I asked my Starsky & Hutch correspondent about Starsky's motel-room pose (here, lying on the floor between two beds, feet up on opposite sides), since there had been inquiries.
My correspondent responded:
I (Fresca) am most struck by Hutch [the blond one] wearing a shiny silver jacket over a pink turtleneck.
The only mass media entertainment I am a true fan of is Star Trek: The Original Series.
I can't watch the TV show Starsky & Hutch––it reminds me of what I hated when I was a teenager in the 1970s––but I do enjoy how sexy S&H, the characters, are together.
I marvel that the show got away with being so [unintentionally?] gay––at the time, a TV exec disapprovingly called them "two French-kissing prime-time homos".
A second query––Is Hutch supposed to be a dolt?––I can answer myself, even though I've barely watched the show, because it is a point of fannish pride on my part that I was able to identify one of the books lying around Hutch's apartment (it's clearer onscreen than in this screenshot): a 50¢ Crest Giant edition of Lolita.
A dolt might pick up Lolita for salacious reasons (and be disappointed), and a viewer might personally consider Hutch a dolt, but in-universe Hutch isn't supposed to be a dolt, no.
The print on the wall is reprint of a late-1800s ad for Clement Cycles of Paris, from a 1973 Collection of Old Bike Posters.
I like puzzling out the 1970s sets--I remember when reproductions of vintage posters were the rage. (My mother framed full-length theater posters by Alphonse Mucha --anyone remember those?)
I never once watched an episode of S&H when it was on (1975–1979). The reason I know anything about it at all is because Mz was into S&H when I was researching my fandom book for teens, and my good friend Mortmere continues to be a deep fan--I enjoy sharing their enthusiasm.
My correspondent responded:
"Ha, there really is no explanation for... well, for Starsky. He's just being Starsky. He often takes a novel approach to furniture, be it comfortable or not:
"^ Now THAT looks uncomfortable!
Whereas the motel room pose - I tried it, and it's actually really relaxing for the lower body, and a bad back would be a good reason for resting like that. (In the show, Hutch is the one with the bad back, or at least Starsky's back problems never get mentioned.)"Should I sign this:The Specialist"
I (Fresca) am most struck by Hutch [the blond one] wearing a shiny silver jacket over a pink turtleneck.
The only mass media entertainment I am a true fan of is Star Trek: The Original Series.
I can't watch the TV show Starsky & Hutch––it reminds me of what I hated when I was a teenager in the 1970s––but I do enjoy how sexy S&H, the characters, are together.
I marvel that the show got away with being so [unintentionally?] gay––at the time, a TV exec disapprovingly called them "two French-kissing prime-time homos".
A second query––Is Hutch supposed to be a dolt?––I can answer myself, even though I've barely watched the show, because it is a point of fannish pride on my part that I was able to identify one of the books lying around Hutch's apartment (it's clearer onscreen than in this screenshot): a 50¢ Crest Giant edition of Lolita.
The print on the wall is reprint of a late-1800s ad for Clement Cycles of Paris, from a 1973 Collection of Old Bike Posters.
I like puzzling out the 1970s sets--I remember when reproductions of vintage posters were the rage. (My mother framed full-length theater posters by Alphonse Mucha --anyone remember those?)
Maybe the writers or director(s) intentionally tried to make Starsky's penchant for odd poses a feature of his character? Or maybe that was just Paul Michael Glaser trying to add some dimension. I love that you looked up not just the book but the EDITION of the book sitting on Hutch's table! I wasn't a huge fan of this show either (did I say that before?) but I definitely wound up watching it, because my stepbrother liked it.
ReplyDeleteNope. Paul Michael Glaser just knows how to steal a scene.
ReplyDeleteThe copy of Lolita is a nice touch. I bet set designers throw in all kinds of in-jokes.
STEVE: Heh, heh, I can also tell you that that ed of Lolita was first published in 1959, five years after the novel's first appearance; so Hutch's copy (the episode is from 1975) is sixteen years old.
ReplyDeleteHutch is around 35... so maybe he got the book when he was a college student. (He mentions going to college)--and he's rereading it for some reason--a child sex ring he's investigating?
VIVIAN: You and Steve bring up an interesting fan distinction--what the actor does, and what the in-universe character does.
We know William Shatner always tried to steal every scene--that sometimes obnoxious [to his costars] pushiness translated into a beautiful boldness in Capt Kirk!
I love watching the old TV shows especially to see how the sets were decorated. Some of the shows changed the sets every year. For instance, the Bob Newhart Show would update the interior as well as the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
ReplyDeleteKirsten