Starsky and Hutch: What's the Fascination?

Meta
Title:	Starsky and Hutch: What's the Fascination?
Creator:	Jan Lindner and Connie Faddis
Date(s):	1977
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Starsky & Hutch
Topic:
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Starsky and Hutch: What's the Fascination? is a 1977 Starsky & Hutch essay by Jan Lindner and Connie Faddis.

It was printed in Zebra Three #1.

Some Topics Discussed

• why do fans like the show
• society in flux, people unsure of their roles, future shock
• the popularity of buddy show/relationship television programs and movies
• the statement: It has been said that S&H is a "love affair between two obviously heterosexual men"

From the Essay

At first glance, the obvious answers might include “a taste for violence" or feminine infatuation with the attractive male actors. As you read this fanzine, though, you'll find a more pervasive (and hopefully more mature) theme: the friendship between the two main characters.

It has been said that S&H is a "love affair between two obviously heterosexual men". This theme, when well-performed, has always been popular in the media. Take, for instance, the friendships that were the core of "I Spy", "Star Trek", "The Man From UNCLE", "Laverne and Shirley", and even 'way back, between the Lone Ranger and Tonto. The movies have had their successes in the genre, too: "Becket", "San Francisco" (Gable and Tracy), "The Sting'", and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", The theme actually hails back to Damon and Pythias in the classics.

The current popularity of "relationship" themes is apparent. The 1977 fall lineup for new TV series introduced (with varying success) a number of adaptations, including "Rosetti and Ryan", "CHiPs", and "On Our Own". The viewing public has a hunger for entertainment involving same-sex (but generally nonsexual) friendships.

This is hardly surprising in an era when traditional roles and concepts of human relationships are in flux. Where a person born into a Western culture fifty years ago could expect to live a fairly stable life in the same circle of relatives and friends, we exist now in the future-shock society of social and economic mobility. This time of easy job transfers, no-fault divorces. Social Security and estate-run rest homes, day-care centers, and the many liberation and anti-defamation movements, is not conducive to interpersonal relationships of great depth or duration, however desirable the eventual enrichment of individual and group interest and opportunities may be. With many people unsure of their own roles, or what to expect of the people with whom they live and work, do-it-yourself analysis, pop psychology, and how-to-relate books have recently enjoyed a boom market.

No one will argue that human beings have need of personal recognition, acceptance, and affection, but very few real-life relationships can be as satisfying or dependable as those portrayed in fantasy. Fantasy presents an ideal. It seldom disappoints (and when it does, it quickly makes restitution). In addition, real-life relationships seldom reach the intensities of life-and- death situations, where personal defenses must fall and true feelings are openly displayed. Fantasy of the action-adventure genre (be it a medical show, a western, a war series, or a cop show) allows the barriers-down, idealistic kind of relationship that most people would like to have with their friends. Very few people would want the risks that accompany such a relationship as Starsky and Hutch have -- but it is an enjoyable and comforting experience to participate vicariously in adventures that reaffirm the idea that such friendships are possible.