Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute
pilotA "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
movie (originally aired as a
Movie of the WeekThe ABC Movie of the Week is a weekly television anthology series, featuring made-for-TV movies, that aired on the ABC network in various permutations from 1969 to 1975.-History:...
entry) and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by
William BlinnWilliam Frederick Blinn is an American screenwriter and television producer.-Career:Born in Toledo, Ohio, Blinn began his career in television in the 1960s. As a screenwriter, Blinn has written episodes of Rawhide, Here Come the Brides, Gunsmoke, The Rookies, and Fame...
, produced by
Spelling-Goldberg ProductionsSpelling-Goldberg Productions was a television production company established in 1972 by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg. Together, they've produced such shows as Starsky & Hutch, T. J. Hooker, S.W.A.T., Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island and Hart To Hart...
, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
network; distributed by
Columbia Pictures TelevisionColumbia Pictures Television was the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems . The studio changed its name on September 4, 1974.-1974-1982:...
in the United States and, originally,
Metromedia Producers CorporationMetromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...
in Canada and some other parts of the world.
Sony Pictures TelevisionSony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
is now the worldwide distributor for the series.
Overview
The protagonists were two Southern
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
policemen: the dark-haired
BrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
transplant
David Michael Starsky (
Paul Michael GlaserPaul Michael Glaser is an American actor and director, perhaps best known for his role as Detective David Starsky on the 1970s television series Starsky and Hutch; he also appeared as Captain Jack Steeper on the 1999 to 2005 NBC series Third Watch.-Early life:Glaser, the youngest of three...
) who was a streetwise detective and U.S. Army veteran with intense, sometimes childlike moods, and the blond
Duluth, MinnesotaDuluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
native
Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson (
David SoulDavid Soul is an American-British actor and singer, best known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the television programme Starsky and Hutch . He gained British citizenship in 2004.-Early life:...
), a more reserved and intellectually inclined character. Under the radio call sign "
Zebra ThreeZebra Three is a radio code name, more accurately known as a call sign, given by the fictional "Bay City, California" police department of the iconic 1970s television series Starsky and Hutch to Robbery-Homicide Division detectives David Starsky and Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson; the BCPD was loosely...
", they were known for usually tearing around the streets of fictional "Bay City, California".
The vehicle of choice was Starsky's two-door Ford
Gran TorinoThe Ford Torino is an intermediate automobile produced by the Ford Motor Company for the North American market between 1968 and 1976. The car was named after the city of Turin , which is considered the Detroit of Italy...
, which was red with a large white vector stripe. The Torino was nicknamed the "
Striped Tomato" by Hutch in the episode "Snowstorm"; the nickname was subsequently adopted by the fans of the series. However, the term didn't come from the writers - it came from a real-life comment that Glaser made. In a segment titled
Starsky & Hutch: Behind The Badge that was featured on the first season
DVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
collection, Glaser stated that when he was first shown the Torino by Aaron Spelling, he sarcastically said to Soul, "That thing looks like a striped tomato!" Hutch's automobile was a battered tan 1973
Ford GalaxieThe Ford Galaxie was a full-size car built in the United States by the Ford Motor Company for model years 1959 through 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford’s full-size range from 1959 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the excitement surrounding the Space Race...
500, which occasionally appeared when the duo needed separate vehicles or for undercover work.
Supporting characters
Their main
underworldOrganized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
contact was the street-wise, jive-talking
Huggy Bear (
Antonio FargasAntonio Juan Fargas is an American actor famous for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation movies, as well as his portrayal of Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series Starsky and Hutch.-Biography:...
