Starsky & Hutch (1975-79)

Forget the Ben Stiller movie, this was a rollicking, action-packed, fast-moving cop show in its day and was essential in kicking off the buddy-buddy genre on television. Without it, there would have been no Professionals, no CHiPs, no Dukes Of Hazzard and no Miami Vice which was a more slicked up, more stylish variant on S&H. Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul had an unbeatable chemistry and to this day are still close friends.

The first 2 seasons of the show were brilliant, season 3 was solid, but the last season was poor to say the least, despite one or two very decent eps. I think they should have done an S&H reunion in the mid or late 1980s as it would have been great to see them together again and after the show finished, Glaser didn't have as much success as he did on the show.

Amongst the best eps are the one where Hutch becomes a junkie and another where he falls for a whore.

Notch me up as a fan. One of the things that is good about the show, as mentioned, is the chemistry of the pair. The humour in the series as well as the harder stuff. Episodes like where Hutch gets doped up by Robert Loggia or a child being abused by their mother (Season 3 I believe). Good to know that PMG and Soulman are friends though Soul doing those insurance ads dips his stock temporarily.

One favourite scene (and incidental music) is the second season finale...



Hutch: Bad guys are in the first car
Starsky: And we're in the second car

edit, and Gillian though a guilty pleasure episode is The Vampire with legendary John Saxon. It's a tad silly in places...same goes for Satan's Witches

But there were even sillier episodes to come in season 4 with Hutch wearing a daft curly wig in one ep where he pretends to be a hairdresser and Starsky pulling funny faces at a bad guy (again played by Robert Loggia) who's shooting at him!

Michael Mann, director of movies like Heat and Collateral, wrote several early episodes which were very dark and gritty. Texas Longhorn was about a car dealer hell-bent on revenge, Lady Blue focused on an undercover policewoman pal of Starsky's who'd been murdered, JoJo was about a rapist involved in a deal with the FBI and The Psychic was a blatant Dirty Harry rip-off with Hutch running from phone booth to phone booth in his bid to pay off a ransom for a kidanpped girl.

JohnDrake wrote:

But there were even sillier episodes to come in season 4 with Hutch wearing a daft curly wig in one ep where he pretends to be a hairdresser and Starsky pulling funny faces at a bad guy (again played by Robert Loggia) who's shooting at him!

Michael Mann, director of movies like Heat and Collateral, wrote several early episodes which were very dark and gritty. Texas Longhorn was about a car dealer hell-bent on revenge, Lady Blue focused on an undercover policewoman pal of Starsky's who'd been murdered, JoJo was about a rapist involved in a deal with the FBI and The Psychic was a blatant Dirty Harry rip-off with Hutch running from phone booth to phone booth in his bid to pay off a ransom for a kidanpped girl.

True, Season 4 did have some moments though it could've been worse by what Soul and Glaser have said. The writer's wanting to make it more comic. It's probably the episode where Starsk pulls faces at Loggia but Starsky is undercover as this Italian photographer and Hutch this weedly salesman or something. That was funny...well, kind off.

TJ Hooker did Dirty Harry rip offs or similar stuff, Season 3's Blue Murder was pretty much a condensed Magnum Force.

But that's one of Spelling's lesser liked 'mind candies'.

I've heard that Soul and Glaser thought that overall, season 4 was very poor. In fact, they didn't want to do it and Glaser wanted to leave the series twice, at the end of season 2 and at the end of season 3. One very good season 4 episode was The Avenger about killings committed by a woman with split personality disorder. Joanna Cassidy was terrific in this. Targets Without A Badge (parts 1,2 and 3) was also very good as was the last ever ep Sweet Revenge in which Starsky was in a coma (shades of season 1 ep Coffin For Starsky here).

Glaser himself directed some very good episodes as did Soul.

JohnDrake wrote:

I've heard that Soul and Glaser thought that overall, season 4 was very poor. In fact, they didn't want to do it and Glaser wanted to leave the series twice, at the end of season 2 and at the end of season 3. One very good season 4 episode was The Avenger about killings committed by a woman with split personality disorder. Joanna Cassidy was terrific in this. Targets Without A Badge (parts 1,2 and 3) was also very good as was the last ever ep Sweet Revenge in which Starsky was in a coma (shades of season 1 ep Coffin For Starsky here).

Glaser himself directed some very good episodes as did Soul.

I think it was a strong series, the episodes you highlight some way to making it strong. Though thinking of silly episodes I think it was Discomania or some such which is definitely an episode to date the series.

One thing about the series in terms of guest stars was Richard Lynch who if I'm not mistaken played four villains in the series. Beats me why I mentioned that. Lynch was one of those that appeared in a lot of series of the time playing villains (aforementioned TJ Hooker). In fact the series (S&H) had some very fine guest stars.

Richard Lynch played hitman Zane in the pilot episode, played the disabled actor in Quadromania and the crazed ex-soldier in Starsky vs. Hutch. In the '80s, he played villains in many series such as The Fall Guy, The A-Team, Airwolf, TJ Hooker (like you said) and Blue Thunder (which I have on DVD). The late Michael Conrad who played Zane's buddy Cannell also popped up in season 2 episode Iron Mike.

