And if you love this show then the episode you like the least...
I have not yet seen all of them but I think the WORST episode has GOT to be the one about the mentally ill ballet teacher portrayed by JOHN SAXON who thinks he is a vampire or something and dresses up as a vampire and sucks the blood from his victims it was a really dumb episode.
Huggy Bear and the Turkey. Ugh."Turkey" Turquette wasn't even marginally likeable, and as much as I like Huggy Bear, let's face it, he's a better supporting character than a lead.
shareWas that the misguided effort to spin Huggy off into his own television show? I saw it on my DVD collection, but I can't recall how they explained that a street wise inner city hustler hooked up with Gomer Pyle. And before I forget, yeah, that was the worst. I watch them as a guilty pleasure, like Frank Stallone movies.
shareYep, that's the one, and I also can't recall how they explained Huggy and "Turkey" being a team, I just remember that it was awful. When the best feature about an episode is Aunt Esther from "Sanford and Son" playing and old, blind lady, then you know that you've probably scraped rock bottom.
share"Huggy Bear and the Turkey" immediately came to mind when I saw this thread, so it's no surprised you've addressed it here. Spin-offs are generally a bad idea, though sometimes they work. But I absolutely hate when an attempted spin-off hijacks a popular series and pushes the lead characters aside for a complete episode. "The Golden Girls" had one of those also. (And I can't be the only one who's a fan of both shows.)
Season Four had a few contenders for worst episode, but none as bad as "Huggy Bear and the Turkey." Huggy was an excellent supporting character, and he'd be lost in his own series just as Starsky and Hutch would be incomplete without him in theirs.
other shows have given minor supporting characters an episode where they are the MAIN characters in an attempt to set them up for their own spinoffs but almost never does it actually SUCCEED. That being said that Huggy Bear Turkey Episode was FUNNY and CORNY and ENTERTAINING. I still say the crazy ballet teacher played by John Saxon who thought he was a vampire and could bring his dead wife back to life by sucking women's blood was just DUMB.
shareAgreed. The producers did a much better job of affording Huggy a lead role in Season 4's "Huggy Can't Go Back Home." By then, every episode was taking on a somber, serious tone, which worked for Huggy because he had come to be known as this witty, jive-talking flamboyant guy, when at his roots he was really just a street hustler trying desperately to break away from his impoverished, inner city past. It would have been interesting to explore further that part of Huggy's shady beginnings if S&H lasted another season.
shareI need to revisit "Huggy Can't Go Back Home." I watched all of the seasons a few years ago when I bought the DVDs, but Season Four is a bit of a blur because I found most of it so disappointing.
I actually think a Huggy series could have been successfully spun off because he's an intriguing character and Antonio Fargas is a terrific actor, but it would need better development than a quickie episode of this series. It probably would have needed a very strong cast and stronger concept.
"Huggy Can't Go Back Home" is great. Anything Glaser or Soul directed (Soul did this one) you knew would be quality, even with their waning interest by the time of Season 4.
But considering that part of Season 4's inherent darkness was giving Huggy some gravity in his character, a spinoff could've worked. Maybe something like Huggy the master snitch turns private eye, or becomes a troubleshooter/go-between, helping new people in Bay City each week. It could have examined further the line between legal and illegal that Huggy always seemed to straddle, and the moral implications that result. I think Antonio Fargas would have been good to lead his own series with that type of storyline.
I've just watched "Huggy Can't Go Back Home Again" again, and it was excellent! Thanks so much for reminding me about this one. It's very noirish and feels like a mini-movie – much better script and direction (thanks to David) than most of the rest of Season Four.
I also like that song "You Can't Go Back" by Dr. John, which appears at about the 18-minute mark. I'd love to seek that out on vinyl, but it appears it was written for the show. Do you know anything about it? It doesn't appear to be in Dr. John's discography.
Antonio Fargas was so memorable as Huggy Bear that he doesn't get credit for being an all-around excellent and versatile actor. He was also terrific in "Pretty Baby" and "Car Wash," as well as a lot of '70s blaxploitation flicks.
It's hard to tell what went wrong with Season Four overall, but it appeared that the bloom was off the rose in most of the other episodes. It seems there was a push to tone down the violence after the first couple seasons, and the show just felt a bit neutered to me. Cops shows would go in a much different direction in the '80s with "Hill Street Blues" and "Miami Vice," but I much prefer the '70s shows.
"Dandruff" from season four was pretty awful too, but I wonder if part of that is because I was only in junior high school at the time and wasn't old enough to see "Shampoo", the feature film starring Warren Beatty and haven't seen it to this day. I have a feeling that "Dandruff", and particularly all of that weird stuff with Starsky kissing and hugging either one girl or various girls (I forget which it was now) throughout the episode, was probably a parody of "Shampoo". I just know that I can't even sit through it, it's so stupid.
shareI remember "Dandruff," and it's pretty bad. Horrible name for an episode, also.
I wasn't old enough to watch "Shampoo" either when it came out, but when our family got HBO in the late '70s, I caught that a few times. I'd always have to wait until my parents were asleep, and I'd play the TV really low so they didn't hear me watching an R-rated movie. Good times.