), who often dressed in a flashy manner and ran his own bar first named
Huggy Bear's and later
The Pits. The duo's boss was the gruff, no-nonsense but fair Captain
Harold C. Dobey, played by
Bernie HamiltonBernie Hamilton was an American actor.Hamilton was born in East Los Angeles and attended Oakland Technical High School, where he first became interested in acting. In films from 1950, he laboured in bit roles for years before getting noticed in the film One Potato, Two Potato , the story of an...
in the series (gravel-voiced actor
Richard WardRichard Ward, was a gravel-voiced African American actor in films and television and the stage from the late 1950s onwards until his death. He made three guest appearances on Good Times as James's dad Henry , who had walked out on James' mom and siblings when he was younger...
in the pilot).
Starsky and Hutch was one of the first prime-time dramatic shows to cast black characters in a positive light; with both Captain Dobey, and—despite his walking on the edge of the law—the honest and trustworthy Huggy seen to be positive black role models.
Huggy's immense popularity caused Spelling and Goldberg to consider giving Fargas his own series. The second season episode "Huggy Bear and the Turkey" was the test pilot for a proposed
spin offIn media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
with Huggy and his friend, former Sheriff "Turkey" Turquet (Dale Robinette) becoming
private investigatorA private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
s; However, the premise proved unpopular with viewers and it never led to a series. In the episode it was revealed that Huggy's last name is Brown (no clue as to his first name was given).
Two character names came from William Blinn's past: "Starsky" was the name of a high school friend, and "Huggy Bear" was a local
disc jockeyA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
.
Seasons 1 and 2
In contrast to police characters on TV up until this time, Starsky and Hutch were open with physical gestures of affection, often declaring that they trusted only each other against the world. In a "
blooperA blooper, also known as an outtake or boner is a short sequence of a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms of misspoken words...
tape" made during the show's run that can be found on
YouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, the narrator intones that some Hollywood industry types referred to the characters as "
French kissing"French Kissing" is a song by German singer-songwriter Sarah Connor from her debut album, Green Eyed Soul . Written and produced by Rob Tyger and Kay Denar, the track incorporates a sample of Blackstreet's 1996 hit song "No Diggity" featuring Dr...
prime-time
homosHomosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
". Soul verified this statement in a 1999
"cast reunion" interview in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. During the 1980s some fans, mostly women, started writing and extralegally publishing "
slash fictionSlash fiction is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on the depiction of romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex...
" stories about the pair and continue to do so in print and on the Internet.
http://starskyhutcharchive.com/stories.php?genre=slash
Many fans were attracted not just by the characters, but the quality of writing during the first two seasons (despite the fact that the majority of first season stories were actually existing scripts that were merely adapted to fit the series). The second season episode "Long Walk Down a Short Dirt Road", featured country star
Lynn AndersonLynn Rene Anderson is an American country music singer and equestrian known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, most notably her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, " Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most...
as a singer being stalked by a deranged person and was based upon a real-life incident involving
Dolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
. The part was written with Parton in mind, but Anderson wound up playing the role.
Season 3
In 1977, a rising concern about violence on TV, along with Glaser's own concerns about the level of violence in the series, forced the screenplay writers to cut down on violent action scenes and to employ more romantic and socially themed episodes, and play up the "buddy buddy" aspect of the show's leads even more so. At the same time, the lead actors, Glaser in particular, became jaded with the general theme of
Starsky and Hutch. These and other factors contributed to the fading popularity of the series.
Glaser indicated several times that he wanted to get out of his contract and leave the series; he even sued to be released from his contract before the start of the third season. It seemed that he would not be returning for filming, so to fill the gap he would have left, the character of
Officer Linda Baylor (played by
Roz KellyRoz Kelly is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli's girlfriend Carol "Pinky" Tuscadero on the hit television series Happy Days.-Before Happy Days:...
) was created, and a number of alternative scripts featuring the character instead of Starsky were written (whether the show's name would have remained the same is unknown). After being given more control over scripts, opportunities to direct, and a per episode pay raise from $5,000 to $35,000, Glaser was persuaded to continue, and Baylor only appeared in one episode (alongside both Starsky and Hutch) in the
Play Misty for MePlay Misty for Me is a 1971 American psychological thriller film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, in his directorial debut. Jessica Walter and Donna Mills co-star. The original music score was composed by Dee Barton.-Plot:...
