I never liked cop shows, but I was aware back then that they were trying to get attention for this one guy was going to say “asshole”, and I think it was the same guy who was going to show his butt for some reason.
I saw mention of it today because it was what ran after The Dana Carvey Show…and suddenly after all these decades I realized the show was named NYPD Blue because its purpose from the outset was to be blue, was to say asshole and to show a guy’s butt, and whatever other shenanigans they might’ve gotten up to later. So they must have started out with the idea of making a blue show by 1990s network standards, and then they’re like “And then ‘blue’ means we have to make it a cop show for the weak double entendre”.
Rather than just making yet another of the million cop shows and then kind of getting it in their heads to try to shock for attention. I probably hadn’t even heard terms like “working blue” back then.
Edit: I delete a little that was based on me having the idea it started around 1996, but apparently it started in 1993, so never mind.