The PMG-directed episodes I enjoyed were Bloodbath, Class In Crime, Deckwatch and Sweet Revenge. He also did a few Miami Vice eps as well.

one of the landmark series of my late childhood

I remember at the time everyone was excited about the "Starsky jacket", the big woollen cardigan he wore
my mum made me one
and yet when I watched the series again on DVD, I was amazed to find he only actually wore it once, in the telemovie pilot episode
however it always made an appearance in the opening credits, so I guess that's how it caught on

watching it all over again, it was interesting to see how Hutch was portrayed as an anal, clothes horse, health food freak in series 1, not very cool at all
he must have complained, or the marketing people provided some feedback, because they largely dropped that angle for series 2
meanwhile Starsky got to be the car loving, junk food eating slob, which was more in tune with popular taste at the time
but in series 2 Starsky had to put up with being portrayed as a bit of an ignoramus, as part of the rehabilitation of Hutch's character
in series 1 Huggy Bear was an upwardly mobile black role model, with his own bar restaurant business
but by series 2 he had been sent back to hustling on the street
through it all Captain Doby still kept eating all the pies

the theme tune wasn't one of the greats, they revamped it for series 2 but it still wasn't any great shakes

I loved it as a kid, but watching it on DVD I find it hasn't aged as well as some
IMO "Miami Vice" & "The Sweeny" are the benchmarks for TV cop shows
they still haven't been surpassed
:afro:

Starsky wore the chunky cardigan in one or two season 1 episodes, one of which was Terror On The Docks. Shame he never wore it in any other episode although I do like his worn out tan leather jacket and the black leather one he sometimes wore.

David Soul actually wanted to play Starsky because he seemed more like a cool, hi-energy guy whereas Hutch was too squeaky clean, peaches and cream as he once described him in an interview. Worth pointing out that Captain Dobey was played by another actor Richard Ward in the pilot. He had a much deeper, raspier voice, but was still quite sympathetic towards his young charges. Also, people say Huggy was a pimp but the only time that was ever mentioned in the series was in season 2 ep Iron Mike when S&H went to him for info.

I think the season 1 theme tune by Lalo Schifrin was underrated. It was a lot more darker and faster than the world-famous season 2 theme and suited the all-action nature of the show.

You're right about The Sweeney and MV. :D

seeing them in more recent times (S&H the movie and Something's Gotta Give) I'm always amazed how Starsky hardly seems to have aged at all, whereas Hutch definitely looks a little the worse for wear

Paul Michael Glaser looks really fine for his age but David Soul has definitely aged. I think it might be down to the cigarettes he smokes as I've seen from some recent photos.

I'm glad that the show finished when it did and didn't continue into the '80s as by then, it would have looked positively dated. Same with The Sweeney, another, more grittier cop show that also belonged solely to the 1970s.

Have seen biggest part of Season 1. The rest i haven't seen because the dvd of this season al ready have problems and the high prices i don't buy the rest. The movie is with exeption of the end a very good adaption, I don't like it that the tv actors have a cameo in the movie,

It be darker then The A-team, in specialy Starksky but i expext it a lot darker with the Miami Vice producer. Good it not be.

There were plans to make the Starsky & Hutch movie a serious, all-action affair but when Ben Stiller got involved, it was made into a spoof. Watching it at the pictures, I found it funny, but doubt whether I would if I saw it now.

Season 1 was probably the best, but season 2 was very, very good and season 3 had some top moments as well with stories that would have suited season 2 IMHO.

I confess to seeing the film before I did the series. It's a fine enough movie, the best for me is the car chase at the end purely for the sight of the Striped Tomato and the accompanying music. The film made me seek the series out (I had seen bits when Channel 5 showed it after Hooker), made me a definite fan of the series to the point I try to avoid the film save for the PMG/Soul cameo. Should've been the whole movie really. Could still have worked as a comedy. More an extension of Season 4 perhaps.

Yeah although it would have had to have been a small-screen reunion movie because at that point, they weren't really big-screen stars. They actually wanted to reprise their original versions of the characters in a feature-length special and it's a pity that never happened. I would have loved to see something like this directed by either one of them.

JohnDrake wrote:

Yeah although it would have had to have been a small-screen reunion movie because at that point, they weren't really big-screen stars. They actually wanted to reprise their original versions of the characters in a feature-length special and it's a pity that never happened. I would have loved to see something like this directed by either one of them.

Never know it might happen. Stranger things have happened in film and TV. Definitely get Antonio Fargas back, maybe a couple of the series' character villains -Richard Lynch etc. Obviously Bernie Hamilton can't appear. Bit of a shame his last credited appearance was in Battlestar Galactica 1980.

I know. The reunion wouldn't be the same without Antonio as Huggy, he was a key part of the show. Maybe they should have the son of a villain S & H put away as the main bad guy and they could also bring back one of the feisty girls that Kristy McNichol played in the episodes Little Girl Lost and The Trap.

I personally think the best time for a reunion movie would have been the late 1980s when old favourites like The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, The Brady Bunch and The Incredible Hulk were revived.

I loved Starsky and Hutch as a kid.
Surely, there must be a way to revisit it without it being comedic (although, I did enjoy the Ben Stiller movie a lot - it was affectionate).
And then there's this gem...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIhsQLddllc

JohnDrake wrote:

Amongst the best eps are the one where Hutch becomes a junkie and another where he falls for a whore.

Those are two of my faves as well ... at the time, I was annoyed they had so ripped on FRENCH CONNECTION 2 with the junkie thing, but once I caught on that these guys were the closest things to Kirk & Spock in terms of hetero friendship, I was really hooked.

In recent years, I saw videos on youtube of DS and PMG giving fans a lift in the red Ford Torino. Very nice of them indeed and good to know they still appreciate how popular the show still is.