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 Starsky
& Hutch The Complete First Season
Starring: Paul Michael Glaser, David Soul and Antonio Fargas
DVD review
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Bluntly
Speaking? This is a helluva DVD collection. Cozy up
with S&H for a few hours in retro heaven! For added fun, the
5 disk set is held within a sort-of "Red Tomato" Ford
Gran Taurino package. With all the hubbaloo around the 1970's
TV shows it's no wonder Starsky & Hutch has finally made it
to DVD. S&H
was the first primetime buddy cop show to lighten up its heroes
and make them fun-loving good guys, that didn't really dig going
strictly by the book.
This
long-awaited DVD is chock-full of yummy bits. It includes the
fore mentioned 5 disks that hold the tell-tale pilot, the entire
first season of deliciously network TV episodes, and some fun
extras to sink into...
Oddly,
Starsky & Hutch, amid their costars and Cop 101 plots, are
timeless. Even though the two are in perpetually "snug"
jeans or carpenter pants the rest is pretty much non-time capsuled.
Pretty rare for a late 1970's show that usually reeks of immensely
obvious style-du-Jour. I bet the real-life stars don't even have
to have that, " Oh-dear-look-at-the-hair!" fear when
viewing. Okay, there's a few clues to the duo's era...Starsky's
bachelor pad is in the deep dark woods of the time, there's the
actual-size flashing traffic light propped in the corner (traffic
signs etc were "in" then...) and - this is really
funny - his place has about thirty two chairs strewn about a semi-studio
apartment! Hutch's big clue of era placement is his adoration
for the side part hair-do and semi-flare slack choices - so the
observant could, I suppose, place the years. Then again, their
"informant" Huggy Bear (aka Antonio Vargas), is the
epitome of the mid-70's pimp...ever notice he was the reason S&H
ever cracked a case? I'm just sayin'...
And nowadays the whole Homo-erotic touchy-feely relationship 'tween
the boys would be spotlighted on Dr. Phil and the like. Face it,
the series does make an unconscious mystery of the pair by continually
(via their female conquests) asserting (among the hugs and chest
snuggles) S&H are just best friends, unafraid of showing their
non-sexual man-love for each other. Perhaps this was the birth
of my "sensitive" men attractions...hmm. Hehehe.
The press way-back-then apparently did eyeball their gender preference
in their scandal-print-worthy-for-the-witch-hunter scenes, but
frankly their bond is simply kind of cute to view, and blatantly
straight, even now that "gay" is so in on TV.
The
bloopers segment, " It's Harder Than It Looks," is very
funny. But for the anal retentive observant there's hundreds more...For
example, I spotted the shot gunned door being whole a nanosecond
later in episode one, yet this screaming faux pas is left out
of the featurette -- so keep watching on your own.
The
interviews featurette with writer, creator, Huggy Bear and the
stars themselves, Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul, are sweet
- a little too sweet! No, I'm being Hollywoody. They all talk
a bit about production and give addicts a little inside scooplaroo.
The two leads are middle-aged now and, naturally, not the buff
studmuffins they once were ... though Starsky's still a looker!
You can also learn all about the manly car Starsky ran around
town in, that infamous wild Ford Gran Taurino, in "The Third
Star." Undercover cops with a cherry red flaming car! Even
as a kid I found that a tad weird...So, where did that
studly vehicle come from? You'll finally know.
The DVD collection also stops by the set of the new Starsky and
Hutch film starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Gee, kind of
a coincidence the DVD is out a week or so before the film huh?
Watch the funny men stand beside the original guys - it's bizarre
- and yet so enjoyable!
There
are a million reasons to own this fun collection. From drifting
into the retro sets, to reminding one's self how handsome Paul
Michael Glaser was/is ( I was head over All-star hi-tops for the
guy back then...), to attempting to figure out where the episode
was shot. Seriously, there are 1916715424 street scenes and god
help you try and locate the venues! Peter Falk's 'Columbo'? No
problem. It's a virtual Los Angeles street map...but this? Nadda.
Though watch for the ever recurring King Edwards Hotel seen in
several episode locations! Where is that!!!
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it
Snack
recommendation: Fondue and meatloaf.
DVD
FEATURES
'
Full Screen Presentation
' Languages: English (Mono), Spanish
' Sneak Peek at Starsky & Hutch starring Ben Stiller &
Owen Wilson
' It's Harder Than It Looks featurette with Sequence Faux Pas
' The Third Star : Starsky's Famous Gran Torino
' Behind the Badge with exclusive new interviews with Paul Michael
Glaser, David Soul and Antonio Vargas
' Includes ALL Twenty-Two Episodes From the First Season
' 5 disc set
' Photo Gallery
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