-inspired episode "Fatal Charm".
Season 4 and syndication
Glaser again voiced his desires to leave during the fourth season. This time, Starsky's wayward younger brother Nick (John Herzfeld) was introduced in the episode "Starsky's Brother". It was intended that if Glaser was to quit, that the reformed Nick would join the force and fill Glaser's place (this time at least being able to keep the shows title as
Starsky & Hutch); Glaser decided to finish out the season.
Although a fifth season was planned, it was ultimately Glaser's desire to quit and declining ratings which brought an end to the series.
The final episode of the run, "Sweet Revenge", which has Starsky fighting for his life after being gunned down, originally had the character dying in early drafts. However, the producers decided to have the character survive, as it was felt it would make reruns sit better in syndication, as well as leaving the option open if they ever decided to revive the series.
After its prime-time run,
Starsky and Hutch was offered in syndication and has been shown on several local and cable networks, including
The National NetworkSpike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
and
WWME-CAWWME-CA is a class A station in Chicago, Illinois. It is owned by Weigel Broadcasting, which also owns sister stations WCIU-TV and WMEU-CA. This station is the flagship of the Me-TV network. Me-TV is also broadcast on WCIU's digital subchannel 26.3....
in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Several episodes from the first two seasons can be viewed for free in
MinisodeThe Minisode Network is a Sony Pictures Television internet television network launched in June 2007. The term minisode is a portmanteau of "mini" and "episode." Unlike webisodes, which are initially broadcast on the internet, minisodes are condensed versions of previously broadcast, full length,...
and regular format on
CrackleCrackle is a digital network and studio, featuring commercially supported streaming video content in Flash Video format. It is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, and its content consists primarily of Sony's library of films and television shows...
.
Much of the show was shot on location in the
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
beach community of San Pedro. The building that was used as the "Metro Division" headquarters is now San Pedro's City Hall.
DVD releases
Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentSony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
has released all 4 Seasons on DVD in Regions 1 and 2.
| DVD Name | |Release dates |
| Region 1 | Region 2 |
| The Complete 1st Season |
23 |
March 2, 2004 |
March 15, 2004 |
| The Complete 2nd Season |
25 |
July 20, 2004 |
July 19, 2004 |
| The Complete 3rd Season |
23 |
March 15, 2005 |
February 28, 2005 |
| The Complete 4th Season |
22 |
October 17, 2006 |
February 13, 2006 |
International broadcasts
- On March 15, 1979 in Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Starsky and Hutch was aired on Rai DueRai 2 is one of the three main television channels broadcast by Italian public television company RAI alongside with Rai 1 and Rai 3. Rai 2 first started transmissions on November 4, 1961...
achieving smash-hit status. In 1987 it was broadcast again, this time in the late afternoon, on Italia 1Italia 1 is an Italian commercial television channel on the Mediaset network. It is oriented especially at young people.Italia 1 was launched in January 1982 and, originally, was owned by Rusconi; after a few months, however, due to the aggressive dumping practices of Silvio Berlusconi's rival...
and in 2007 on Rai TreRai 3 is part of RAI, the Italian government broadcasting agency, which owns other channels, such as Rai 1 and Rai 2 . Rai 3 first started transmissions on December 15, 1979. In the eighties it was under the predominant political influence of the Italian Communist Party...
at lunchtime. After some reruns on Italia 1 and AXNAXN is a Pay television, cable and satellite television channel owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, which was first launched on May 22, 1997. The network is now spread across several regions in the world, including Japan, Europe, other parts of Asia and Latin America...
, in 2009 the series appeared Mondays on Fox RetroFox Retro is an Italian television channel owned by Fox International Channels Italy. It feature older American television series from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. It is available with a Sky Italia subscription...
