Starsky & Hutch – The Complete Fourth Season
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: D Episodes: B-
It was
the 1978 – 1979 season of Starsky &
Hutch, the 1970s pop culture phenomenon that spawned toys and made leads
Paul Michael Glazer and David Soul sex symbols of some kind for the
moment. The show had been a sort of
send-up of detective and cop shows, but The
Rockford Files was gaining on it while Hill
Street Blues was not far away. By
this time, the show was starting to loose ground and the decision was
eventually made that this would be its last season. This Complete
Fourth Season box set has those final 22 shows (including a three parter
near the end that might have been designed to bring fans back).
If the
show was not doing well, it was not for a lack of solid guest stars. This time, they included Adrian Zmed, Suzanne
Charney, Jack Ging, Kim Cattrall, Sally Kirkland, Pat Corley, Mary Crosby,
Joanna Cassidy, Rene Auberjonois, Norman Alden, Vonetta McGee, Mykelti
Williamson, Robert Loggia, Will Walker, Jeffrey Tambor, Ray Walston, Malachi
Throne, Martin Kove, Anne Ramsey, John P. Ryan, Charles Cyphers, Allan Arbus,
Lana Wood, Roger E. Mosley, Ken Kercheval, William Prince, Yvonne Craig and
William Sanderson. The show was still
featuring people on the rise.
However,
the more youthful show was starting to show wear and some of the clichés that
the show was built on were getting tired.
Antonio Fargas’ “pimp with a heart” Huggy Bear was getting tired, Bernie
Hamilton’s Capt. Dobey was not more developed at this point and a combination
of Disco and Star Wars fantasy were
making the 1970s urban look dated. As
well, the opening credits (with no less than five homophobic teases) simply
reminded the audience each week that the show had no more growth to offer. The TV grind had taken its toll. However, there are some good shows here and
there is at least some intelligence to the show at its worst. The show had simply boxed itself into a
corner for which it could not escape and it was finished. Now with the awful film and some new fans,
all the seasons have made it to DVD.
The 1.33
X 1 image was shot in 35mm film and were remastered in digital High Definition
video. The show was never very colorful
due to its urban themes, but this looks good showing some grain and will please
fans in particular. The Dolby Digital
2.0 Mono is another matter, sounding too soft and low in volume. Turning up the volume only gives one more
background hiss. There are no extras
either except a very brief episode guide paper foldout, but it takes 5 DVDs to
complete the show in its folding DigiPaks and the rest is history.
- Nicholas Sheffo
