I have a confession to make.
2014 was a year that changed me. My attitude towards my life
and my very being has been transformed. My world will never be the same again.
I would like to say this is because I spent the year travelling or finding myself in some far flung corner of the planet.
Unfortunately not. In reality I owe this transformation to a
certain 1970s cop show.
Yes you did indeed read that correctly. But you must
understand this is all the fault of my parents. Last April my dad, on a whim,
returned from a foray into town with a second hand copy of Starsky and Hutch Season one… Mum: instantly hooked. Brother:
initially watched out of sympathy, but was slowly drawn into the web. I held
off for two months, abjectly refusing to set my eyes on it. I could not comprehend how my parents could watch
multiple episodes in one evening. The horror!
How wrong I was! Oh Starsky, with
your adorable afro, and Hutch, with those glorious flares, can you forgive me?!
Captain Doby, the
solid-run-of-the-mill-good-egg-family-man, do not judge me for my ignorance!
Huggy Bear, you slightly dodgy guy turned good by the firm hand of Starsk’ n’
Hutch, spite me not. And all you other random extras, I can only apologise for
my short –sightedness. What is not to LOVE? The tense(ish) action, snappy(ish)
dialogue and that classic(ish) 1970s soundtrack of twangy guitars and
synthesised sounds; the seedy shots of a particularly grotty part of southern
California, complete with endless supplies of paper and cardboard floating
around for Starsky and Hutch to hide behind from/throw at some undesirable criminals; the general beige-ness of the colour scheme... And last but not least, Starsky’s car, almost permanently screeching around a
corner or doing some intensely illegal but incredibly cool manoeuvre in the
middle of the road. I LOVE IT.
Of course, the obsession doesn’t
stop there. Can open, worms EVERYWHERE. I’m an addict and have had to find
other sources to feed my addiction. In doing so I have moved on not only in
program, but also in decade… Ladies and Gentlemen , I introduce you to Magnum
P.I, the most 1980s cop show known to man. First we have Thomas Magnum, played
by Tom Selleck – a private investigator with a magnificent moustache who does
surprisingly little private investigating and rather more lounging around on a
beach or playing baseball. He has a
particular penchant for Hawaiian shirts, the most ludicrously short shorts and a propensity to shout
“GUYS, THIS ISN’T ‘NAM!” at his fellow Vietnam War buddies at any available
moment. The fellow Vietnam vets’ consist of TC, the muscle bound comedic figure
who comes complete with a Helicopter, and Rick who… well there is actually very
little to say about Rick other than the fact that he is incredibly irritating… moving
on… We also have Higgins, Magnum’s fellow employee who is incredibly English,
but in a very American way – with his (slightly fake) cut glass English accent,
constant references to ‘the Great War’ and general up-tightness, compared to the
fun lovin’ Americans, he is a classic example of how American humour does not
understand British culture. (In addition, Higgins shares a slightly unfortunate
resemblance to one of the most evil historical figures of the 20th
century – sadly this increases the hilarity further.) Often, when an episode of
Magnum PI is over, we all sit there slightly stunned, as no one is quite sure
what happened in the past fifty minutes… but somehow that just doesn't matter…
I could go on and recommend further
tele-visual delights from the 1970s and 1980s… UFO… The Rockford Files… The
Sweeney… but I will restrain myself as I want to retain some sort of semblance
that I do actually have a life. Therefore to conclude my confession of an
undying love of Starsky and Hutch and Magnum P.I (both of whom have contributed
to my enormous crush on Gene Hunt from Life on Mars…), I dedicate this post to
various members of my family and certain family friends: this entry is rather
tailored to you. To anyone else, I have probably just confirmed to you my low
sanity levels and my elderly woman-like tendencies…
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment