‘When we established this festival in 1979,’ says Banff Television Festival president Jerry Ezekiel, ‘we set out to recognize the best television in the world, and that very much includes the best television on commercial networks.’

And if you’re going to talk quality commercial tv, the name ‘Steven Bochco’ is unavoidable.

As creator and producer of original tv series such as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, NYPD Blue and Murder One, Bochco has amassed shelves full of awards and collected 26 Emmy nominations alone for the second season of NYPD Blue, a record-breaker. As prodigious as he is successful, an overview of Bochco’s career also wouldn’t be complete without a list of other, less memorable series like Doogie Howser m.d., Cop Rock, Capitol Critters, Civil Wars and The Byrds of Paradise.

Before his life collided with fame and fortune, Manhattan-born Bochco was writing for Universal as a senior at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Tech, where he graduated in 1966 with a bachelor degree in theater. His first writing credit was shared with the late Rod Serling on a two-hour movie expanded from a Chrysler Showcase presentation, A Slow Fade to Black. Shortly thereafter he worked as story editor for a number of nbc series including Name of the Game, McMillan and Wife and Columbo.

Having completed the first season of Murder One, Bochco has three remaining series commitments with abc before he launches into exclusive services for cbs as part of their overall joint-venture agreement. Plenty to keep him busy, according to Barbara Krolls, vp of Steven Bochco Productions, so his trip to Banff will be free of business.

As he steps up to the podium to accept this year’s Award of Excellence, Bochco will be recognized for his body of work to date instead of for specific program achievements, says Ezekiel.

‘His contributions to commercial television as a whole are unmatched. He’s managed to set an exceptionally high standard in the area of commercial tv. Others are left to try and meet that standard.’

Bochco will be joining an elite club of previous winners including William Shatner, Peter Jennings, Barbara Frum, Walter Cronkite, Dr. David Suzuki, Peter Ustinov and Lorne Green.