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 Starsky & Hutch Production NotesThey are the man.
Detective David Starsky is the most dedicated undercover cop working the mean streets of Bay City, California. Maniacally devoted to his job, when he's on duty no crime goes unpunished--and he's always on duty. And that's a good thing, because he has some metaphorically big shoes to fill: his mother was a legend on the force, one of the best cops in the history of Bay City.
But while his mom stuck with the same partner throughout her entire career, due to his extremely zealous brand of police work, Starsky burns through partners faster than his beloved Gran Torino goes through spark plugs. Detective Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson is having career issues of his own--he's a good cop, but his hazardously laidback personality and desire for a quick buck don't always get the job done. He has excellent instincts, he just needs a little bit of focus to keep him on the admittedly less profitable side of the law.
Exasperated Bay City Police Captain Dobey has found the perfect solution for two of his biggest problems: pair up Starsky and Hutch and put them out on the streets. As soon as the two mismatched crime fighters unhappily begin their first day on the beat as a team, a "floater" turns up on the Bay City coastline. With the help of Hutch's dynamite, street-savvy informant Huggy Bear, the two begin to unravel the mysterious murder case.
Investigating their first clue, the boys meet Staci and Holly, of the Bay City Cheerleaders, who are more than eager to help--in any way they can. All signs seem to point at wealthy businessman Reese Feldman, but Starsky and Hutch just can't seem to make a case against him. Unbeknownst to them, Feldman has cooked up a plan to foil the DEA and is plotting the biggest and most lucrative drug deal of his career. The unlikely duo will use their canniest undercover skills, hardcore street smarts and striking good looks to solve the crime and make sure the criminal does the time.
In Starsky & Hutch, the origins of the charismatic crime-fighting duo David Starsky and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson are explored when these undercover Bay City detectives are partnered for their very first assignment. Ben Stiller plays the tightly wound Detective David Starsky who is thrown together with Owen Wilso's easygoing Detective Ken Hutchinson on a high-stakes case. Platinum-selling rapper and actor Snoop Dogg plays their savvy street informant Huggy Bear. Vince Vaughn also joins the cast as Reese Feldman, a smooth-talking entrepreneur with an eye towards the future.
Detective David Starsky (Ben Stiller) is the most dedicated undercover cop working the mean streets of Bay City, California. Maniacally devoted to his job, when he's on duty no crime goes unpunished - and he's always on duty. And that's a good thing, because he has some metaphorically big shoes to fill: his mother was a legend on the force, one of the best cops in the history of Bay City. But while his mom stuck with the same partner throughout her entire career, due to his extremely zealous brand of police work, Starsky burns through partners faster than his beloved Gran Torino goes through spark plugs.
Detective Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (Owen Wilson) is having career issues of his own - he's a good cop, but his hazardously laidback personality and desire for a quick buck don't always get the job done. He has excellent instincts, he just needs a little bit of focus to keep him on the admittedly less profitable side of the law. Exasperated Bay City Police Captain Dobey (Fred Williamson) has found the perfect solution for two of his biggest problems: pair up Starsky and Hutch and put them out on the streets.
As soon as the two mismatched crime fighters unhappily begin their first day on the beat as a team, a "floater" turns up on the Bay City coastline. With the help of Hutch's dynamite, street-savvy informant Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg), the two begin to unravel the mysterious murder case. Investigating their first clue, the boys meet Staci (Carmen Electra) and Holly (Amy Smart), Bay City Cheerleaders who are more than eager to help - in any way they can.
All signs seem to point at wealthy businessman Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn), but Starsky and Hutch just can't seem to make a case against him. Unbeknownst to them, Feldman has cooked up a plan to foil the DEA and is plotting the biggest and most lucrative drug deal of his career.
The unlikely duo will use their canniest undercover skills, hardcore street smarts and striking good looks to solve the crime and make sure the criminal does the time. Because, as David Starsky says, "In Bay City, when you cross the line, your n*ts are mine."