Starsky & Hutch: Why the Spin-Off Failed
https://youtu.be/M8hHNFwPZP0
Starsky & Hutch was the coolest cop show of the 1970s. It had everything - high octane action, a cool car and a hotheaded captain. But it never had a spin-off. Find out why the Huggy Bear spin-off never happened on the latest episode of Behind the Backdoor Pilot.share
I used to be glued to the TV for Starsky & Hutch every week, but I never knew that they considered a Huggy spin-off!
shareDefinitely "Huggy Bear and the Turkey". The episode with John Saxson was actually quite good and memorable as one of the best tongue in cheek episodes of the series. The bit where Starksy is interviewing the guy who's confessing to the crimes is priceless. Plus, the 1970s was a big time for devil and vampire worshipping, so it wasn't as big of a reach as it may seem now.
shareI agree that the John Saxon episode was quite good, & definitely not the worst, which is probably Huggy Bear & the Turkey.
shareTOP FIVE WORST STARSKY & HUTCH EPISODES
1. Huggy Bear and the Turkey (Season 2) With the exception of the begining with S&H, this was an awful, awful episode. Were the hell did Turk come from? He looks like a Chevy Chase wannabe and why is he wearing Hutch's clothes? This episode is universal among S&H fans as being the worst.
2. Huggy Can't go Home (Season 4) Another episodes that focuses on Huggy. This one was just long and boring to me, however it was interesting to see actor Richard Ward, the original Captain Dobey from the pilot playing another role. For the record, Brenie Hamilton was the better Captain Dobey. Antonio Fargas is a good actor and deserved better material.
3. Ballad for a Blue Lady (Season 4) A remake of season3's "I Love you Rosey Malone" but much, much worse. This time Hutch is bitten by the love bug since Starsky/ Paul Michael Glaser(PMG) is directing this one. Boring/ weird episode that doesn't make much sense. Glaser spends to much time setting up artistic photography instead of just telling the story.
4. The Golden Angel (Season 4) Why? Just a very dumb episode in which the subplot of Starsky inheriting money from his deceased Uncle is more interesting. To me, this had to be the episode that was huge embarassment to PMG with the scenes in the wrestling ring. I remember him dressed in some gold disco tights. WTF?? Come on, this is Starsky & Hutch!! With episodes like this, I can see why PMG wanted out of his contract.
5. Starsky & Hutch on Playboy Island ( Season 3) Terrible way to start a new season. This episodes says what was going on behind the scenes; Hey we have a bigger budget for the show so let's go on vacation to the Islands, hire 20 Playboy bunnies, a bunch of TV "Has-Beens" and oh yeah, I think we better write a script while we are on the plane.
Runners Up: Season 4 had a lot of bad episodes
1. Discomania (Season 4) Psycho of the week is incorporated into the obvious "Saturday Night Fever" inspired disco rage going on in America.There are a few cute moments and its fun seeing future TJ Hooker star Adrian Zmed play a John Travolta/ Tony Manero knockoff who happens to be a pick-pocket thief. Again, the psycho villian of the week is the real downfall of this episode. Just plain lazy writing.
2. The Game (Season 4) Although S&H fans like this one, I could not buy into it. As hard as S&H work catching criminals, this is what they do in their spare time off? WTF?? And note to highly educated Police Officer, Ken Hutchinson. If you are feeling sick, like you are going to die, carry your a** to the doctor!!
You were doing great until the last two episodes you named as runnerups because they are actually among the more entertaining, memorable and quintessential S&H episodes. Season 4 actually had more exemplary S&H episodes than season 3, which do to censorship pressure turned to the afterschool special theme of the week. Season 4 was a return to the fun format of season 2, albeit without the violence and bits of brutal realism.
shareYes, as I stated before I know those two episodes were fan favorites, however I just didn't particularly care for them. In my opinion, there are a number of episodes in season 4 that come up short or fall flat. To me, even though season 3 was drastic shock in the change in the overall tone of the series, season 4 was just a big disappointment overall. I had high hopes for season 4 with the welcome return of Tom Scott’s jazzed up “Gotcha” theme; however the major faults in season four lye in the 1.) Weak writing, 2.)Paul Michael Glaser wanting out of the series. He wanted out in season 3, but it clearly shows in his lazy performance in season 4. If you compare his acting from seasons #1, 2, & 3, his enthusiasm has dropped tremendously. Starsky’s childlike nature is completely gone in the fourth season. 3.) And finally PMG and David Soul do not share enough scenes together in season 4. This was due largely in part because David Soul was in a serious skiing accident at the end of season 3 and badly hurt his back. Soul is wearing a back brace through season four which explains his weight gain and the large jacket & bowling shirt. As result, in order for Soul to rest and heal up, scripts were written to have Starsky & Hutch split up which didn’t work well at all. Also, the Stripped Tomato looked like it had been beat to hell in the last season, thanks to PMG trying to destroy that car for the last three seasons. Jeez, how much would it have cost for mega producer Aaron Spelling to kick out a few bucks and buy or even rent another Grand Tornio for the sake of the series.
shareSeason three was the reason for the decline in ratings that was seen at the start of the fourth season and caused the series' eventual cancellation. The cut down on violent action scenes together with more romantic and socially themed episodes (like child abuse and gay tolerance) really was the show's downfall.
