series.
That connection gives High Incident another link to the long tradition of grounded police procedurals.
Like Law & Order, the series was interested in presenting law enforcement as a demanding profession rather than simply using police work as a backdrop for mystery plots. Its stories explored the pressures officers faced on the job and the difficult relationship between police departments and the communities they served.
The result was a series built around the everyday experiences of officers working in the field. The show’s official description similarly characterizes it as a ride-along with eight El Camino Police Department officers, following both their work on the streets and their lives away from the job.
The Forgotten Series Ran for 32 Episodes
High Incident premiered on ABC on March 4, 1996, and ran for two seasons before ending on May 8, 1997. In total, the series produced 32 episodes.
Hauser played Officer Randy Willitz, while the ensemble included David Keith, Matt Craven, Matthew Beck, Wendy Davis and Aunjanue Ellis. The second season also featured performers including Blair Underwood, Lisa Vidal and Lindsay Frost.
That relatively short run makes High Incident an easy series for fans of The Rookie to overlook. Yet its premise is remarkably close to the kind of character-driven police drama that has helped The Rookie thrive decades later.
The Rookie has earned strong reviews and impressive viewership, and its success has now carried the series into Season 9. ABC has also expanded the franchise with The Rookie: North, starring Jay Ellis, further demonstrating the network’s confidence in the format.
None of that diminishes what The Rookie has accomplished on its own. But its popularity provides a good reason to look back at the earlier ABC series that explored many of the same ideas.
For viewers who enjoy The Rookie or Law & Order, High Incident offers an intriguing piece of television history: a 1990s police drama featuring a young Cole Hauser, shaped in part by Steven Spielberg and Eric Bogosian, and built around rookie officers learning the job in real time.
It may have lasted only two seasons, but its 32 episodes make it a fascinating predecessor to one of ABC’s most enduring modern police dramas.