Huggy Bear and The Turkey

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S2 (Huggy Bear and The Turkey)

A different kind of an episode, this one, and there's a reason for it: it was meant to be what is known as a 'backdoor pilot,' an opportunity to spinoff a new series using an existing series' money and exposure, kind of a cheat in some ways, but one that in this case leads me to wish it had become a vehicle for Huggy (and to a lesser extent J. D. Turquet). The only other backdoor pilot I've (knowingly) seen is the original 'Star Trek' story 'Assignment: Earth,' but I wasn't that bothered with the absence of that particular series as it would have been just plain weird to have a spinoff set in the 20th Century, but was connected to Trek (of course Trek eventually got its spinoff deserts in spades!), whereas I would have loved to see where the wacky characters and odd couple dynamics of this version would have gone while still inside the 'Starsky & Hutch' world. One thing that would surely have been different would be S&H's penchant for coming in at the end and saving Huggy and his buddy, but we get a taste of where things might have gone in Huggy's more physical role in comparison to his usual laid-back demeanour. He rarely looks happy or relaxed, which may have led to him becoming a different character from the cool, in-control Bear we knew.

J. D. 'Turk' Turquet (the imaginatively named of the title), had rather stolen some of Hug's thunder in regard to characteristics - he was the one being cool and with his drawl he had more the impression of being the chilled out one, even when put into zones outside of his comfort. That's something that would have made the series interesting, its mix of black and white cultures, something that S&H didn't have because although they were different personalities they both understood each other and lived in the same world, whereas you get a different kind of bickering from Hug and Turk, one that stems from their desire to work together, but with widely different tastes and experience. Perhaps this was all too ahead of its time for the audience of the day, or perhaps it was the uncertain footing in the very un-p.c. twists that counted against it, I just don't know what it was that stopped this from becoming a series in its own right, but I would have watched it!

How does Huggy's character change for his semi-first starring role? I say semi because he'd already featured heavily in Season 1's 'Kill Huggy Bear,' (this wasn't his last either, as Season 4's 'Huggy Can't Go Home' testifies), but as I've discussed many times in these reviews once he lost his base of operations; his own bar and restaurant, he was reduced in stature, so it was wonderful to have a Huggy heavy episode again. I already mentioned he seems strained and out of his ordinary easygoing manner, possibly because he's in the thick of the action, but he also gets fewer of the best lines, and when you're used to every other sentence coming out of a character's mouth being gold you notice the change. I'm not saying I didn't like Hug in this, I did, but it was more an anomaly seeing him out of his depth in some degree and constantly hounded by goons. But he also gets to show his action man credentials such as when he kicks Sonny Watson's gun out of his hands or has a fake fight with his partner in order to fool Sugar and Milo.

I wasn't sure where Turquet came from, he was right out of the blue as if Huggy had known him for ages, but of course we've never heard tell of him or seen hide or hair of the guy before. Saying that, I felt they did a good job with casting the actor as it must have been difficult to replicate the kind of buddy cop feel that S&H instantly had and find someone suitable to play off Huggy, but who was also very different. He's as much a silly buffoon as Huggy can be so the series would probably have been more cartoonish and fun even than Season 2 of 'Starsky & Hutch,' which is saying something (they might even have got to 'Dandruff' levels of ridiculousness in half the time!), but somehow the mix of odd characters in their world and slapstick action (Leotis dropping the heater on the advancing heavies and them rolling down the stairs in a heap springs to mind!), worked. It was never going to have the depth of something like 'Nightmare,' or likely to play up the creepiness like 'Bloodbath,' (though you know an episode would have eventually happened with one of them having to track down their kidnapped partner!), but the tension between two cultures and each having to fit into the other's when following up leads would have provided plenty of entertainment. Tension isn't perhaps the right word, there's very little of that here, it was more of a comedic confusion and misunderstanding.

