Starsky and Hutch

Starsky and Hutch (in English: Starsky and Hutch) is a popular American action-comedy-drama television series from the years 1970. The series had 92 regular chapters of 48 minutes and a pilot episode of 90 minutes of duration. It was created by television producer William Blinn and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on ABC. It was directed by Jack Starrett (under the name Claude Ennis Starrett Jr.), who later directed The Dukes of Hazzard (1979), a somewhat similar series.

Plot

A 1975 Ford Gran Torino, a copy of the car characteristic of the protagonists.

Actor Paul Michael Glaser: Detective David Starsky.

The protagonists were two Californian plainclothes police detectives, the brown and burly David Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and the slim blonde Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson (David Soul), who represented a more intellectual type of policeman. They were known for driving a fast and distinctive Ford Gran Torino, red with a long white painted pipe, Starsky's property and pride (Hutch owns a very old car - always criticized by his partner - and sometimes refers to Starsky's car as "striped tomato"). His boss was Captain Harold Dobey (Bernie Hamilton), and his contact in the "underworld" was a flamboyant black man nicknamed Huggy Bear, played by Antonio Fargas.

The action normally takes place in the district of Bay City, California, although in some chapters the leading couple is forced to move to other cities such as nearby San Francisco, or to others further away such as Las Vegas, etc. Both companions have their affective failures in common, with Hutch being the one who shows the most occasional partners during the strip; Starsky, on the other hand, usually appears as someone in search of a great love, who fails at every opportunity.

Among the differential attributes of this series can be considered: the action scenes; the importance of the role of the car as one more character in the characterization (something that has generated a mythical fanaticism for this Ford model); the humor that both Starsky and Hutch usually show with each other and with their boss, Captain Dobey and above all, the informer Huggy Bear (who also stars in one of the chapters as the victim of a criminal gang); the well-differentiated personality of both central characters, accompanied by both well-achieved costumes (Starsky looks simple, while Hutch is fashionable). It is noteworthy that Starsky wears the same blue sports shoes for virtually the entire development of the series.

As a curiosity, in an episode of said series, the stuntmen (dressed and characterized as the protagonists) and the supplementary car (identical to the original) are chased by Starsky & Hutch, as part of a script where the cops were set up to discredit them. Another curiosity is that, in the scenes taken in front of the car, it does not have the central rear-view mirror on the windshield (probably so as not to interfere with the shot); however, when the shot shows the red Gran Torino in street shots, its presence is noticeable.

Meanwhile Starsky & Hutch was very well received in much of Latin America as well as in Spain, with separate dubbings, achieving enormous popularity and excellent ratings in several Spanish-speaking countries.

The music for the first season was entrusted to the famous Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin (by then author of legendary television themes such as Mission: Impossible and Mannix), who gave it a rather dramatic character, choosing an acoustic orchestration. Due to the more relaxed and modern look that the scripts were taking, it was considered appropriate to change the main theme for the second season, adopting an electric and rhythmic music, more up-to-date with the times.

The popularity of this series led to the debut as a singer of David Soul (Hutch), who in one episode "debuts" as such before the public, sponsored by a Country Folk star. The subject of his Dama de Plata by him would be a notable sales success, although his career did not progress later.

In 1977, growing concern about violence on television forced writers to cut action scenes in exchange for more romantic developments. This contributed, in addition to the logical wear and tear that every series accuses after several seasons on the air, to the drop in popularity of the series, which would be canceled two years later.

A quarter of a century after it went off the air, and as part of a batch of remakes of old series, the series was the inspiration for the film Starsky & Hutch, made in 2004 and starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, as well as Carmen Electra and rapper Snoop Dogg as Huggy Bear.

Technical data sheet

• Country: United States
• Year: 1975-1979
• Gender: Action
• Original idea: William Blinn
• Executive output: Aaron Spelling, Leonard Goldberg
• Address: Jack Starrett

Protagonists

• Paul Michael Glaser: Detective David "Dave" Michael Starsky, Brunette
• David Soul: Detective Kenneth Hutchinson "Hutch", blond
• Bernie Hamilton: Captain Harold Dobey
• Antonio Fargas: Huggy Bear

Episode Guide

Pilot Series (1975)

1. The threat (Starsky and Hutch in The Threat)

First season (1975-76)

1. Salvaje Sunday (Savage Sunday)
2. Long Cuernos de Res Texanos (Texas Longhorn)
3. Mortal Walk (Death Ride)
4. Snow storm (Snowstorm)
5. The Apuro (The Fix)
6. Death Notice (Death Notice)
7. Paria (Pariah)
8. Kill Huggy Bear (Kill Huggy Bear)
9. The BlindThe Bait)
10. The Blue Lady (Lady Blue)
11. Captain Dobey, you are dead (Captain Dobey, You're Dead!)
12. Terror in the Springs (Terror on the Docks)
13. Deadly ImpostorThe Deadly Impostor)
14. Shooting (Shootout)
15. The Rehenes (The Hostages)
16. Mala RachaLosing Streak)
17. Silence (Silence)
18. The Tiger of Omaha (The Omaha Tiger)
19. JoJoJojo)
20. The Huida (Running)
21. A coffin for StarskyA Coffin for Starsky)
22. the bounty hunter (The Bounty Hunter)

Second season (1976-77)

1. Las Vegas Strangler - Part 1The Las Vegas Strangler - Part 1)
2. Las Vegas Strangler - Part 2The Las Vegas Strangler - Part 2)
3. Murder on the Sea - Part 1 (Murder at Sea - Part 1)
4. Murder on the Sea - Part 2 (Murder at Sea - Part 2)
5. Gillian (Gillian)
6. Night LightBust Amboy)
7. The Vampire (The Vampire)
8. The Specialist (The Specialist)
9. Dance Academy (Tap Dancing Her Way Right Back Into Your Hearts)
10. The Monster (Vendetta)
11. PesadillaNightmare)
12. Iron Mike (Iron Mike)Iron Mike)
13. The Missing Child (Little Girl Lost)
14. Blood bath (Bloodbath)
15. The psychic (The Psychic)
16. Structure - Part 1 (The Set-Up - Part 1)
17. Structure - Part 2 (The Set-Up - Part 2)
18. Survival (survival)Survival)
19. Starsky's girlfriend (Starsky's Lady)
20. Huggy Bear and the Turk (Huggy Bear and the Turkey)
21. The Committee (The Committee)
22. La Selva AterciopeladaThe Velvet Jungle)
23. Long Walk, A Short Way of Dirty (Long Walk Down a Short Dirt Road)
24. Murder in Phase 17 (Murder on Stage 17)
25. Starsky and Hutch are Guilty (Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty)

Third season (1977-78)

1. Starsky and Hutch on Playboy Island - Part 1 (Starsky & Hutch on Playboy Island - Part 1)
2. Starsky and Hutch on Playboy Island - Part 2 (Starsky & Hutch on Playboy Island - Part 2)
3. Fatal Charm (Fatal Charm)
4. I hate you, Rosey Malone.I hate You, Rosey Malone)
5. Assassin Principle (Murder Ward)
6. Death in a Different Place (Death in a Different Place)
7. The screaming boy (The Crying Child)
8. The Heroes (The Heroes)
9. The Plague - Part 1 (The Plague - Part 1)
10. The Plague - Part 2 (The Plague - Part 2)
11. The Collector (The Collector)
12. The Man of Children in the Streets (Manchild on the Streets)
13. Action (The Action)
14. Heavy weight (The Heavyweight)
15. A body has value (A Body Worth Guarding)
16. The Trap (The Trap)
17. The Witches of Satan (Satan's Witches)
18. A Crime Class (Class in Crime)
19. Hutchinson for Murder OneHutchinson: Murder One)
20. Zorra woman (Foxy Lady)
21. Companions (Partners)
22. QuadromaniaQuadromania)
23. Deckwatch (Deckwatch)

Fourth season (1978-79)

1. CommendityDiscomania)
2. The Game (The Game)
3. VendaBlindfold)
4. Photograph finished (Photo Finish)
5. The Clarity of the Moon (Moonshine)
6. Strange Justice (Strange Justice)
7. The Avenger (The Avenger)
8. Caspa (Dandruff)
9. Black and Blue (Black and Blue)
10. The Admiral (The Groupie)
11. Tapa Girl (Cover Girl)
12. The Brother of StarskyStarsky's Brother)
13. Golden AngelThe Golden Angel)
14. Balada for a Blue Lady (Ballad for a Blue Lady)
15. Birds of a Pen (Birds of a Feather)
16. Ninety Libras of Problems (Ninety Pounds of Trouble)
17. Huggy can't come back.Huggy Can't Go Home)
18. Whites Without an Insignia - Part 1 (Targets Without a Badge - Part 1)
19. Whites Without an Insignia - Part 2 (Targets Without a Badge - Part 2)
20. Whites Without an Insignia - Part 3 (Targets Without a Badge - Part 3)
21. Starsky Vs. Hutch (Starsky vs. Hutch)
22. Sweet RevengeSweet Revenge)