. It is currently aired in the early morning on Rete 4Rete 4 is an Italian television station belonging to the Mediaset network. It is an Italian private commercial TV channel. Rete 4's main news programme is TG4, whose editor-in-chief is Emilio Fede since 1992.-TV Series:...
.
- In France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the show was shown on TF1TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
. The French version replaces the original theme(s) with a French song, singing about "Starsky et Hutch".
- In the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the series was an immediate hit when it began showing on Saturday nights on BBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
(debuting 23 April 1976, and soon catching up with US broadcasts), with occasional re-runs through to the early 1990s. It was re-run by Five in 2003 in a 10 a.m. slot (later 11 a.m., and eventually moving to a 2:30 p.m. slot); During its prime-time run, however, the BBC heavily edited or skipped altogether certain episodes; in fact, the first season episode "The Fix" (in which mobsters inject Hutch with heroin in order to extract information from him) was deemed too graphic and was effectively "banned" from all the corporation's runs of the series (despite being shown after the 9 p.m. 'watershed'). Several other controversial episodes did on occasion air, but were heavily edited and / or seldom aired due to their nature. "The Fix" was never shown on British terrestrial television until May 31, 1999, as part of Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's "Starsky & Hutch Night" (which also included the pilot, The Word On The Street - a documentary about the series - and the second season episode "Gillian"). On January 10, 2003, Five actually broadcast "The Fix" in their regular 10 a.m. slot; however, the episode was notably edited, and the scene of Hutch being injected with heroin was almost completely absent. The series was also shown on the UK satellite channel Granada PlusPlus was a digital channel run by Granada Sky Broadcasting. It was launched on 1 October 1996 under the original name of Granada Plus, and during its availability it underwent successive rebrands as G Plus, G+ and then simply Plus. However, it remained widely referred to by the public at large by...
, and is now running on Zone ThrillerZone Thriller was a television channel in Europe that launched on 3 July 2006. The channel aired a number of varying movie styles including psychological dramas and murder mysteries....
, which was rebranded as CBS ActionCBS Action is a television channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland that launched on 16 November 2009.On 14 September 2009, it was revealed that the international arm of CBS, CBS Studios International, struck a joint venture deal with Chellomedia to launch six CBS-branded channels in the UK during...
in November 2009. The channel has broadcast all episodes, with minor edits in a few cases.
- The first season is frequently aired on the Middle East Broadcasting Center
The Middle East Broadcasting Center Group is the first private free-to-air satellite broadcasting company in the Arab World which was launched in London in 1991 and later moved to its headquarters in Dubai in 2002. MBC Group provides multiple channels of information, interaction and entertainment...
with Arabic subtitles.
- In Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
it airs on Digital Channel Go!GO! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 9 August 2009.-Origins:...
.
- In Malaysia it currently reruns on Malaysian Government's Channel, Radio Televisyen Malaysia 2 (TV2)
RTM2, also known as TV2 is a television station in Malaysia owned and operated by the Radio Television Malaysia, a division of the Malaysian Government. RTM2 is now broadcasting for 24 hours a day effective January 2006.- History :...
, Best of Retro slot, in 2009.
- In Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, the show was aired on Venevisión.
- In Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, the show was aired in French on ENTV state television during the second half of the 80-s, and was a big success.
Cars
Stunt cars, camera cars, tow cars, dolly cars, and cars used for "beauty" shots varied in model year from 1974 to 1976
Ford TorinoThe Ford Torino is an intermediate automobile produced by the Ford Motor Company for the North American market between 1968 and 1976. The car was named after the city of Turin , which is considered the Detroit of Italy...
s, since the body style of the Gran Torino was unchanged.