I imagine it might not have been as accepted today as, for example Turquet doing an impression of a black man in order to fool a blind old woman, but it was undeniably funny, and somehow inoffensive because it was done with good intentions. The potential for suggestions of racism go both ways, though, as Blind Bessie apparently doesn't like 'honkies' (presumably white people, unless it just meant southerners, I'm not up on my lingo of that time!), which is the cause of Turquet's attempt at a black impression. You can also draw attention to the way the blind woman is played, clattering about her home crying out "Don' help me! Don' help me!" while dropping things or whatever, as making blindness seem like foolishness, except they do counterbalance that at the end of the scene when we realise it's a bit of an act and she knew all along that Turquet wasn't genuine. Actually these twists along the way make the episode better than if it had been a straightforward detecting story, as done so many times before and since - the mixing of two cultures was the uniqueness of the idea, especially for the time. But don't even start on the return of the series' penchant for men dressed as women!

Maybe there were some stereotypes and slightly negatively shaded messages of that era, but there were also good ones too: the most obvious is Huggy's refusal to carry guns, something Turquet's obviously reluctantly gone along with in the partnership - as Hug says, if you carry one you know what'll happen, something that very definitely sets the pair apart from S&H who of course always carried a gun, one of their most important pieces of equipment. This shows that the stories would have had to be different in tone as well as coming to them from the different angle of private detectives that don't have the law to back them up as opposed to serving police. A less obvious message is that everyone has their skills and place. Leotis, another of Huggy's many cousins (and, I think, the only one we actually ever meet), was a nice lad, but clearly had issues - he tended to take what people said literally (as in the water heater rather than 'heater' meaning gun), no doubt he'd be diagnosed with something today, but Huggy and Turk help him feel better about himself, and it's not hard when we realise he's actually something of a genius with numbers and has a brilliant brain in that regard! I would hope Leotis had been part of the main cast if it had gone to series.

Another character that might have been a main or recurring character was the woman at The Pits (I think she must be the one credited as 'Scorchy' as there aren't many female characters), who gets Hug and Turk the Foxy Baker job, or at least, passes the information over to them. She might have been a Captain Dobey-like figure (who, incidentally, doesn't appear), there to provide a matriarchal presence for them to get work or leads from. I may be reading too much into her brief appearance, but we'll never know. It's interesting to me that they meet at The Pits because I felt sure Huggy's place was called that, but I may be mistaking different times in the series' run as I believe his place was just called 'Huggy Bear's' so maybe he gets The Pits later, unless I'm imagining it.

In keeping with this being a 'Starsky & Hutch' episode we get a plethora of wacky or weird characters, more, in fact than most recent episodes of the series, but this setting, more fun and lighthearted (as much as murdering wives and dangerous criminals can be), seemed to be perfect for those characterful oddities. The villains are represented by Bad 'Dad' Watson and his son Sonny with their band of goons, none of whom are in the intelligent enemy band, but provide enough danger for the newly minted detective duo to handle, especially as they have guns and aren't afraid to use them. 'Dad' is a rasping, coughing baddie grasping an oxygen mask and spluttering into rage, but it's his son who's the real villain of the piece alongside Foxy Baker, the woman who brought them the case originally. I'm not sure it made sense for her to do that, but she did at first try to ask S&H, adding more chaos to an already chaotic scene, another in this style that's becoming beautifully common this season and that emphasises the humour all the more - Starsky dressed as an old lady is on the back of a fleeing goon, while grabbing onto railings to try and keep him there, then Hutch rushes out in a beard that's falling off and tries to handcuff this large criminal, and that's the moment Foxy chooses to appear and ask for assistance!

Just as Aesop Aquarian in 'Bloodbath' could have been the name of the character the actor played as well as his own name, Fuddle Bagley could easily have been used for his character, Walter T. Baker, such a perfect name for the role! Walter T. is a gibbering idiot who keeps repeating his catchphrase "We all gonna die! Die! Die!" but he's also somehow endearing for his utter helplessness and lack of courage. It leads to a good ending with Leotis slinging him over his back and leading them all up onto the roof to escape from the approaching Watson gang by using a plank or beam across the gap to the next building. It was shot very effectively with views glancing down to the distant ground and even a shot looking up at them making the crossing. Such a thin bridge made my fingertips and feet tingle, and it led to a fine little finale, even if, as discussed, S&H dash in to save the day - well, it was their series. I wonder if they enjoyed having more time off since they only make appearances at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end!