Right from the start, with the dramatic change in opening theme and the very lame "Starsky and Hutch on Voodoo Island", you got a distinct sense that something was very, very wrong. After the third season, most of my friends and I had enough and moved on to shows like Vega$, which more resembled S&H than the 3rd season of S&H did itself.
It wasn't until reruns and DVD that I saw all of the 4th season. I then realized that they tried to return to the spirit of the second season, but it was too little too late.
And two final points: 1) David Soul's skiing accident happened midway through the filming of season three and affected that season's episodes filmed afterward the most. 2) Why is Starsky's car being beat to hell by the last season a bad thing? One would think that would add to the shows realism as the car had now been used for more than 3 years of heavy police work. Seems you're just blaming the 4th season since it was the last season when the common belief is season three was when the show lost its way and triggered its demise.
I remember that episode well.
Last night I watch the two last episodes of the third season which were pretty bad as well: Quadromania and Deckwatch.
Quadromania features a limp onearmed serial killer who kills taxi cab drivers with an iron hand while dressed as various character from MacBeth. At the end an undercover Starsky has a run in with the killer who tries to kill Starsky. Starsky gets out of the cab and runs away from the otherwise unnarmed (haha) limp drag queen while stumbling over everything in his path because he's so drouzy due to lack of sleep he's had. But when someone attacks you the adrenaline should automatically give you a boost of energy so it was really stupid to see this limping drag queen being posed as a real threat.
Deckwatch had a wounded rapist/killer hide out in the home of a girlfriend of Hutch and her elderly mother while Hutch comes in and poses as a paramedic. The episode is the perfect how-no-to handle a hostage situation and there are numerous ways the hostage could have been stopped earlier without any casualties, but then they would have no show. Oh hand it has one of the most annoying characters in the franchise with "chicky" A teen dude that looks like he's near his 30s :P
Huggy and the Turkey. That was the worst, although Ballad for a Blue Lady comes close. But I liked The Game-I didn't find it implausible, because by the time Hutch realized he was really sick, he was too far gone to do anything about it.
http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/
The game was a bit corny but definitely fun. Just watched moonshine and it's totally ruined from the opening scene by its unrealistic depiction of drunk people. These guys act as if they're high as a kite while they should be woozy.
The episode was saved by the hot chick of the week who was extremely hot in this one.
Regarding the opening scene in Moonshine: you have to keep in mind that they weren't supposed to be drunk as much as delusional from the bad booze.
sharePeople have named some of the lame episodes here. I happen to also love the John Saxon episode where he was a vampire, very memorable.
The absolute worst episode was the last one ever aired. They had a really nice three part finale that aired. Then, I think they threw in two episodes that aired later that year. "Starsky Vs. Hutch was terrible and it upsets me to see that that was the last episode. It was painful to see two partners going after the same woman. It got ugly and they fought each other. It was awful. I hate any show that has two partners that are against each other.
"Starsky Vs. Hutch was terrible and it upsets me to see that that was the last episode. It was painful to see two partners going after the same woman. It got ugly and they fought each other. It was awful. I hate any show that has two partners that are against each other.
My least favorite episode though by far is the oft mentioned Huggy Bear and Turkey ... YAWN ... just awful, save for the brief appearance of Starsky and Hutch. What a compete waste of time.
There were several in the last season, Paul & David seemed to be walking through the scenes and some of the plot lines and editting were slip-shod. If I had to pick one though, it'd have to be The Golden Angel.
shareJust saw The Golden Angel last week. Pretty weak episode, though it delivered a pretty good jump scare when he opens his locker and some scary puppet face jumps to the camera
shareWithout doubt, "Huggy Bear and the Turkey"; a real waste of time, money and celluloid.
shareI have just seen a worse one in series 4 called Dandruff, where our heroes are supposed to be hairdressers. Starsky for some inexplicable reason keeps using a silly accent even when not undercover, & even Hutch seemed to becoming annoyed with this, though not as much as I was.
shareHave to agree the worst episode ever.
Head injury survivor. Please pardon my mistakes.
"1. Discomania (Season 4) Psycho of the week is incorporated into the obvious "Saturday Night Fever" inspired disco rage going on in America.There are a few cute moments and its fun seeing future TJ Hooker star Adrian Zmed play a John Travolta/ Tony Manero knockoff who happens to be a pick-pocket thief. Again, the psycho villian of the week is the real downfall of this episode. Just plain lazy writing."
Discomania was corny, but good. It at least showed that S&H was trying to keep up with trends (disco, clothes, etc.). I even liked the dancing (and they really couldn't dance.)
I have to say loving old vampire movies, I did love the John Saxon episode. Great play of opinions between Starsky and Hutch as Starsky believes and even starts wearing garlic around his neck. Hutch begins to question it as well when Saxon who is an acrobatic ballet dancer can leap from one building to the next seeming supernatural.
Worst I agree with Dandruff as my number 1.
"Huggy Bear and the Turkey" and "Dandruff."
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