Originally, Blinn was to have Starsky drive a
Chevrolet CamaroThe Chevrolet Camaro is an automobile manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand, classified as a pony car and some versions also as a muscle car. It went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed as a competing model to the Ford Mustang...
convertibleA convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
because he fondly remembered a green and white one that he owned. However, when production started on the pilot episode,
Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
's Studio-TV Car Loan Program was the lease supplier for Spelling-Goldberg. They looked at lease stock and chose two 1975 351 Windsor V8-powered (
VINVin may refer to:*Voltage input, an alternative form for Vin-People:*Vin Diesel*Vin Scully*Vin Suprynowicz*Vin, the name of a character from the video games Jak II and Jak 3*a diminutive of the name "Vincent"...
code "H") "Bright Red" (paint code 2B) 2-door Gran Torinos. Both cars had a 'role' in the pilot movie, one being "Starsky's" car, and the other being a similar car which is mistaken for Starsky's car by the film's villains. They each had body-side moldings along with a black interior with vinyl bench seats. Interestingly, one of the 'pilot' cars had the 'luxury' remote-control chrome mirrors installed, while the other 'pilot' car had the cheaper, entry-level manual chrome mirrors installed; in editing the film, Starsky and Hutch are shown to be driving around in each of the two cars at different times during the film. The cars were also custom painted (on top of the factory red paint color) with the distinctive white "vector" stripe designed by Spelling-Goldberg's transportation coordinator George Grenier. The rear ends were lifted by air shocks, and had "U.S." brand 5-slot mag wheels added with larger rear tires. While the tires were mounted so that only the blackwall side would show, thus hiding any unauthorized brand-name display, in one first season episode ("Kill Huggy Bear"), a close-up shot of the villain cutting the rear brake lines shows the letters on the inside-facing side of the tires to say 'Firestone'. It is reported that the original 2.75:1 ratio rear axle gearing (standard on non-police Torinos from 1975 onward) was replaced with numerically higher ratio gears for better acceleration during stunt driving scenes; in the 1999 interview, Glaser said that "We finally had to get a new rear end put in it so that at zero to sixty it had some pop." At least one of the second-season cars was known to have a
Dymo label prominently attached to the dashboard which read "DO NOT EXCEED 50 MPH"; this was probably due to the fact that the revised gearing would cause the engine
revolutions per minuteRevolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
(RPM) to go to a higher level, possibly leading to engine damage.
In the 1999 UK and "Behind The Badge" interviews, Glaser said that during the early stages of production of the pilot, Spelling took him outside to 'introduce' him to the Torino in all its red & white-striped, mag-wheeled glory. Glaser took an immediate and long-lasting dislike to the car, which has not changed to this day. According to Glaser in several early interviews, there were three main reasons why he instantly hated the car: First, in his opinion, it was big, ugly and childish-looking. Secondly, the idea that two 'undercover' cops would drive around in a car with such an outlandish appearance seemed ludicrous, and lastly, he doesn't like Ford products (although in a picture that was printed in an issue of the
National Enquirer, Glaser is shown on the side of a California freeway with a flat-tired
Ford ExplorerThe Ford Explorer is a sport-utility vehicle sold in North America and built by the Ford Motor Company since 1990, as a replacement for the smaller but related Ford Bronco II. It is manufactured in Chicago, Illinois...
) . At the first viewing of the car with David Soul (Hutch), Glaser remarked that the car looked like a 'striped tomato'. That nickname stuck, and very soon the show's writers had worked it into the show as Hutch's derogatory name for Starsky's beloved Torino.
Glaser remarked to Soul that he hated the car and that he was "going to destroy that car...burn it down every chance I get!", and repeated the story in the 1999 "reunion" interview. Several scenes of Glaser driving the car show him smashing the front wheels into curbs as he slides the car around corners and such, but that may also be attributable to the fact that he is primarily an actor, not a trained stunt-driver. Over the years, with the
Starsky & Hutch Torino gaining in popularity and becoming a much-loved icon of the show and of the seventies in general, Glaser has not so much grown to appreciate the car as he has learned to simply accept its popularity as a necessary component of the fans' appreciation of the show. In fact, during filming of the 2004
Starsky & Hutch movie, Glaser had several opportunities to sit in the newest iteration of 'his' car, and even drive them, but he refused. He just wasn't interested; however, in 2004, during the last day of filming a movie in
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the crew wanted a group picture of Glaser with a
Starsky and Hutch Torino, so he agreed to sit in the driver's seat of a Limited Edition replica with the crew surrounding the car
http://starskytorino.com/franksharib/franksharib.html.
