Moonshine

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S4 (Moonshine) (2)

A good-humoured ring-ding jaunt with the good ol' boys, Johnny Stovall and CW Jackson, or should I say Starsky and Hutchinson, as they take on lowdown country dudes when a good, honest bootleggin' business gets a bad name from one of the guys cutting good, honest liquor with wood alcohol and causing some deaths. It's certainly the most fun episode so far this season, but doesn't go into the realms of parody that infamous examples, such as 'Dandruff,' would do sometimes - although they're playing Southern boys from Alabama as a disguise to get in on the racket and find the culprits, S&H don't take their alter egos to heart, and in fact seem quite shy and embarrassed in comparison to their usual antics, though Hutch ends up having to perform some picking on the gee-tar when they head to the Backwood Inn to follow a lead - what did he expect, taking a guitar into amateur night? Although it's got a good share of action and chuckles, it's pretty straightforward as they go, meaning not a lot to write about, but one thing that did interest me was where S&H actually were in relation to their usual beat. Previous viewings gave me the impression they were in the back of beyond, but they can't be too far away from the city since there's never any question of jurisdiction, they're in range of the local dispatcher (who actually gets them into trouble at one point - must be the biggest role she's had! I'd love to know who did the familiar voice…), who's able to patch Dobey in, Starsky plans to attend a dance competition that evening, and Hutch reports they're in the North-West quadrant of the county, so they couldn't be too far away.

Timing is something that might confuse the issue a little, since I'm sure more than one day passes (we see them at the Inn of an evening), but I can't remember at what point Starsky was saying he had the talent show tonight with the never-seen Roxy. It's another running joke that does actually run through the course of the episode, with first appearance when Starsky's practicing his moves with the car door as partner, trying to hide 'An Anglo's Guide To Latin Disco' from Hutch, unsuccessfully. Later, his smart pumps are found by Hutch when he has to drive after Starsky's managed to get drunk on liquor at Smokey Mountain Inn during the initial stage of the investigation, having previously been antsy about taking any of the stuff into his system since the hick bootleggers had died from similar fare! If there was an episode I imagine inspired a lot of the tone of the 2004 film, then this must be near the top of the list. They don't wear fake moustaches and ride hulking motorbikes (Hutch has a natural one, and he does borrow a dirt bike from a kid to follow Willy), but they encounter yokels and rub them up the wrong way while stopping off at a roadside inn.

Willy and Melvin, brothers working for the Ivers', Dolly and Sam (was he her Dad?), are the real bad guys, and of the two of them, Willy's the one calling the shots, followed meekly and stupidly by his younger brother who probably isn't that bad, but has been led astray. Willy's not exactly an Einstein criminal mastermind, but he's also shrewd, quickly realising S&H are cops by the CB radio he fiddles about with, discovering a police signal - that's where the dispatcher tries to contact Zebra Three and when she comes into contact with Willy the game's up. Maybe they should have thought of having her in on the setup, but then they never expected Willy was going to take off in their truck (borrowed from the trusting Detective Munson who you could tell regretted his decision the instant they sped jerkily off from the station in his pride and joy!), to avoid revealing the location of the secret still. I would have thought he'd have heard Starsky dashing after him and leaping into the back of the truck, but he didn't. The scene with Hutch burning down the empty tracks on a Kawasaki dirt bike was a favourable reminder of previous episodes such as 'The Psychic' where Hutch had to run around getting to phones by a certain time while Starsky covered him by bike. I thought there was another one with Hutch speeding through the countryside to find his partner, unless I'm thinking of this one? 'Bloodbath' is similar where he's driving round the countryside searching for Starsky, but he had the Torino at his disposal then.

