"Starsky and Hutch" (1975) TV series 1975-1979

Creator:

William Blinn

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

10 September 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Two streetwise cops bust criminals in their red-and-white Ford Torino with the help of police snitch called Huggy Bear.

Plot Keywords:

Ford Torino | Police | Automobile | Police Partners | Police Detective

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

David Soul	...	Det. Ken 'Hutch' Hutchinson / ... (81 episodes, 1975-1979)
Paul Michael Glaser	...	Det. Dave Starsky / ... (81 episodes, 1975-1979)
Bernie Hamilton	...	Capt. Harold Dobey (74 episodes, 1975-1979)
Antonio Fargas	...	Huggy Bear (68 episodes, 1975-1979)
Justin O'Neill	...	ILB Ranie Sobek (27 episodes, 1975-1978)

Also Known As:

Starsky & Hutch (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

60 min (88 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | UK:15 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

1027 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Spelling-Goldberg Productions

Trivia:

Ford Motor Company actually marketed around 1,000 special edition Gran Torino hardtops during the 1976 model year with the Starsky and Hutch paint job - the shape of the white stripe was not the same as the TV cars; sadly, the Torino was redesigned for 1977 as the LTD II, with the station wagon the only sole survivor.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Frequently throughout the series, a criminal will be seen using a revolver with a silencer attached. A silencer is useless on a revolver (except for the Russian Nagant M1895) as the sound of the gunshot will escape through the cylinder gap, the space between the front of the cylinder and the muzzle.

Quotes:

Capt. Harold Dobey: Starsky, about this report, it reads like a comic book: "The fiery Torino sped into the street and we spilled into action."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Charlie's Angels' (2004) (TV)

With a makeup artist called Shotgun Britton, how could it fail?

The best cop show of the 70's and, with the exception of Kojak and the Rockford Files, a jewel in a sea of studio-cloned crap. First with the much-copied clichés of gruff captain and streetwise, all-knowing snitch, it had pace, pathos and, of course, the Striped Tomato.

Until the Hill Street Blues ushered in a new style of cop show for the eighties, Starsky and Hutch was the defining show of my teens and a rollicking, unashamed express-ride through the polyestered, bell-bottomed decade with two likable cops who are also best friends and plenty of short-skirted, tight-jeaned girls. It also had the great sense not to outlive its popularity.

We all had favourites (mine was Starsky) and we all tried to be as cool as Huggy Bear (brilliantly played by Antonio Fargas)...and failed miserably.

It has definitely dated down the years, but I have a copy on DVD and still take it out now and again for a chuckle at what we used to look like.