The episode freeze frames on Huggy and Turquet and you think that's it, it's finished, but no, we then go to a final final scene with them at police HQ where a man wanders in who needs help locating his 1854 golden eagle coin and they snap up their next case, but again, it ends on a freeze frame with the guy speaking after it's frozen asking them which is the Turkey, perhaps a reference to the usual Starsky/Hutch name mix-up? That guy was definitely in at least one other episode, but apparently this was his first role in the series so far, but I feel sure he played a bank manager of some kind and I thought it was Season 1. Either he wasn't credited, or it's a later episode. One actor who'd go on to be in a couple more episodes was Blackie Dammet, who played Sugar (named perhaps because of his sweet tooth - at least twice we see him scoffing a chocolate bar), his long, thin, sharply distinctive face always most memorable to me from 'Murder Ward' when he stalks a drugged Hutch with a large knife. I assume the "Nola" that Huggy threatened to play on Doc Rafferty's molar, was a well known song, plus we see Hug and Turk eating a KFC bucket, Walter T. is described as the black Bugs Bunny, and Huggy does an impressive impersonation of Laurence Olivier!

The list of crazy people could stretch to practically the entire cast (look out for the Buddha-like drunk guy sitting on the steps near Lady Bessie's place - he played another drunk who dies from bad booze, but I can't remember the exact episode), and we instantly know we're in a room of bad people because once again, 'Dad' Watson's office is carpeted in evil red! The old Bayshore Amusement Park, a funfair, is likely the same location used in 'The Psychic,' and even though their involvement in the episode is minimal, S&H are seen twice undercover: once as the old couple at Caplan's Laundry and Dry Cleaner's, and as hairdressers Mr. Marlene and Mr. Tyrone (personas later reprised in 'Dandruff,' though fortunately not in full manic character here, evidently still a work in progress!). Shots from that hairdressing scene would later be used in the credits montage (specifically Hutch in those orange glasses on the phone, and Starsky gleefully mussing up that poor woman's hair!).

The action isn't badly handled, what there is of it, with some in-car views during the slightly pointless car chase scene (they love speeding up that steep hill - or down it, I'm sure it's been used before), and the stunts worked well, the highlight being the moment Leotis hurls a wooden bench into the windscreen of Sugar and Milo's van as it tails Hug and Turk, forcing them to crash into the side of the road, sending a rack of clothing flying and a guy dashes away at the last second as they plough towards him! It's also good to hear Huggy's surname used (Huggy Bear Brown), so although we don't get to know a lot more about him, we get that, and his cousin (and his or Turk's interesting choice in decor at their office, which features a poster of feet!). There aren't even that many mistakes or problems that I could spy, but after Huggy was shown to be against guns I can understand why he'd throw away the weapons taken from Sugar and Milo, but maybe not the best idea to chuck them on the ground at a funfair where anyone could find them, though I suppose the police were on the way so they would have picked them up. Fuddle Bagley also fuddles one of his lines, though the character was partially drunk at the time so saying his wife made him rob 'Sam' 'Dad' Watson can be forgiven. And the sound of traffic at the funfair was clearly audible, so not the most secluded spot to leave those criminals!

On the whole, though, this was a good episode, but whether that was due to it falling in the series' strongest period of creativity and success (Season 2), or whether it was down to the chemistry of the two leads, I can't be sure. I wonder if it had gone to series whether S&H would have cameoed in it now and again, and how his own series would have affected Huggy's role in this one - would he still have been there week to week? Either way, the character deserved his own vehicle, so it's a shame nothing came of it, but it once again displays the risks and creative decisions that ran through this season, making it the best, in my opinion, and if this isn't necessarily one of the top episodes of the season, it's pretty enjoyable and a bit of a novelty.

***