New 'high performance' engine sounds were dubbed over scenes during the show because California law forbade mechanically modifying the engines of new cars.
When the pilot was successful, Spelling-Goldberg ordered two new 1975 red Gran Torinos for the first season. These cars were powered by 400 Modified V8s (VIN code "S") because extra power was going to be needed for additional stunt driving scenes.
These new cars for the first-season were factory ordered in the bright red color (Ford paint code: 2B), which was a regular production color for 1975 Torinos.
Unlike the pilot-movie cars, the first-season Torinos had no body-side moldings, but did have body-colored "sport" mirrors, and 'brocade' cloth split-bench seats. With the acquisition of the new cars, the producers took the opportunity to 'improve' the design of the white stripe painted on the cars. The original 'pilot-movie' cars had the bottom horizontal edge of the stripe about an inch or so above the mid-body character line that ran along the bodysides of the car, which was apparently done so that the section of the stripe that passes above the front wheel opening would not be 'cut-off' by the wheel opening, but for the first-season cars, the bottom horizontal edge of the stripe was lowered and now directly on the bodyside crease, which gave overall a more cohesive look to the design of the stripe. The section of stripe that runs across the front wheel opening was gradually curved up and around the opening. The stripe was also thicker on the roof section and whereas the front pointed section ended well behind the amber marker light on the pilot cars, the newer design had the point ending far ahead of it, on the front facia piece. These new cars also featured the complete 'bumper protection group' option, which included horizontal black 'rub-strips' on both bumpers that were not included on the 'pilot' cars.
For the start of the second season, these were replaced by two 1976 Gran Torinos that had vinyl split-bench seats like the pilot episode cars. The new cars were ordered under Ford's fleet program, which is what was required to get them painted in the previous year's 'Bright Red'(2B), as Ford used a different shade of red for new standard-order Torinos by this point.
These newer cars can be identified by their silver 'sight shields' (bumper filler panels) which Ford used on specially painted fleet-ordered cars. They also had the luxury chrome mirrors like one of the pilot cars. Even though the body-colored 'sport' mirrors were still a Torino option in 1976, they could not be installed on a fleet-ordered specialty-painted car, as Ford had no provision for producing those mirrors in anything other than the regular production colors listed for that year; since the 2B bright red was a special fleet-ordered color for the '76 model year, the cars came equipped with the chrome mirrors. The body-side moldings were installed on these cars and the stripe was, unlike the pilot cars, integrated with the moldings.
They were powered by 460 Lima V8s (VIN code "A") , and Spelling-Goldberg kept these Torinos until production ceased. While these were the biggest, most powerful engines available from Ford at the time, they were still underpowered at 202 net horsepower. A third car, owned by
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and 351 Windsor powered, was used as the first backup to the Ford lease cars.
Over time, an unforeseen problem was discovered with the Torinos when they were used during stunt driving scenes. In sharp right-hand turns, Soul would sometimes slide accidentally across the vinyl bench into Glaser. Although a potential safety hazard at the time, the problem was solved by replacing the front bench of the number two Torino with bucket seats at Glaser and Soul's request; Glaser said in 1999, "It took us a year to get them to put bucket seats in it so David wouldn't slide all over the place whenever I took a corner."
The aggressive stunt driving required of the show resulted in many accidents and fender-benders for the Torinos. The time demands of a weekly production mandated quick body and paint repairs so the cars could get 'back to work' as soon as possible, and many of the quick and often sloppy repairs are quite evident to eagle-eyed viewers of the show. The front fenders seemed to have taken a lot of abuse, and the 'Gran Torino' nameplates on the front fenders are missing in several episodes, as are the chrome wheelhouse moldings.
