#OnThisDay in 1987: 𝙃𝘼𝙍𝘿 𝘾𝙊𝙋𝙔 debuted on CBS-TV.
𝑩𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂!
𝑬𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒔!
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚.
𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒑𝒚 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍!
No, not that 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙥𝙮. This was a one-hour drama created by Richard Levinson and William Link, the minds behind 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙤 and 𝙈𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧, 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚. The crime beat reporters of fictional Los Angeles based newspaper "The Morning Post" was depicted, led by veteran reporter Andy Omart (Michael Murphy), along with reporter Blake Calisher (Wendy Crewson), and cub reporter David Del Valle (a 24-year-old Dean Devlin).

CBS launched the 90-minute pilot immediately following Super Bowl XXI before moving it to regular timeslot Sundays at 10/9 Central, a strategy that had worked well with NBC for 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼-𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 and for CBS with 𝘼𝙞𝙧𝙬𝙤𝙡𝙛. The show's premise was to portray the often-overlooked world of journalism, specifically the "cop shop" (police station press room) where reporters spend their time. The series aspired to be more than just a crime show, delving into the lives of the reporters themselves, highlighting the tensions and dramas of their careers within a free press. Executive producer William Sackheim said, “This is not a crime show, it’s a show about crime reporters.”

Despite its potential, Hard Copy faced criticism for its accuracy and character portrayals. Some felt the characters were not believable, and the show did not accurately represent the atmosphere of a real press room. While the show did attempt to show reporters taking notes, it was also criticized for its overdrawn characters, like the obnoxious cub reporter Del Valle. The series also had weak ratings after its premiere episode, plummeting from 17th to 50th in the Nielsens. It was put on hiatus in March, with CBS bringing back their Sunday night movie. The unexpected death of Levinson that month possibly didn't help matters, and the show wasn't on the fall schedule when announced. Most remaining episodes were burned off in May and June. IMDB lists 10 episodes, but details are scarce, and it is not likely the show was rerun in the US; but the proliferation of tabloid newsmagazine 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙥𝙮 muddies search attempts for 1989-onward.