Starsky And Hutch - The Complete First Series [1976]

Amazon.co.uk Review

In the rough-and-tumble, wildly entertaining world of Starsky & Hutch, impatient cops--anxious to join a foot race in pursuit of a villain--throw themselves out of moving vehicles and roll to a bruising stop. Undercover detectives Dave Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (David Soul), hardly imbued with the powers of Spider-Man, routinely scale walls, hop from rooftop to rooftop, and fling themselves down steep hillsides to stop bad guys from doing what bad guys do.

Years later Hill Street Blues would redefine the cop genre as a mesh of overlapping storylines and workaday frustrations, but Aaron Spelling's iconic 70s show portrays LA's finest as madly heroic creatures of reckless determination and physicality. This first season is also startlingly brutal for a primetime US show—it was later significantly toned down, much to the regret of fans—while maintaining a delightful, often incongruous, self-deprecating humour. From the series pilot on, partners and best pals Starsky and Hutch work a fine line between predator and prey, relentlessly pursuing suspects while also snared by crime chieftains or short-sighted superiors. In "The Fix", Hutch's secret romance with the former girlfriend of a mafia boss (Robert Loggia) results in the lawman's kidnapping and forced addiction to heroin. Similarly, in "A Coffin for Starsky", a mad chemist injects the wisecracking cop with a slow-acting but lethal poison. "Jo-Jo", written by Michael Mann, finds our guys at loggerheads with federal officers over a dumb deal the G-Men make with a serial rapist.

The 23 episodes in this set are all fun, if sometimes shocking, viewing. Expect each character to take as much abuse as he dishes out. Still, the comic sight of Starsky and Hutch (in "Death Notice") trying to conduct business amid busy strippers is well worth the surrounding violence. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

You really need to buy this... Trust me!.......2007-10-04

I wasn't even a twinkle in my parents' eyes when Starsky and Hutch first aired, but I can remember watching repeats with my dad when I was little. I thing I remember most (apart from 'The Striped Tomato') was Huggy Bear. Then a couple of months agos, I found the complete first season on DVD. Admittedly, I bought it because a) it was fairly inexpensive and b) David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser looked rather gorgeous, but from the moment I watched the pilot, I was well and truly hooked! In fact, I had to fight my dad off when I got it home!

Yes, some of the shows are, frankly, shocking - JoJo, for instance - but this was and still is a hard-hitting, no punches barred series. The chemistry between David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser simmers and (in my humble opinion) helped make the show so popular. The extras on the DVD are well worth a look - especially the 'Its Harder Than It Looks' featurette, which is an absolute riot.

Okay, so it was filmed in the seventies and some of the language and clothing is now dated, but it doesn't matter. Once you've watched a couple of episodes, you don't even notice. (And I personally think that Hutch's Bomber jacket is really groovy.) This is one of the best TV shows ever filmed and I can't wait to get stuck into season 4, which arrived yesterday! I would strongly recommend anyone who is a fan of any other cop shows to get a hold of this series - it has everything you could possibly want. Gun fights, car chases, decent storylines dealing with sometimes tough issues, glamorous women, two very attractive male leads, comedy, serious drama and of course, that car!

Warning! you'll be hooked........2006-07-11

This is such a good cop series. Great stories with action, great humour and a great red Torino car. like the other reviewers say, the lead cast work well together. Yes, there is some hard hitting stuff, but the humour always overcomes that. You are left feeling good after each episode. It's taken me a while to get through the excellent series one. Now I've just started series two and third outing is in the post. Great stuff.

Excelent.......2006-01-18

I never grew up watching starsky and hutch, but once watching it on tv i had to buy it. i love watching old tv shows and this is one of the best!! paul michael glasier and david soul play great parts and the story lines are great. it's a must see!!

Awesome.......2004-12-02

I can't believe it's taken so long for this series to come out on DVD but it's been worth every minute of the wait! I was in my early 20s when it was first shown and on Friday evenings no-one else in our house got near the telly while the programme was on.

This DVD set shows just how good the show was. It had everything - humour, pace pathos and excitement. We forget just what excellent actors David Soul & PMG are, and it's so wonderful to see it all again in such crisp and clear digital quality. When the series first aired I had a massive crush on PMG. Now I find myself drooling over him again again and freeze framing those amazing eyes!!!

Without doubt this series set a standard for cop shows that few have since measured up to - although Hill St. came close - and it's fantastic to have the full season 1 in one collection - complete and uncut. An absolute "must buy" and worth every penny!

Fantastic!.......2004-08-25

I used to be a huge fan of the show when I was a kid. In fact I have an aunt that live right next door to Paul Michael Glaser and I had asked her for a autograph (still hanging at my wall). Years past, I am now at 33 and I forgot all about it. The movie came and I remembered the original series. Couldn't remember why I used to be such a fan though. So I bought the DVDs. It all came back to me! Fantastic!!! If you used to be a fan it is a MUST buy. If you introdused yourself to these two "cops" with the movie and liked it, you are sure gonna love the series!

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