The stereotypes might be a bit strong, but the series has always enjoyed playing such things up. They seem to have had better roles for the female members of the cast so far this season (such as Emily in 'Blindfold,' and the killer in 'Photo Finish'), with Dolly continuing the trend as a tough, non-nonsense lady with good morals. It's funny to hear Sam talk about their business as having been around when Washington was just swampland, or whatever he says, and that's the reason he wouldn't pay taxes on the alcohol! But times change, and society with it, just as his goal was to produce good quality stuff, he wasn't such a good judge of character, assuming he hired Willy, who finds it sickly funny that they're going to make money on 'gut-rot,' rather than feeling appalled by his crimes or sorry for the victims. He doesn't care about anyone, even treating his brother as just a lackey, but he gets his comeuppance as you'd expect. Ironically, Hutch rides into the still machinery, missing the villains, and sits down on Starsky's foot by mistake. Unlike the usual tag scene, I can't complain it doesn't have anything to do with the episode as we hear what happened to those involved, such as Dolly and Sam being let off by the Judge and returning to Kentucky, while Hutch brings the joke full circle and admits he's taking Starsky's place in the dance contest, the freeze frame a particularly good one of Starsky raising his crutch to beat down his partner!

Being an episode out in the country you'd think it would be full of eccentric characters, but though there's a long cast list (perhaps one of the longest ever?), I would only put Earl, the big bloke they meet outside Smokey Mountain Inn, and who went from angry guy to hospitable through Starsky's brazen charm, as the sole example, slapping them around in his friendly manner. The barman, Rudy, was quite restrained and subtle, while the bootleggers, Virgil and Frank, were drunk at the time as they carried out their sugar heist. Willy and the gang were all pretty ordinary in their own way, and Ben Meadows, owner of the Backwood Inn, was a regular guy. Doesn't mean the episode wasn't a lively one, it's full of jolly fine fun, such as David Soul getting to show off his musical talents again, with the initially sceptical band gradually joining in until there's a proper knees-up going on. He doesn't fare so well with the Torino, which I think is why they end up going to Munson for suitable replacement wheels, but it's telling that when Hutch is at the wheel he's not able to pull off a proper skid-turn to chase Dolly's yellow truck. Some of the jokes you might expect don't occur, such as them introducing themselves the other way round as they used to, after being mistaken, or Hutch having to dump Starsky's bagged meal because of a call out, but perhaps they had different writers or they didn't want to rely too much on old jokes?

Interestingly for me, it was written by Fred Freiberger who was in charge of the third and final season of 'Star Trek' in the 1960s, and another Trek connection is that it was directed by Reza Badiyi who directed some 'DS9' episodes. There's no sign of Huggy, but I suppose his street smarts would be wasted on the countryside, but at least Dobey gets out of the office - he has to foot the bill for a shipment of sugar S&H are supposed to acquire in order to trade with Willy. He advises his men to dress a little more down-home for their unusual assignment, so it's in with the cowboy hats once more, which they always love to do - there's even shots in the credits montage of previous such getups. There aren't many references, the most clear being Starsky's of Eliot Ness, the famous prohibition enforcer. Colonel Parker is mentioned, but I couldn't remember if that was the guy who managed Elvis, or not. Hutch says Roxy has an Ava Garner mouth. And Starsky pulls the old trick of distracting his buddy so he can be alone with Dolly, when he suggests they go to the bar, then stays behind at the table. Was the underpass they drive under during the chase at the beginning the same as in 'Partners,' near their crash? There weren't a lot of standout lines, but I liked the one about Starsky thinking about his Mama in 'Bama.

With such a host of characters it's unsurprising that some of them were played by actors that had been in the series previously: Zachary Lewis who played dopey younger brother Melvin, had been Mousy Loomis in Season 2's 'Nightmare' (another dopey sidekick to the main villain), and was Henderson in Season 3's 'Partners' (another dopey sidekick, I think!). Big guy, Earl, played by Lee McLaughlin had been Frisco Fats in Season 1 ('Captain Dobey, You're Dead!'), and Al in 3's 'The Heroes.' Rudy the barman had been a trucker in 'The Set-Up' of Season 2, while William Cort (Hank Munson), was Officer Knight in that season's 'The Committee,' credited as Bill Cort. So it was quite a reunion of old faces.

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