Cop Rock," TV producer Steve Bochco's infamous attempt to musicalize the cop show genre, will get a marathon airing from 9AM-8PM ET on cable network VH-1 Sunday, July 27.

Billed as "perhaps the only television series to ever combine tales of abusive cops, drugs, black market baby rings, domestic violence, racism and more with musical numbers", the VH-1 "Cop Rock" marathon will run the entire 11-episode series back-to-back. The airing will represent the first time the show has been seen on North American television since its aborted run on ABC-TV in 1990.

Each "Cop Rock" episode includes five story-driven songs penned by such notable writers as Amanda McBroom and Randy Newman. The pilot episode, featuring an all-Newman score, is generally considered the strongest of the series. One song from the pilot, a lullabye sung by a young mother to her newborn, was recycled by Newman for his musical Randy Newman's Faust, and appeared on the show's all-star concept recording sung by Linda Ronstadt. Faust was eventually produced at La Jolla Playhouse and Goodman Theatre but is currently in limbo.

Producer Bochco, currently represented on TV with "NYPD Blue", was inspired to create "Cop Rock" by a friend's suggestion that he turn his ground-breaking show "Hill Street Blues" into a Broadway musical. The concept obviously didn't fly with the TV-watching audience, which made "Cop Rock" ABC-TV's lowest rated show of the season, and led to the musical cop show's cancellation two months after its debut.

Viewers who tune into the "Cop Rock" marathon will get to see such actors as Jimmy Smits, Gina Gershon, Ernie Hudson, James McDaniel and Michelle Green before they went on to greater fame and success. -- By Andrew Ku