Towards the end of the four seasons of production, the Torinos were each noticeably worse-for-wear, and close watchers of the later episodes will spot many dents and other damage on the cars as they appear in various episodes. In particular, the driver's side 1/4 panel and tail-light area was seen to be smashed up in a couple of different 4th season episodes, and at least one of the cars was shown to have a dented and twisted front bumper along with some visible damage to the grill behind the bumper. The very last appearance of the Torino on the series seems to show that the driver's door and window will not even close correctly, possibly due to the rigors and effects of the 'spirited' stunt driving the car suffered over the years.
Due to the success of S&H, in 1976 (the Torino's final year) Ford released a limited edition (only 1001 units total, plus three 'pilot production' cars)
Starsky and Hutch replica Gran Torino.
http://starskytorino.com/articles/maynard.html
Manufactured at the Chicago plant, one of these code "PS 122" units was leased by Spelling-Goldberg from the middle of season two until the series' end as a second backup for the main cars and was known simply as "Unit 129".
It was originally equipped with a 351 Modified (also VIN code "H") ; however, during filming, one of the stuntmen damaged the engine beyond repair, and it was replaced overnight with a 429 Lima V8.
During the last season of
Starsky and Hutch,
The Dukes of HazzardThe Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...
premiered on
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, and one of the factory replicas was used in the first episode, "One Armed Bandits", seen to be driven by regular character
Cooter DavenportCooter Davenport is a fictional character from the American TV show The Dukes of Hazzard. He was played by Ben Jones.Cooter was the mechanic in the fictional Hazzard County, in Georgia. He owned The Hazzard County Garage in Hazzard County Square, directly across from the Police Department and the...
(
Ben JonesBen Jones may refer to:*Ben Jones , British actor*Ben Jones , British radio DJ*Ben Jones , Welsh soccer player*Ben Jones , English soccer player...
). This was the only appearance of the Torino in the series, and many fans have speculated over its strange one-off appearance.
One theory is that it was merely an in-joke, with the Torino's former iconic car status now being taken over by the Dukes' car "
The General LeeThe General Lee is the modified Dodge Charger driven by the Duke cousins Bo and Luke in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard. It is known for the chases and stunts, especially high jumps, in almost every episode, and for having the doors welded shut, leaving the Dukes to climb in and out...
".
After
Starsky and Hutch was canceled, the cars were returned to Ford and sold at auction.
Currently, Torino #1 is owned by a man in Ohio.
http://starskytorino.com/dougstv1/index.html Unrestored and somewhat battered, it still has its original 460 V8, interior, and paint.
Torino #2
http://starskyandhutchcollectibles.com/tvtorino1.html is owned by a New Jersey man who supplied the main close-up Torino (featured on the movie posters)
http://starskytorino.com/moviemike/moviemike.html for 2004's big-screen
Starsky & HutchStarsky & Hutch is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips. The film stars Ben Stiller as David Starsky and Owen Wilson as Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson and is a film adaptation of the original television series of the same name from the 1970s....
movie.
During its life after
Starsky and Hutch, #2 was wrecked and sold as salvage. It was repaired, although it was repainted the wrong shade of red and the iconic stripe was improperly painted.
Although still equipped with bucket seats, #2 no longer has its original 460 engine, which was replaced at some point with a 2.8 liter Ford V-6.
The car is currently undergoing restoration in Pennsylvania.
