Starsky & Hutch

TV Series.  This originally ran from April 1975 (Season 1) to May 1979 (Season 4), on the ABC Network.  By season 4 the series had “jumped the shark” and run out of steam and ratings.  I’m old enough to remember seeing it on TV when it originally aired, but only vaguely, and as a late night cop drama most of the plots would have – and did – go over my head.  As a <10 year old kid in the US, my impression would have been – and was – “two cool cops driving a cool car”. 

Disclosure: I just finished watching Season 1; I’m not sure if I’ll watch the remaining 3 seasons, although they are out on DVD.   My observations are based on Season 1.   Unlike “Baretta”, however, not only is “S&H” filmed in L.A., it’s actually set in L.A. as well, which at least is honest. 

David Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser).   The guy with dark hair, Fonz-style leather jacket, and Adidas sneakers.  If Starsky sounds like he’s from New York, it’s because he is from New York (although Glaser himself is not).  He’s pretty cool.

Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson (David Soul).  The blonde guy who often wears letter jackets, minus a letter or school name.  Supposedly relocated from Minnesota – so neither cop is an L.A. native.  He’s also pretty cool.  In fact, they’re both cool. 

The two have a warm, friendly comraderie and an easy coolness.  In fact, they’re much more hip and cool than Webb and Friday (“Dragnet”), who were plainclothes police detectives, or Reed and Malloy (“Adam 12”), who were uniformed patrolmen.  They don’t set off my GAYDAR, however, others’ observations to that effect notwithstanding.  The real-life cop they remind me of is Serpico:  non-corrupt, conscientious, but able to see the forest for the trees and not stick in the mud authoritarian types like Webb & Friday or Reed & Malloy.  I didn’t see them smoke pot or drink heavily, but their home lifestyles were fairly laid back.  I would argue that Riggs & Murtaugh (Gibson & Glover in “Lethal Weapon”) took their template from this duo.   So in a real sense, “Starsky & Hutch” set the standard for the modern American cop buddy team. 

Ford Gran Torino.   This was Starsky’s car (Hutch drove a full-size Galaxy which had seen better days): a mid-70s Ford Gran Torino coupe, bright red with a white Nike stripe and aftermarket wheels.  The engine isn’t mentioned (at least not in Season 1), which means it could be anything from a 302 to a 460; in actual fact, the Season 1 car had a 400, while the subsequent season cars had 460s. It doesn’t have a rough idle, but the exhaust bark is noticeable - overdubbed, as the car itself wasn't modified.  The car is as much a star of the show as the characters:  plenty of chases, high speed driving, drifting, etc.  Although I’m not a Ford guy, I can appreciate the coolness factor here.

            According to Wikipedia, Glaser never liked the car, for several reasons.  First, it was big and ugly; second, it was gaudy and ostentatious: why would undercover cops drive such a distinctive and noticeable vehicle?  Third: he never liked Fords.  To this day he still hates the car but accepts its role in the show’s popularity and charm.  Glaser called the car a “striped tomato” – not as a compliment - and on the show Hutch referred to it as such. Contrast this with Burt Reynolds, who kept the Bandit T/A and drove it as a personal car after the movies were over. 

Guns.  Starsky carried a Colt 1911 .45 automatic, while Hutch preferred a .357 Magnum revolver:  Riggs (Beretta 92) and Murtaugh (revolver) again!

Chief Doby (Bernie Hamilton).  Their gruff, overweight, colored police chief who tolerates them even if he chews them out consistently.  They frequently kid him about his weight and his ineffective dieting.

Huggy Bear (Antonio Fargas).  The local sleezy bar owner (NOT a drug kingpin) who invariably seems to provide the duo with relevant information on the criminal activities they’re investigating.  Sometimes he has a “scheme” going which is quasi-illegal, but mostly his role is to be JUST sleazy enough to be a useful and plausible informant without being an outright criminal.  Moreover, he remains likeable – so we don’t think of Starsky and Hutch as corrupt. 

Guest stars.  Here’s another benefit of watching 70’s TV shows:  seeing actors who made it big later.  In Season 1, at least, we get: Suzanne Sommers (Savage Sunday, Episode 1), Robert Loggia & Geoffrey Lewis (The Fix, Episode 5), Marc Alaimo (The Bait, Episode 9), Gordon Jump (The Deadly Impostor, Episode 13), Norman Fell (The Shootout, Episode 14), Kristy McNichol and John Ritter [that makes Three’s Company) (Hostages, Episode 15), Steve Kanaly (from Dallas) and Jason Bernard (the judge in “Liar, Liar”) (Silence, Episode 18); and Jan Smithers (Running, Episode 20).

Movie (2004).   I had seen this when it came out in the theaters, with only my sketchy childhood memories to act as a baseline.  I saw this again after seeing Season 1.  Bottom line? A major stinker.  The original show was a drama with some light comedy – usually at the end of the episode when the bad guy was locked up or dead, so the pair could relax.  This was an outright comedy.  Ben Stiller played Starsky as an incompetent law & order dweeb, while Owen Wilson made Hutch into the same laid back surfer dude he makes ALL his characters, regardless of the role or movie.  Glaser and Soul had a definite onscreen chemistry, and their characters weren’t dramatically polar opposites.  I don’t have a general issue with Snoop Dogg, and I can see why he was cast as Huggy Bear, but he turned the character into a local druglord with armed bodyguards, which was well beyond merely being the useful informant his character is supposed to be. 

            About the only actor who played his character straight was Fred Williamson (aka Shaft) as Chief Doby.  I can’t fault Vince Vaughn or Jason Bateman as the villains: they did their jobs appropriately.  The Gran Torino gets a good amount of airtime and action.  Will Ferrell injects his inimitable weirdness and almost salvages this.  But by the end I was ecstatic to see Glaser and Soul in a brief cameo.