Recollections I

This is the first of my memories of what it was like being a part, however peripherally, of Starsky and Hutch, 2nd through 4th seasons. This one is an overall view, and entirely my POV.

Recollections I – Looking back, from 2014, and remembering what it was like doing the research on, and being part of “Starsky & Hutch” from near the end of first season, 1976, through the end of the series in 1979. I was the legal and production researcher on the show, Seasons 2 through 4, and am writing from my own experiences, as I remember them. I have only recently rediscovered Starsky & Hutch fandom and am enjoying sharing some of those experiences. Memory being mutable, events and emotions I talk about may not be as others remember them, so I apologize, in advance, and sincerely hope I have not offended anyone.

Jealousy was, and still is, I assume, rampant in Hollywood and many of those I knew, who were involved in the production of “Starsky and Hutch” told me that, in the very beginning, they thought that the two hot-shot lead actors would be fighting each other for more lines, more scenes and more close-ups for themselves (as all actors tend to do). But, against all odds, David and Paul, who had known each other previously but, as I understand it, had never worked together, discovered that they liked each, they worked well together, they trusted each other. And some people were jealous of that camaraderie; perhaps having never had a friendship that close themselves, they were envious of it. During the entire first and second seasons, as the show grew in popularity, malicious rumors spread that the pair wasn’t all that tight; that they fought constantly, on and off the set, that they were really only two-bit actors, out for themselves; either of which could be replaced, and the show would continue to run. You may not find these rumors anywhere in print now but, at the time, they were circulated with abandon and even relish.

Being late come to the current fandom of S&H, I’m only now seeing fairly recent interviews given by some of the principals: Bill Blinn, Len Goldberg, Park Perine, David and Paul, among others, and their recollections don’t seem to reflect the discord I mention, above. To hear them tell it, all was sweetness and light and everybody was just doing everything possible to make the pilot and series the very best it could be. I find that fascinating. And, since I was not on the inside of decision-making, I can’t speak to the validity of what the interviewees are saying these days; I can only speak to what it was like being there, and hearing reports of what was going on from those I talked to at the time. And, according to them, things were not all sweetness and light.

I was told by a couple of first season writers that the producers had believed “Hutch” would be the dominant character and that “Starsky” would be the sidekick, therefore they, the writers, were to make his character the clown, and the butt of all jokes and supposedly amusing situations. Think about the tag of the pilot: Hutch’s final line, followed by his actions, were mean-spirited and most un-trust-worthy. But, it’s amusing, thought the producers: the dominant partner asking for trust from his ever-trusting sidekick and then kicking him in the teeth, figuratively. Well, it is amusing, they thought. Right? Possibly, to anyone who’s never had a friend they trusted.

Similarly, after the two roles had actually been cast, a number of different people told me they believed that David, the somewhat better known (at least in Hollywood), and more typically handsome actor, would be the star of the pilot, and the series, if it went to series. So the early scripts were written with this vision in mind. Look at the tags of most of first season’s episodes (as well as all the this-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-plot story lines in more than a few): they were subtle and not-so-subtle humiliations of Starsky. Some of them were even cruel (“Shootout”, “Coffin,” and others). My friends believed they were attempts to drive the two actors apart and keep them from forming any kind of real working relationship or friendship.

Remember Starsky’s tooth ache in “Losing Streak”? It had nothing to do with the plot. Absolutely nothing. It just made Starsky appear foolish, childish and silly. Even to the extent of having the bad guy kick the wrong tooth out of his mouth at the end. That’s funny, right? Maybe, if you’re a masochist. Paul might have chosen to sulk through that episode, giving it less than his full effort. Instead, he made us feel that damned toothache! In “Silence,” I was so hungry by the end, after the script had contrived to keep Starsky from a meal four times, I was almost in tears. Again, all this had nothing whatsoever to do with the plot; just more putting-Starsky-down and trying to make him look like a fool shenanigans. Remember the tag of that one? Hutch coos over the kitten he vows is ‘Hutch’ but decides it’s ‘Starsky’ after all, when it pisses in his hands? That’s funny. Right? Now, I’ve seen a relatively recent interview (in the 2003/2004 series of pre-motion picture interviews) that stated it was Paul’s idea to make Starsky the brunt of jokes and “funny” tags and, if this is so, he was even more astute than anyone realized.

Because, no matter whose idea it was, originally, the result was that Starsky was viewed as The Underdog (an equal partner he might have been but he was The Put Upon One), and most people will always root for the underdog. The fans loved Starsky/Paul just as much as they loved Hutch/David. The legion of female fans wanted to ‘mother’ Starsky (among other things), the male fans wanted to take him under their wing and protect him. To the complete shock of the production company (in my opinion), Paul began to get as much fan mail as David and then, horror of horrors, more. But wait, this could work for them, they thought: if David got jealous of Paul’s popularity, there would be conflict between them, and they, the producers, would have their leverage after all.

Alas, to their way of thinking, it never happened. David appeared to be truly happy for Paul’s popularity, and the show’s ratings soared. But it was an extremely difficult time for both of them.

Can you imagine what it’s like to spend 18 hours a day, five days a week (six if they were on location) in an atmosphere of constant tension; never being able to trust, or confide in anyone except your co-star? Never knowing if what someone was telling you was true; if the crew member you were chatting with was secretly recording your conversation in order to sell it to one of the gossip rags; shooting sometimes less-than-literate scripts, with little attention paid to details; with no ‘say’ in any facet of the production? All David and Paul had were each other.

