I'm always reading how people hated season four, many even calling it disastrous. I will admit it wasn't the best season but I don't think it was horrible. For example, I thought "the avenger" was a great episode. I also thought the "targets without a badge and "sweet revenge" we're good too. "Discomania" wasn't bad either. This series seemed to change with the times. For that I give it credit.
shareWhat makes you think everyone does?
shareIt's not as good as the first two seasons, but overall I'd say it's better than three.
shareWhat I've read in various articles over the years basically said that Paul and David had gotten their wish. They had wanted more "cerebral" scripts which is what they got in season 4. Unfortunately, the bulk of the audience wanted the same old car-chase & shoot out eps, thus, the ratings dropped badly and the series was canceled.
I truly see the next 20 years being both wondrous and terrifying
This show was way before my time, but I bought it on DVD recently and I'm watching season four now. I'm about halfway through it. I don't think it's too bad. But I'm biased because of my love for David & Michael.
So far, the only real weird episode I've seen in Season 4 is "Dandruff". I think it was because it was supposed to take off of the movie "Shampoo", but I've never seen that movie, so I didn't really get it.
If anything else, Hutch's mustache distracts me, but I get it was the times. lol
David Soul's cheesy moustache ruined the whole season lol. He looked much better without it.
Seriously, the season isn't the best but a lot of shows that run that long tend to start running out of fresh ideas. "Targets Without A Badge" was one of my faves of the whole series while "Discomania" is a product of its times. I think the chemistry of the cast kept the show in good shape for the most part-Huggy had definitely evolved as a pal of the guys by this point-he wasn't just a source of info anymore. I think the series ended at a good time-a fifth season would have likely deserved a total raspberry.
The reason I hate Season 4 (and "hate" is not too strong a word) is because of the major shift in Hutch's character and the dramatic change in the relationship between the pair of them. The crux of the show was the comradery and teamwork of the main characters, and Seasn 4 has them working solo more often than not. Fewer and fewer scenes together and more undercover work where they don't work together at all. More conflict and rivalry and less teamwork. Friendly banter replaced by unfriendly baiting and backhanded insults. I remember thinking in the 70s, when it first aired, that the stars must have had a huge fight and must be barely able to work with each other anymore, because whatever made their teaming up work so well in the first seasons was gone. That coupled with Hutch's change to a surly, mean-spirited, loner jerk made me give up on it then. You can expect shows and characters to grow and change. The trouble for me was they had the perfect formula from the get-go and these changes ruined it.
shareI agree that Season 4 certainly seemed to indicate a shift in character (until the series finale, that is). But I don't believe that Glaser & Soul had any kind of fight or blow-up. They both have always maintained that they are the best of friends....even after all of these years, they seem to be particularly close. I think that the show was forced to become much less violent due to the request of the stars & a portion of the viewers. Therefore, the show had to concentrate more on the emotional & mental stress of the characters. The series finale, however, brought back the closeness & protectiveness of the two lead characters.
shareI have also read that PMG and DS were friends IRL and remain so today. That was good to hear and I am pleased for them. I will still always feel that something serious happened to Season 4 and changed the whole atmosphere of the show. I don't believe it was the shift away from violence that really caused it. (Season 3 was already doing that and, although it was very inconsistent, it was still putting together some good stuff.) I know the violence argument been the accepted explanation for forty years, but I am not convinced. As I watch these episodes again, the changes to Hutch's character are just so extreme, they hit me like a ton of bricks. I know the final episode gives an illusion of closeness, but that's all it is. PMG and DS have two scenes together - the first and the last. Everything else is separate. You can check out my review for what I actually think about the series finale episode. There is no way to know. Anyone who did know probably no longer cares. I'm only trying to sort out, at this late date, how this show could loom so large in my life for two years and then disappear from sight. By re-watching, I'm remembering.
share[deleted]
'S & H' was always a bit of a schizo series -- part hyperbolic shoot-'em-up(especially the first year) and then a breezy chase series (like the second year) then a show whose identity was up for grabs (as the dreadful Season 3 title design reflected) when you never knew if you were going to get a supercop installment, or an obvious comedic episode, or a serious crime drama, or some other shlock.
There were industry-wide violence restrictions beginning with Season 3, and I don't think Soul and Glaser's desire to do "smarter" scripts hurt the series. In fact, one of the strong point about both S3 and S4 is that when they did a more straight-forward urban crime episode, one which was realistic and not OTT or satirical, it totally worked.
But the series had no consistency at all, certainly not by the last two years.
I'm fine with what the show was in S1 and S2, but it couldn't have stayed that way -- not just because of the 1977 pullback on violence, but also because the show had to grow creatively and get a tad smarter, just to keep from getting dull.
So the legit crime episodes of S3 and S4 were great. But when the series tried to slip back into its familiar silliness (and it often did) it no longer worked.
Give me "Death in A Different Place" and "Deckwatch" and "Class in Crime (all S3) or "Huggy Can't Go Home" (S4) any day before "Satan's Witches" or "Dandruff" or "The Golden Angel".
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LBJ's mistress on JFK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcXeutDmuRA
I totally agree with you. The lack of consistency was a big factor in the show's demise. You never knew what you were going to get after Season 1. I think there was a big difference between "violence" and "action" that wasn't considered at the time. (Were car chases and shoot-outs really "violence"? They get rid of those, but psychotic killers are ok?). I think the smarter scripts in Season 3 that you mention did actually work and it seems like they could have built on those. They needed to stop putting up with the junk like the second three examples you gave. But Season 4 seemed to lose the "team" feeling of the partnership. Without that, it couldn't work at all.
shareYes, by the final season, Starsky's and Hutch's little rivalries seemed mean-spirited as if they really didn't like each other. In the beginning, it didn't feel that way.
Anyway, the valid crime episodes they did from Seasons 3 and 4 were more legit than any single episode they'd done in Seasons 1 and 2. But the shlocky installments from Seasons 3 and 4 which didn't work (and none of them did) would have been pulled off much more effectively back in Seasons 1 and 2 when they still knew how to be silly and made it work, more or less.
But, oddly enough, the show organically wanted to mature by Season 3 and 4, and when they actually followed this leaning, the episodes turned out quite well. But the goofier stuff which had once been charming had become unwatchable by the final two years -- but the brass wouldn't stop handing them (and us) that kind of crap.
So the last two years were even more schizo than the first two (which were at least fairly consistent within themselves).
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LBJ's mistress on JFK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcXeutDmuRA