Estrogen Brigade: David Soul's swooning fanbase, who propelled him into a second, even more lucrative, career as a pop singer, with a long string of slushy romantic ballad hits to his name.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: An iconic series in both France and Germany, and arguably even more successful in Britain than at home (David Soul just about lives in the UK now).
Harsher in Hindsight: The season 2 episode "Starsky's Lady" hits harder when you learn Glaser's wife and daughter both died of AIDS.
Ho Yay: A Costco-sized bucket of it. If old-school slash fanfic writers weren't writing for Kirk and Spock, they were writing Starsky and Hutch. One of the show's distinguishing characteristics is the "close" friendship between Starsky and Hutch. Despite the fact that both characters are very much ladies men, viewers and critics were all but convinced they were gay. Dave and Paul's incredibly good working relationship probably didn't help matters. Of course, they completely Lamp Shade this during outtakes by randomly making out with each other if one of them forgets or screws up a line.
Outtake Narrator: "For years the boys struggled hard against their popular image as two French-kissing primetime homos."
Lampshaded in "Death in a Different Place":
Hutch: Starsk, would you consider that a man who spends seventy-five percent of his time with another man has got certain tendencies? Starsky: ...yeah, sure, why not? You mean that was the case between John and— Hutch: No, no. That's the case between you and me.
It may have been bleeding over from the actors. If these outtakes are anything to go by, Paul Michael Glaser would try to lay a kiss on co-star David Soul at every opportunity.
Jeff Goldblum guest stars in "Murder on Stage 17" as a director.
Lauren Tewes plays a conniving lawyer in "Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty," which aired less than a month before The Love Boat debuted. In fact, Spelling decided to cast her in The Love Boat because he liked her on Starsky and Hutch.
Mykelti Williamson's first credited role was as a juvenile delinquent in "Black and Blue."
Jeffrey Tambor appears in "Cover Girl" as a photographer.
Veronica Hamel, before she was Claire Davenport, was Hutch's ex-wife in "Hutchinson for Murder One". Hutch gets framed for her murder.
Seasonal Rot: The general agreement is that each season is worse than the last, with the most dramatic dip in quality between the third and fourth seasons.
Unintentional Period Piece: Many fads of the era are referenced, such as biorhythms, pet rocks, and disco. There's also the funky background music, the polyester outfits, Starsky's huge boat of a car, and the moustache Hutch grows for the fourth season.
The Woobie: Both of them qualify. In the first season alone, Starsky gets injected with a poison that kills in 24 hours, gets shot in a hostage situation, loses his ex-girlfriend, and watches as an ex-con starts killing cops in his name. Hutch doesn't get quite the same level, but he does get forcibly addicted to heroin by a drug kingpin. And that's just the first season of four!
Film
Angst? What Angst?: The hot blonde cheerleader played by Brande Roderick shows a hilarious lack of grief for the death of her criminal boyfriend. Then again, she was too busy taking her clothes off for everyone's benefit.
Hutch: What the hell is that midget you have back there THROWING KNIVES AT ME AND MY PARTNER!? Chau: That's no midget, that's my son! Hutch: LIAR! (hits Chau with his gun)
In the interrogation room, when Chau tries to smoke, Starsky just takes the cigarette from his mouth and rubs it between his hands.
He Really Can Act: Owen Wilson definitely can sing, as shown in the part where he serenades Holly and Stacey on guitar. It's quite adorable and memorable.
Hilarious in Hindsight: "Afternoon Delight" is featured when the titular duo drive back to the station after their visit to Big Earl (played by Will Ferrell)... after he made them do embarrassing tasks to extract information from him. The same year, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (featuring Ferrell) came out, featuring a memorable scene where the main cast sings that song.
Ho Yay: It wouldn't be faithful without adding a few batches of this in.
Nightmare Fuel: The Russian Roulette moment in the interrogation room. Even though it's played for laughs (Starsky doesn't know that the gun was loaded, for example), the absolute terror on the face of the suspect is felt by the audience too.
are anything to go by, Paul Michael Glaser would try to lay a kiss on co-star David Soul at every opportunity.