Three seasons into Starsky and Hutch...what a WEIRD show.

[enyawd72]

I never saw this series growing up, so I have no nostalgia for it, and so far it's been a wild ride. I've developed a love/hate relationship with it.

The dramatic "normal" crime episodes set in Bay City are great...there are some really fantastic stand out stories.

Then there are the many undercover episodes, with bizarre plots, goofy accents and disguises, and even godawful musical numbers. I always thought the point of going undercover was to blend in, not stand out like a sore thumb.

It's like two completely different shows from one episode to the next. It doesn't seem to know if it wants to be a serious crime drama or a goofy comedy show. Also, the theme song changes every single season! What's up with that?

What do you think of Starsky and Hutch?

[Mikey]

Like you I never watched it back in the day but have seen them within the last few years.

I like the show from the start but I've noticed how it regressed into an almost unwatchable series.

The whole hairdresser episode season will never get a second watch from me.

[megomania]

S&H was one of my fav shows of the 70s. They were undercover cops trying to look hip in the garishness of the 70s streets.

All the more reason to love the show :-)

Have you seen So I Married an Axe Murderer?

Charlie Mackenzie: So Tony, what's the deal with your clothes?
Tony Giardino: What do ya mean?
Charlie Mackenzie: You look like Huggy Bear from Starsky and Hutch.
Tony Giardino: What do ya mean? I look hip!
Charlie Mackenzie: No no no no no no, you look like an undercover cop TRYING to look hip.
Tony Giardino: I AM an undercover cop trying to look hip.

[megomania]

Like you I never watched it back in the day but have seen them within the last few years. I like the show from the start but I've noticed how it regressed into an almost unwatchable series. The whole hairdresser episode season will never get a second watch from me.

Pretty much every TV series becomes unwatchable at some point

[palitoy]

I like it but the show definitely got sillier as time marched on. The first season is the most serious and it has a real "Dirty Harry" vibe to it. As I recall, the network got them to tone it down later on which resulted in Vampires and other things....

[starsky]

overall, loved the show! definitely one of my favorite series. of course some episodes were good others were weak. the episode i liked the least was turkey and huggy bear. had nothing to do with starsky and hutch. the producers were trying to see if it could be a spin off show.

[MIB41]

I think context is much needed when watching really anything from the 70's. But something like Starsky & Hutch requires special consideration for it's day. You have to remember this was during the same age of SWAT and that show was removed not for being unpopular but for being TOO VIOLENT. If you watch that series today, that would make you fall off the couch laughing in that realm of reasoning. But S&H started just a couple of months after SWAT in '75 and can be looked at as a close relative to that type of content and level of intensity. Adam-12 was a huge success so it was inevitable other incarnations of law enforcement would come to the small screen. But there was allot of controversy about the depiction of violence on television at this time and it became nearly impossible for SWAT to survive in that kind of environment so it was pulled. Starsky & Hutch evolved. And you can pretty well time that out with the demise of SWAT. By the time Season three was rolling around in 1977 the producers were forced to tone it down, thus the major shift into disco nights and less provocative material. Although I will say by the middle of Season Four everyone on board knew Glaser was done with the series so it went back to it's earlier roots and got really good again and did a terrific job by the final episode. The three parter - "Targets without a Badge" and "Sweet Revenge" are classic episodes.

So Dwayne if Season Three is bugging you, the start of Season Four will flood you with period music. But rest assured as the series comes to a close, it finds its footing and ends on a high note. One bit of useless trivia I enjoy discussing when the subject permits, is the irony that the Gran Torino ended up on two TV shows at the same time during that last season. Besides Starsky & Hutch having the "stripped tomato", that very same car (and paint job) appeared in the debut episode of the Dukes of Hazzard. I'll never forget it. I was so ticked off that my beloved Torino was reduced to a prop car for a race. It was quite the come down and a definite sign one of my favorite shows was coming to a close. But it was a fun show and definitely one-of-a-kind. To this day I still enjoy the camaraderie between Starsky & Hutch. THAT is why I liked it as a kid and why I can still watch it today (warts and all).

[warlock664]

I never got to see the series when it first aired - my dad ruled over the TV and it wasn't his cup of tea. I picked up the series on DVD a number of years back, though, and I was struck by just how adult/gritty the early episodes were! In an early Season 1 ep, Hutch is seeing a mobster's girl and is forcibly made a heroin addict when said mobster wants to locate the girl. Then there was a Season 2 ep where Hutch is unknowingly in love with a prostitute. Pretty tame fare by today's standards, but definitely not family-friendly watching in the 70s!
I got through the first 2 seasons on DVD, then burnt out on it. Your observations have piqued my curiosity, though, so I may have to watch 3 and 4 soon!

[TrekStar]

Starsky and Hutch did have it's ups and downs, a spinoff tv series from the movie "the Super Cops" which was actually based on a true story. I have the series on DVD 5 seasons and you see the changes between season 1 and season 5
like the two part episode Starsky and Hutch on Playboy Island with Joan Collins and the actor who played Papa Theadore the voodo priest who would toss baby powder in someone's face and chant, "you now belong to me" to funny.

[palitoy]

Super Cops, I watched that last year, it did seem familiar...

[Hector]

overall, loved the show! definitely one of my favorite series. of course some episodes were good others were weak. the episode i liked the least was turkey and huggy bear. had nothing to do with starsky and hutch. the producers were trying to see if it could be a spin off show.

Since this is a Starsky & Hutch thread and all...I think we need a picture of your Torino here...

[fallensaviour]

Loved it as a kid and still fond of it today.

[Nostalgiabuff]

haven't watched it in years but I always liked it. I remember watching as a kid and I watched it some years back when it was on cable, maybe nick at night or something like that. goofy but fun 70's cheese

[Grimjohn]

Loved S&H as a kid and I still enjoy it today...I have a 1/18th scale "Striped Tomato."

[HardyGirl]

I never watched much in the 70s, 'cos it was on past my bedtime, and I liked sitcoms better back then. I really got into it in the 80s in reruns. I still really love it, although there are a few eps I don't like, but on the whole, I really like the show. I even recorded a few when Comcast OnDemand had them on.