Finally, the 20th Century Fox Torino was purchased in 2009 by the owner of #2, sold to an Oklahoma couple in 2010, and restored. "Unit 129" is owned by a collector in New Hampshire.
http://starskytorino.com/chrisb/chrisb.html
In addition, the Torino has many fans and collectors in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, as evidenced by the large number of UK-owned replicas (both factory and aftermarket).
http://starskytorino.com/album/uktorinos.html
As stated previously, Glaser wasn't fond of the Torino as he found the car to be garish. Due to his contempt for the Torino, he deliberately mistreated the cars during close-up stunt scenes when he drove (this was admitted to in a 1997 letter he wrote to the owner of the #1 Torino; and in a first season DVD interview he said that tried to "destroy" the cars) and would often stop the car by hitting the front wheels against curbs, as well as coming into driveways at high speed and bumping into garbage dumpsters.
Firearms
In the pilot episode, Starsky carries a Beretta which he identifies as such in an early scene while the two are sitting in Hutch's car doing a weapon inventory, but once the series began, Starsky carried a M1911A1 Colt pistol, as seen in the opening theme of seson 1. A Smith & Wesson Model 59 (9mm) can be clearly identified in a close up scene near the end of "The Fix", the 4th episode of Season 1.
In the pilot episode Hutch carried a .38 (also identified during the same weapons inventory scene), but carries a
Colt PythonThe Colt Python is a .357 Magnum caliber revolver formerly manufactured by Colt's Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut. It is sometimes referred to as a "Combat Magnum". It was first introduced in 1955, the same year as Smith & Wesson's M29 .44 Magnum. The now discontinued Colt Python...
.357 MagnumThe .357 S&W Magnum , or simply .357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, Colonel D. B. Wesson of firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson, and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wesson's earlier .38 Special cartridge. The .357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in...
revolver through the series entire run. Hutch's weapon was a medium-barrel length at the start of the series; however, in the third first-season episode "Texas Longhorn", the "Zak" character carried a long-barreled model, and Soul subsequently asked to carry that version from that point forward.
The criminals carry a variety of guns:
rifleA rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s,
shotgunA shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
s,
pistolWhen distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
s, and
revolverA revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
s in a variety of makes, models, and calibers.
Theme music
The first season of the show had a dark and ominous theme written by
Lalo SchifrinLalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations...
that seemed to fit the hard action and violence of the season; the main title version was edited down from the chase climax cue of his score for the pilot episode (the climax contains the shot of Hutch leaping off a fire escape and landing on a car which appears in the opening titles of all subsequent episodes). The end credits featured a similar piece of ominous music.
The first season theme was replaced for the second season by a
Tom ScottTom Scott is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, conductor and bandleader of the west coast jazz/jazz fusion ensemble The L.A. Express.-Biography:Scott was born in Los Angeles, California...
-written theme entitled "Gotcha". The iconic "Gotcha" is the best known of the show's themes, and has been covered by several musicians, including the
James Taylor QuartetThe James Taylor Quartet are a British four-piece jazz funk band who have become renowned for their live performances. They were formed by Hammond organ player James Taylor following the break-up of his former band The Prisoners in the wake of Stiff Records' bankruptcy...
and
The VenturesThe Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
. A version of "Gotcha" was featured on Scott's 1977 album
Blow It Out and is also on the album
Best Of Tom Scott. For the third season, a more dramatic theme was used that highlighted the show's move to more socially-conscious and light-hearted stories. It was written by
Mark SnowMark Snow is an American composer for film and television.Born in New York, he grew up in Brooklyn, graduating from the High School of Music and Art and, afterwards, the Juilliard School of Music...
and released on an LP around 1979.
A reworked "Gotcha", similar in style (but not identical) to the version on
Blow It Out, returned for the fourth and last season. The revamped version was the most easy-going of the different themes for the series, reflecting the last season's increased "buddy cop" feel.
Schifrin, Scott and Snow also scored several episodes;
Alan SilvestriAlan Anthony Silvestri is an American film composer and conductor.-Career:Silvestri is best known for his collaborations with director Robert Zemeckis, having scored Romancing the Stone , the Back to the Future trilogy , Who Framed Roger Rabbit , Death Becomes Her , Forrest Gump , Contact ,...
also worked on the series, scoring at least one episode.
External links