21 Jump Street – The Complete First Season
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Episodes: B-
The Fox Network, less-but-officially known as FBS,
launched in the late 1980s looking for their first hit. Before The Tracy Ullman Show, In
Living Color, Werewolf and The X-Files, their first hit was 21
Jump Street. Ratings were not high
at the time for the network, but the show held in there for five seasons and is
suddenly poised for a revival. That is
through a new film aimed at theaters, while Anchor Bay is releasing the entire
series, beginning with this 4 DVD First Season set.
This begins with the original pilot, when Frederic Forrest
originally led the would-be teen team of school infiltrators. Soon, Steven Williams took over when Forrest
had his feature film approach thrown off by TV’s weekly grind. The lead was then-unknown Johnny Depp, a
name that many even joked about, but will not admit to now. The show would debut many now-known names
and the cast fared better afterwards than anyone expected, especially form a
time many wondered if Fox could survive.
Hanson (Depp) was joined by Hoffs (Holly Robinson, now
Robinson-Peete), Penhal (Peter DeLuise), and Ioki (Dustin Nguyen). No, I did not remember their names either,
nor was I a fan of the show, but as it lasted, I kept checking in. The show never changed much, and its idea of
hip never clicked, but after al these years, it had to have aged oddly and I
was right. The episodes from this
season are:
1)
Pilot (two-parts)
2)
America, What A Town
3)
Don’t Pet The Teacher
4)
My Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades
5)
The Worst Night Of Your Life
6)
Gotta Finish The Riff (with
alt. Audio Commentary by DeLuise)
7)
Bad Influence
8)
Blindsided
9)
Next Generation
10)
Low &
Away
11)
16 Blown To
35
12)
Mean
Streets & Pastel Houses
Robinson-Peete says the show does not hold up because of
the 1980s hairdos, but I would go further and point out that it was the last in
a long line of shows since the late 1960s that tried to be “kinder, gentler”
about reality and how it was. Naďve may
be a way of describing it, but the idea of doing the show in Canada also never
worked, as it never looked like it.
Later production from the north would, possibly due to this show, not
making the mistakes this one did. Also,
the portrayals of African-American characters, especially when the criminals,
is pre-Spike Lee and a bit embarrassing.
On the other hand, in more than an early sign of political correctness,
Fox and Cannell did have positive such characters at a time when it was far
less common. Being this was weekly TV,
the hook was whether the cops could keep their cover form being blown or
not. That is amusing, but it wears thin
quickly, though the show did its best to bounce the idea everywhere it could.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 image is mixed, especially from
show to show, with image trouble off of tape sources that particularly have
noise and even bleeding color. I give
Cannell’s company credit for the shows being in as good a shape as they are in,
but at the time the series appeared, TV was too quick to go to tape for editing
and backup before it was proven. Many
telefilms have already been lost in their original form because the directors
were forced (or badly agreed) to edit on old analog tape. This show was lucky enough to be popular
enough to survive that fate. The old
early TV stereo is available here in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo when even Pro
Logic surround was not common, and these shows have no surrounds to speak of. The fidelity shows its age, but is mastered
well enough here. The theme, which
Robinson-Peete sings and Depp & DeLuise yell “Jump” in the background over
and over again is a camp classic of some sort.
Extras in addition to the commentary noted above on DVD 3 is a nice
booklet with notes and color shots, plus interviews with Cannell,
Robinson-Peete, Nguyen, and Williams.
This will be a boon to fans and a curio to others. All in all, this set is not bad and the
unintended laughs are enough to give it a good look.
- Nicholas Sheffo