About the Production
From September 1975 to August 1979, Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul starred in the wildly popular buddy-cop television drama Starsky & Hutch as detectives Dave Starsky and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson. Not only did they trounce criminals on the seamy streets of Bay City every week, more importantly, they looked good doing it. They had the clothes, they had the hair and they had the car: Starsky's beloved red and white striped Ford Gran Torino.
Starsky & Hutch presented a groundbreaking portrayal of cops they didn't always follow the rules, using unorthodox methods to solve the toughest of crimes. Perhaps most unorthodox was the detectives' association with Huggy Bear, an ultra hip, jive talking, streetwise informant played by Antonio Fargas, who walked the fine line between crooked and righteous. The relationship between the two detectives was unique in that they didn't take themselves too seriously and shared a sense of humor that was notably absent from such earlier police dramas as Dragnet and Adam-12. The fresh mix of gritty crime drama and occasional tongue-in-cheek moments propelled Starsky & Hutch to extremely high ratings over its entire run. Although it went off the air in 1979, the show still maintains a large following.
In 1998, producers Alan Riche and Tony Ludwig hit upon the idea to remake the hit cop drama as a feature film comedy. "I was a fan of the show," Riche recalls. "I thought it had heart and soul, and it was very much of the time it wasn't fluff. I always liked the relationship between Starsky and Hutch and felt that it could translate into a movie relationship. It's classic movie yin-yang: you?ve got crazy and intense Starsky and more laconic, laid back Hutch. Each has value in terms of their own persona, but put them together and one plus one equals three you really enjoy hanging out with these guys."
The producers soon found that the show's creator William Blinn held the motion picture rights. Blinn had been contacted in the past to bring the show to the big screen but had never been inclined to do it. "It wasn't until I met with Alan and Tony that it seemed to take on some reality," he says. "Their enthusiasm really turned me around." Blinn felt they had a fresh perspective and was eager to work with them.
Riche and Ludwig went into partnership with Blinn and took the project to Warner Bros. Pictures, where producer Akiva Goldsman became involved. "The funny thing about Starsky & Hutch is that like a lot of the TV shows from when I was a child, it evoked a set of memories that are different than what you might feel today if you watched the show," muses Goldsman. "Whatever Starsky & Hutch engendered in our imagination when we were kids was sufficiently delicious that you look back on it and you think, Wow, they were kind of funny and serious at the same time and they were really kind of cool.? There's a genuineness to their friendship, which we're definitely screwing around with in a good way in this movie."
When Ben Stiller heard that Warner Bros. Pictures owned the rights to the iconic TV show, he made it known that he wanted the chance to play Detective Dave Starsky, and along with his producing partner Stuart Cornfeld, quickly became a welcome addition to the project. "I used to play Starsky & Hutch when I was a kid," explains Stiller, "so I thought, why not do it as an adult? I mean, there are actually a lot of reasons why you shouldn?t do it as an adult, but I chose to ignore them and go forward with the project."
"It amazes me how much Ben is truly reminiscent of Paul Glaser," Riche marvels. "He is a very dedicated artist, and he had this amazing passion to do Starsky. So we were lucky that we got Ben, and from there found the right director and the right partner in Owen."
The filmmakers and Stiller then began their search for the right director to helm the project. In looking for someone who could mine the comedy in what was initially a straightforward cop show, Stiller looked to director Todd Phillips. Fresh off his success with the teen comedy Road Trip, Phillips was just beginning work on the midlife crisis frat boy tale Old School. Phillips had been recommended to Stiller for several films and both men jumped at the opportunity to work together.
Stiller appreciated Phillips' take on the project. "Todd looked at it as if it were the failed pilot for Starsky & Hutch, and wanted to shoot it in the way that you would have done a real TV movie in the 70s. We wanted to play it straight and just let the irony of thirty years later be what it is. This movie is referencing a show that was such a phenomenon when it was on the air, and we aren't trying to spoof it or parody it in any way. We?re not trying to say, 'hey, look how goofy the 70s were.?"