My best friend on the production crew, Gerry Leetch, the hairdresser, loved the boys, but she couldn’t stand the way, from her viewpoint, almost everyone else seemed to be trying to tear them apart. She left after second season; she couldn’t watch it any more. Gerry and I stayed in touch for many, many years and, every time we got together, the conversation always eventually got around to ‘the boys.’ Even after the show was long off the air, we’d reminisce, laugh and cry, and fall in love with them all over again.

At the end of second season, Paul had had enough. He and the production company became embroiled in a suit/counter suit that saw many headlines in ‘Variety’ and ‘The Hollywood Reporter,’ and accounted for hours and hours of ‘discussion’ among Hollywood ‘insiders’: Paul Michael Glaser was trying to destroy the most popular series on television; he was demanding more ‘say’ in the production, writing, directing, etc., of the show, or he’d sue to get out of his contract. (Notice I didn’t say anything about money. I never heard anyone claim that Paul had asked for more money than David, which his higher popularity could have commanded. It is possible that he did, but I never heard it.) Aaron Spelling Productions, of course, counter sued him for breach of contract, and said they would re-cast the role of Starsky. They were quoted as saying there were at least a dozen actors the fans would accept in Paul’s place.

Perhaps all this struck so close to my heart, that I paid as little attention as possible that summer, hoping against hope that cooler heads would prevail and the show would continue as it was, with both David and Paul in their roles, so I didn’t read the articles, or listen to the vitriol being spewed. I managed never to read a word of what Paul actually thought of all the negative things being written and said about him, or how David felt about it. I feel sure that Paul would never have made his stand if he and David hadn’t talked it all over completely. I’m pretty sure David would have felt that Paul was making a mistake but that, if he, Paul, felt as strongly about things as he obviously did, then he, David, would support him.

On the morning of the first day’s filming, third season, the schedule called for a location shoot so everyone was on site early, before 6am; motor homes in place as close to ‘the set’ as possible so that the actors would be available at a moment’s notice, equipment trucks, along with Wardrobe and Hair/Makeup trailers a little farther away, cast and crew cars crammed into the adjacent parking lot, ‘honey wagons’ (restrooms) nearby, catering truck doing a land office business; but tensions were very high. It was known that Paul had lost his suit, so he was still on the show. But nobody around me had talked to either Paul or David since the end of the previous season, and everyone was uneasy about whether or not the friendship/partnership had survived. How could it have?! This was Hollywood; destroying people was its meat.

As I arrived at the location, everyone was walking around Paul’s motor home as if it were a land mine, giving it a wide berth but finding their eyes going to it every few moments. Paul could be seen inside, sitting with his back to the window, in one of the small barrel chairs half-way toward the rear of the vehicle, only his head visible through the open Venetian blinds. How early had he gotten there? Oh-dark-thirty??????

David arrived a little while later and, speaking to no one, went into Paul’s motor home. Everyone who was within view of that vehicle stopped whatever they were doing and stared: this was going to be the preview of what the season would be like. David walked to Paul, who did not get up, stood in front of him for a few seconds, just smiling that gentle, sweet smile. Then he leaned down and put his arms around his partner, his best friend, their heads pressed against each other. Whether or not anything was said, none of us outside could tell, they just held each other. After what seemed like forever, but probably wasn’t any longer than 15-20 seconds, David straightened up, moved back a step and sat down, facing Paul. And they talked. No one knows what was said during the following 30 minutes but, when they exited the motor home, they walked to the set, their arms around each other’s waists, both of them laughing and talking (Paul a little more subdued than David but trying to put his best possible face forward) with those on the crew brave enough to approach them. Miraculously, the partnership had evidently not only survived but was, possibly, even stronger.

Unfortunately, they weren’t out of the woods; the rumors and malicious stories continued to be circulated, some even digging up the old “gay” rumors that had begun almost as soon as the show hit the air, and re-spreading them, saying that the partnership was indeed more than platonic. As far as I know, neither David nor Paul bothered to address those rumors in print. Perhaps they did; I never saw them. In fact, they actually loved putting people on by doing outrageous things on-set and off- (‘the dip’ from “Tap Dancing…..”), (grabbing each other’s buns on the beach in their ‘Husky & Starch’ t-shirts, laughing like crazy, knowing that someone had taken their picture, and would circulate the image as widely as possible), (the famous Paul-is-about-to-kiss-David photo). It may have been the only thing that kept them sane through the maelstrom.

By the end of fourth season, even though they had each had the opportunity to direct a few episodes, to broad, and much-deserved acclaim (more about this in a later recollection), they were tired! Tired of having to fight constantly: for better scripts, better production values, less malicious rumor-mongering, for positive support of almost any kind from the production company. So it was decided that, since ABC did have a series ready to put into their time slot, “Starsky and Hutch” would not be renewed. Those of us who loved the series, loved the boys, lost something we’d never be able to replace.

David and Paul went on to other lives, other successes, happiness, and tragedy; growing older but, as I have only recently discovered, never losing touch with each other for very long. While we, the viewing public/fans had to make do with re-runs, then video tapes, then DVDs, relishing fantasies and fiction we’d written, simply because we couldn’t let them go. The series has continued to find appeal for almost 40 years; a truly amazing feat. They were doing something awfully right, evidently, in spite of everyone arrayed against them.

Stay tuned, there will be a few more recollections; thanks for listening.