"Basically, I describe it as a romantic comedy between two straight men," quips Phillips. "It sort of follows the beats of a typical romantic comedy in that they don't really get along at first, they start to get along, they break up and then they come back together for a better union than ever. But in this case it's two straight guys going through those same beats." The producers and director then went to work with John O'Brien, a writer who had been developing material for Goldsman's Weed Road Pictures. The essential story and character beats were laid down in a draft that persuaded the studio to "greenlight" the picture.
Phillips then brought in his friend and writing partner Scot Armstrong, who had previously collaborated with the director on Road Trip and Old School. Playing off the original show's lighter moments without losing the dramatic flavor, Phillips and Armstrong were able to develop the idea into a full-fledged action comedy.
With Phillips and Stiller committed to the film, it was not long before Stiller?s friend Owen Wilson was brought onboard in the role of Detective Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson. Starsky & Hutch revolves around the close relationship between its two main characters, so the chemistry between the leads needed to be stellar. Stiller and Wilson had worked together on a number of projects: The Cable Guy, Meet The Parents, The Royal Tenenbaums and the 2001 audience favorite Zoolander, which paired the two as supermodels. Starsky & Hutch re-teams the actors for the sixth time, allowing them to combine their talents and natural chemistry to put a comedic twist on the classic show.
Stiller was extremely enthusiastic about casting Wilson. "It seemed a natural choice because we do have a friendship and the basis of Starsky and Hutch's whole relationship was that they liked and trusted each other. Now, I don't trust Owen not for a second but I do like him and I find him entertaining, so really, minus the trust thing, it's a very similar sort of relationship. And Owen's blonde, too, so that was another factor in the casting."
Producer Stuart Cornfeld explains the mechanics behind the match. "Both of them are really terrific at improvisational comedy, at picking up on what the other one is doing," Cornfeld says of the duo. "Their core creative and comedic energies are very complementary; Ben is extremely present and Owen is the other side of the coin, a little more off in his own world. It's that clash of the guy who's way too there and the guy who's not quite there that's a really good combination. They're both very smart guys and talented writers who have a tremendous amount of respect for each other."
Wilson's explanation of why he was cast exemplifies his compatibility and professional understanding with Stiller. "I think Ben had the idea that I would be good for Hutch because I have blond hair," he recounts. "I don?t think it was anything more complicated than that." Unless you count their excellent working partnership, that is. "When I?m in a scene with Ben I just get a feeling, when we're playing it back and forth, if it's working or not." The actor's comfort and familiarity with the role could also be due to the fact that Wilson watched Starsky & Hutch avidly as a kid. "It was the first show I remember being into it was that, then Magnum P.I. and then Miami Vice."
The original Starsky & Hutch put the "buddy" in the buddy cop genre that was to be emulated time and time again on both the big and small screen through the years, thanks to a relationship between the two leads that rang true with audiences. "I think that part of why the show was so big is that it was closer to reality," says Wilson. "We had some detectives from the L.A.P.D. advising on the movie, and they said that so much of police work is in the camaraderie a big part of your day is devoted to catching criminals, but another part of your day is hanging around and cracking jokes."
Stiller discusses taking the genre full circle. "The buddy cop genre is a little bit tired. But the good news is that with this movie, the buddy cop drama has taken a nap, and has woken up and feels refreshed and ready to spend the rest of the day being a good, happy, refreshed genre. For instance, we have yet to see undercover mimes at a Bat Mitzvah in a buddy cop movie."
In addition to Starsky and Hutch, the television show featured memorable regular character Huggy Bear, the savvy informant who kept the officers up on what was going down. He was very popular on the show and it was clear that the actor updating Huggy had to bring an easygoing charm and laid back sense of humor to the role. Enter platinum-selling rapper and talented actor Snoop Dogg.
"When we were younger, Huggy Bear was basically the coolest guy on TV," says Phillips. "You didn't see a lot of characters like that on television. Snoop seemed to me to be the logical choice because he is the coolest guy, so we went to him first. He brings a sense of reality to the role and I always feel like comedy plays best in reality."
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Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in Starsky & Hutch.
